Showing posts with label goldilocks teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goldilocks teaching. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

And Make A Change


I have recently noticed that my kitchen counters have become overloaded. I remember moving into my house five years ago and thinking “I’ll never fill up all these cabinets!”.


Guess what? They’re full.

AND it seems to be spilling over to my counter tops. The Instapot never gets put away. I have a pile of tupperware that keeps falling out of the counter, so it just sits on the counter.  The charging area is spilling over with ear buds and cords and electronics. There is Valentine’s candy sitting on the counter because it won’t fit in the box of candy in the cabinet.

I think it’s time for me to make some changes in my kitchen.

Like Michael Jackson sang about, sometimes you have to “take a look at yourself and make a change”

How did I decide this? How does anyone decide when it’s time for a change? Something triggered me.

I learned recently in a training about what are triggers for change. Check out the main three triggers for change:

  1. A Big Event: Even if it only happens once, a big event can change your outlook, becoming a trigger for change. An enraged parent. A test failed by every single student.. A fight in your classroom. These things are “Big Events” and can trigger change.
  1. A Breaking Point: Maybe it isn't’ the first time everyone failed a test -- but the 6th time that MOST kids failed a test. Maybe it isn’t a giant horrible, angry, world-ending parent email but the 10th email from a parent who is annoyed. Maybe it isn’t an actual fist fight in your classroom but the latest in a long string of behavior problems.

  1. A Better Way: Sometimes change is triggered by seeing a better way. I used to take home papers to grade all the time (cursing the whole time) until I had a colleague who showed me some shortcuts to minimize my grading time. I used to battle kids not coming in appropriately until I observed a colleague who used bellwork beautifully to start class smoothly.

Now, having said that, there are things we can control and things we cannot. You cannot control the background knowledge that kids come into your class with. You cannot control their parents. You cannot control which kids you teach. You cannot change your state standards (yet?).  You can’t control that public school has some kids tough to teach.

Before looking at change, you need to make peace with the idea that there are things you can control and things you cannot.

Maybe just making peace with something you can’t control IS the change you need!

But once you have identified something you can control AND you are inspired by a) that big event, b) that breaking point or c) that  better way -- now it’s time.

Albert Einstein maybe (but probably didn’t) say “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result”.

So, just a couple of questions to help you think about change this week:
  • Where is your tipping point in your classroom?
  • What issue is most concerning?
  • What area do you have control over? (you might not think you do ... but often you have more choice than you think)
  • And how can you make a change? Where can you start?

Need help or just an ear? Want to talk it through? Email me and I’m glad to talk through change with you. Honestly, that’s half of my job. Literally.

Email me your thoughts! No judgement  -- you make changes where YOU feel inspired, not be cause I (or someone else) tells you to make a change


Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Goldilocks and The Three Teachers

Goldilocks and the Three Teachers:   
A Metaphor Story

Once upon a time, there was a student named Goldilocks. One day, she went for a walk (with a pass) through campus. As she walked, she came across three teachers.

She knocked on the door (and showed her pass) and politely entered the first classroom where the teacher was teaching.  Goldilocks decided that the learning looked appealing and sat down to get a taste of that learning.

But when she started to try to take a bite of the learning, she closed her mouth and shook her head. This teacher gave TOO MUCH support! Before Goldilocks had a chance to think, the teacher was telling the class the answers, pointing to the page, and lowering the thinking level to recall level.

Of course, there must be some bears, I mean, students who need that level of support. But not all of them! And certainly not Goldilocks!!

So Goldilocks politely took her hall pass and headed out of that “too hot” class with the TOO MUCH SUPPORT. She walked to the room next door, knocked on the door, showed her pass, and took a seat in the second class.  The teacher was giving instructions and Goldilocks thought that maybe this would be the tasty learning that her brain needed that day!

But when she looked at her materials to start learning, she closed her mouth and shook her head again! This teacher gave TOO LITTLE support! Where the first teacher was doing all the work for the students, the second teacher just handed out the assignment and then left the kids to figure it out on their own! Goldilocks didn’t know where to begin, so she just didn’t start anything.

Of course, there must be some bears, I mean students, that don’t need any support with their assignment. But not all of them! And certainly not Goldilocks!

So Goldilocks politely took her hall pass and headed out of that “too cold” class with the TOO LITTLE SUPPORT. She walked to the room next door, knocked on the door, showed her pass, and took a seat in the third class. Goldilocks thought that maybe THIS would be the JUST RIGHT learning that she needed!

In the third class, the teacher was giving support that was JUST RIGHT! Goldilocks sat and stayed all period and learned ALL the things! She learned so much and was so much more successful!

What did that support look like?
  • Written AND verbal directions
  • Incorporation of visuals with new concepts
  • Gradual Release of skills and procedures
  • Chunking content and work into manageable pieces
  • Differentiation (giving more support to kids who need more and less support to kids that don’t need as much)
  • Collaboration (the real kind, not just I-do-the-first-half-and-you-do-the-second-half)
  • Using sentence starters for ESOL students
  • Letting kids have productive struggle

It’s easy, like Billy Joel sings, to “go to extremes”. We all have done it from time to time.

It’s easy to either give TOO MUCH SUPPORT, where we do the learning FOR the kids and they don’t have to do anything. These are the days where we are exhausted because we run around pointing out all the answers, lecturing and telling all the kids what to know, and give them word-for-word notes. It’s TOO MUCH support for almost all kids.  They don’t learn much because we-the-teachers are doing all the talking, all the thinking, all the work -- and the kids aren’t doing the thinking, the talking, or the work. They don’t own it.

It’s just as easy (maybe easier?) to give TOO LITTLE SUPPORT. Where we just tell the kids to figure it out on their own, where we just won’t jump in and save them or even help them. The kids don’t learn much here either (except the personally, naturally-intrinsically-motivated kids). This is where even a kid motivated by grades puts her head down and decides not to even try. This is when we had out the assignment, the packet, the work and tell the kids it’s due Friday.

Giving JUST RIGHT SUPPORT is tougher, more “grey area”. JUST RIGHT SUPPORT depends on the kids. Some kids need more support, other kids need less. You have to know your kids -- by data AND personality! You have to adjust what you do a little for each kid, each class. It means that third period might need you to give them six questions and fourth period might only need four. It might mean that 7th period needs the directions written and verbal and choral read aloud -- but first period needs everyone to stop talking about the directions so they can get started and concentrate.  JUST RIGHT SUPPORT might mean that sixth period needs to do just the top half of the page, and then get together and check to see if they’re doing it right before moving on to the bottom half -- while second period just needs the time and the quiet to zoom through the whole assignment. Half of fifth period needs you to read aloud to them to help them comprehend the text and the other half doesn’t.

It’s tricky but SOOOOO worth it.

How can we be Goldilocks and give JUST RIGHT SUPPORT (not too much, not too little)?  How do you do this? How can you be more intentional about this? As always, I love to ehar from you! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy