Dear Future Self

Dear Future Self,

I wrote some notes to you on my lesson plans from this week but you will have no idea what they mean. They were hurried and cryptic. When you try to teach this lesson next year, you will struggle to remember what you did with this lesson.

Did we read this independently or out loud? What reading strategy did we do? How did it work out? Did you have to change it midway through 2nd period? Did they learn it well? Did you have a good processing activity?

Future Self, I apologize for just tucking this reading in a folder with the a sticky note that has 3 words on it. I realize that you are now having to re-create this lesson and that you can’t tell how well or how much the kids learned the last time you did it.

I apologize for not fixing the typos or unclear directions on this handout. I apologize for not making a note about the awesome lesson fix I discovered during 4th period that took the lesson from “ok” to “awesome”.

Dear Future Self, have fun recreating this lesson and doing it Groundhog Day Style -- making the same mistakes as before.

Sorry ‘bout that!  Good luck!

-Love, Me-From-The-Past

* * * * * *

I don’t know about you all, but I am not always the best supporter of Future Me. Future Me would be a lot happier if I ate healthier, exercised more, saved more money, didn’t procrastinate, cleaned out the fridge more often, and flossed more regularly.

One of the ways I can help out Future Me is to make notes about how lessons went this year, so I have something to go off for next year!

There’s nothing worse than being halfway through a lesson and suddenly remembering that it bombed last year. Now what do we do?

It sure helps to reflect in writing so you can save your Future Self some hassle.

There are several ideas about how to do this.

1. If you type your lesson plans, go back into that document and highlight stuff that went well and strikethrough things that went poorly. Or, type in your thoughts into another column or box so you can see it next year. Then, you have to get in the habit of looking at last year’s lessons when your Future Self writes the new ones.
2. You can keep a document to yourself in each folder (digital or IRL) of a unit and jot down your thoughts as you go through the unit.
3. If you hand-write your lessons, go back and add another piece of paper or a couple sticky notes. Put your handouts and thoughts in the same folder to reference next year.
4. Grab a notebook or calender and keep it by your desk (or better yet, somehow keep it by your door). Then, as you stand at your door between classes, you can multitask and jot down a few thoughts under the date.

Now -- here’s the hard part!

Making sure your Future Self can understand the notes you write!

Make sure you don’t assume that you will remember the context 52 weeks from now. Make that context explicit.  Try some of these ideas:

• Don’t call it ”the  video”. Make sure to note what video you used.and what you had the kids do with it . Copy the actual link and the length of the video.
• Instead of saying “read section and did questions”, tell your Future Self that you read the section out loud and that the kids answered #1-3, 5, and 8 and that Question #8 was your formative assessment for the day.
• If you found a discussion question or a turn and talk prompt particularly great, make sure to write that down!

I know that different teachers write lesson plans differently -- but it might be what we write AFTER we teach the lesson that might be more valuable to us next year.

How do you tell your Future Self about how your lessons went? Do you do it at all? How can you streamline your post-lesson notes to make your Future Self more awesome?

As always, I love to hear! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

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

 

Review Dos and Don'ts -- and a game for the Brave

It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year!!

Yes, it’s REVIEW TIME!!!

Yup! It’s the time of year when all your darling little classroom elves swear that they have never before seen that content you are reviewing form October!

I know that most people either love or hate review games. So, in the spirit of holiday lists, let’s look at some Review Dos and Don’ts.

DO: Do make it fun (kids are more likely to participate AND are more likely to remember what they’re reviewing)

DON’T: Don’t make kids do a giant packet. That’s boring and kids are less likely to do it (and less likely to actually learn anything from it).

DO: Use higher order thinking! If the assessment is all over the DOK, then your reviews need to be all over the DOK.

DON’T: Don’t give all recall-level review. Because then kids just memorize stuff short-term and they don’t actually learn it long-term!

DO: Do use the benchmarks to guide your review.   

DON’T: Don’t just give the kids the questions to study.  That’s dumb. They all get good grades and they don’t learn anything real.

DO: Do give them the topics/benchmarks and help them PRACTICE different levels of thinking with the topics/benchmarks.

Ok -- let’s check out a new Review Game. It is NOT for the faint of heart!

You’re going to need to buy a couple of flyswatters....

Prep:

1.      Create/compile a list of vocab terms – and examples or non-examples of each. These examples could be much like the stimuli on their assessment, quotes, excerpts, images, etc. (I wouldn’t use straight definitions because students will memorize them and it won’t be higher order thinking and it won’t help them much on their EOC or final)

2.      Post the words on a wall/bulletin board that kids can access.  (not your SMARTBOARD!). Hall might be a good option if your room is too small

3.      Put a tape line on your floor that The Swatters need to be behind, a foot or two   away from the wall.

4.      Divide class into two equal groups and line them up behind each other and sit or stand in order.

Play:

5.   Explain to the class that each team will have the first student in line “play” at a time. When they have completed their turn, out of the two teams, the first student to “swat” the correct answer gets the point for his or her team. When the student is done with his or her turn, that student goes to the end of the line.  

6.   All students in line need to listen to the example since they might get a different example for the same word. They will listen better if they know they’re hearing “clues” about a word they might get.

7.   Read the example or non-example to the group. (Be clear if it is a NOT example). The two students with the fly swatters listen to the example.

8.   The first student to swat the correct term gets the point for his or her team.

9.   The team with the most points wins.

Benefits of Swatter Game:

·         Students examine multiple facets of a concept or vocab term.

·         Students are listening to usage and application of their vocab terms and practicing using and applying those terms.

·         Active and engaging activity.

Watch Out For:

Ø Kids struggling to remember terms. Maybe let them use their notes?

Ø Kids acting up in line.  Maybe take away points for teams not listening? Or remind students that if the Swatter can’t hear the hint he or she can’t get the point.

Ø Kids swatting each other.  The child who uses a flyswatter on another child is instantly removed from the game, his team loses points, and you use the discipline consequence for that kid that you would normally use. Please don’t punish the entire class for one kid who acts like a fool.

Soooo ... Are YOU brave enough for the flyswatter game? If so, let me know how it goes!! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy

How Do I Increase My Rigor?

So, your administrator is asking about the rigor in your class? And Marzano asks that students “engage in cognitively complex tasks”. And those ISM walk-throughs are checking for the “level of rigor” on their walk through forms.

And, honestly, you know as well as I do that nobody cares if kids know a whole lot of lower-level facts when they grow up. We all know that kids using those facts, information, and skills is a more frequently used part of academics.

Rigor is king of a big deal

I recently had a colleague tell me about lesson plan and ask me how I would increase the rigor of it.

OMG!!! WHAT A FABULOUS QUESTION!!!!

For a long time, I hadn’t found a solid, consistent definition of rigor. And then I found this: Rigor is the higher level thinking a student can do on his or her own.

Now, rigor can ABSOLUTELY include scaffolding. (pleasepleaseplease use scaffolding! Don’t skip the scaffolding!!!!)

But then, the kids need  to be doing higher level thinking without the teacher doing it for them.

Check out this visual to help it make sense -->

Meaning, lead them up to the higher order thinking but then take off their training wheels and let them try it on their own.

(Actually, HOT thinking is likely to fall apart into disaster if you DON’T lead them up and give them scaffolding. But that’s another conversation for another day.

Do you know  my friend, the DOK Wheel? The DOK Wheel isn’t actually my favorite, but it’s the one the FLDOE uses to describe benchmarks and EOC questions, so we can go with it.

So let’s back that up. How can we increase higher level thinking without making kids’ (and teachers’) brains explode?

1. Don’t let kids off the hook. They will pretend to be stupid. They will pretend to “only” be able to give you the “right there” answer. Use wait time and probing questions to get them to think at higher levels. Don’t accept “I can’t” (or “I don’t know”) for an answer.
2. We slowly increase the rigor through the lesson. We sometimes call this “Spiraling questions”. OF COURSE we start with “right there” tasks! “Where was?” “What was?” “When was?” Then we move to putting pieces together, summarizing multiple parts, apply knowledge  to another topic/time/term.
3. Then, we raise the questioning up to level three and sometimes 4 of DOK. Here are some quick and easy HOT (Higher Order Thinking) question stems. Choose ones that match what you’re teaching.  https://www.saydel.k12.ia.us/cms_files/resources/general%20hots%20question%20stems%20and%20processing%20activities.pdf

Ok, Tracy, I think I’ve got WHAT Higher Order Thinking actually IS. But what does that actually look like? What does rigorous learning look like?

Here are a few quick ideas to start to introduce more rigor in small, manageable ways in your classroom.

• HOT Question Turn and Talks: The quickest and easiest (and most natural-feeling) way to incorporate rigor is to incorporate it into quick turn and talks. Talk/read/watch about some lower-level stuff and the ask the kids to turn and talk about it with higher-level stuff. That’s a quick and easy way to include rigor.
• HOT quickwrites: Not feeling the turn and talk ideas? Use the same questions as above but pose one or two as a quick write. Bam. Kids are thinking and you have both blissful peace and quiet AND evidence of their rigorous thinking (or what you need to work on tomorrow...)
• HOT Plickers: Don’t have a lot of time? Throw a HOT multiple choice question up on the board and use Plickers (Paper+Clickers) to have kids answer a quick higher-level multiple choice question in less than a minute. Bonus -- now you have DATA on that rigor stuff...
• HOT Focused Notes: Taking Focused Notes? When students make connections (not YOU making the connections for them, but them making their OWN connections), that’s more rigorous. When students take notes and reflect on them and add some Higher Order THinking
• HOT Benchmark Reflection: Don’t have anything prepared -- but you DO have your  Learning Goal (aka Benchmark) posted on the board? Turn it into a question and ask the kids to reflect on it. Here are a few examples ...
• SS.6.W.2.5 “Summarize important achievements of Egyptian civilization.”
• Describe two important achievements of Egyptian civilization AND connect how they impacted Egyptian Civilization.
• 
  SS.7.C.2.11 “Examine the impact of media, individuals, and interest groups on
• monitoring and influencing the government”
• How do the media, individuals and interest groups (pick one or two) monitor the government?How does that work? Give an example.
• SS.912.A.3.4 “Compare the first and second Industrial Revolutions in the United States.”
• What’s the same between the first and second Industrial Revolution? What’s different? Why are they more same or more different?

There are hundreds of ways to increase your rigor in the classroom. But there’s no reason you can’t start small.

Let’s start small and grow from there! Questions? Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org