Think Alouds and Big Brains

Dang it’s cold for us Floridians today!  Stay warm today, colleagues! 

I know you know this but sometimes it helps to be reminded. 

You have a college degree. Some of you have more than one college degree. In order to have a college degree you have to either be a good reader or you have to have a LOT of strategies to get you around your reading deficits. 

Your STUDENTS do NOT have college degrees. They are middle or high school students. Many are not strong readers ... YET. 

Even your strong teen readers aren’t as strong as your experienced, college-educated teacher-reader selves. 

That’s why I need you to do something to help them out.

Think. Aloud.

Just like a kid who lives in a family of junk-food-eaters needs someone to model good eating habits, a kid who doesn’t know what good reading looks and sounds like INSIDE HIS HEAD needs someone to show him.

And guess what, Teacher? You are the perfect person! 

A good reader does several things all at once that they are probably unaware of. Doing some thinking aloud will help your readers -- from 6th grade strugglers to 12th graders ready for college -- be more aware of what’s going on in their OWN heads and be more intentional, stronger readers. 

So, how do I think aloud, Tracy? I can’t really just let my thoughts escape my lips. That won’t bode well for the students. 

Well, a think-aloud is series of specific ways you actually do react to text. You do these things, but often, as a college-educated reader, you do them so quickly, you don’t even notice that you’re doing them! 

So, the next time you’re reading some text with your students, try to slow down, notice what you’re doing, and point it out to the kids. Tell them what you’re doing and WHY you’re doing it. Just modelling can go a looong way

Here are a few ideas. 

Predict

• “I bet this is going to be about …”
• “I bet that the Spartans are going to lose at some point …”

Ask questions

• “Why did Empress Wu do that?”
• “What is the author talking about?”
• “What does that word mean?”

React

• “Wow! That’s amazing!”
• “Well that guy just did a stupid thing”
• “No, Harry Potter! Don’t do that!”

Make connections

• “That’s like what we read about with Buddhism”
• “That’s like the movie I saw last summer”
• “That reminds me of a poem we read in Language Arts class”

Make mental pictures

• “So the Olmecs are in Mexico, in the map I’m picturing”
• “I bet people in the Alps mountains freaked out when they saw Hannibal’s elephants!  
• “I’m picturing that guy as tall and mean”

Read out loud to your kids once in a while and model these Think-Aloud strategies. It helps them be better readers. Be explicit in your explaining what you’re doing and why. And don’t worry about being the best audiobook worthy reader. You-the-college-educated-adult are still better than they are! And if you can do it semi-regularly with you stopping to explain your thinking aloud, can seriously impact their reading. 

It’s something you do without even noticing. So slow your big brain down and show these kids how it’s done. 

Have a great week -- and stay warm, Floridians! 

Old Dog, New Tricks

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

The older we get, the harder it is for us to learn new things.

In my 20s, I used to be one of the “techie” teachers. Since I don’t use it all as much anymore, I have noticed that I am falling behind the curve.

I’m not as good at learning new music and new TV shows anymore. I am behind in paying attention to new trends. I see the glimmering beginnings of -- gasp! -- turning into an “old dog”!

But, honestly, there is one good new-but-actually-old trick that I can do. And that I love.

i

It’s how I teach my young pups (my own children) to do new things. It’s how I want someone to teach me new tricks.

It’s Gradual Release.

Wait, wait, wait -- hear me out!

Think about any new skill you want to learn. Maybe it’s the new webmail Outlook 365. Maybe it’s yoga. Maybe it’s sailing a boat. Maybe it’s healthier cooking. Maybe it’s actually training your actual dog (instead of my metaphorical one).

But this old-dog trick still works. We may have renamed it a few years ago, but it’s still solid.

It works on ANY skill you want your students to learn. I know you all know it. It’s how many of you learned to play baseball, write your name, and clean your room. It’s how most of us learned to write decent papers for high school and learned our first job skills.

It works with how you want kids to find the answers in the reading, how you want them to text-mark, how you want them to clean up your classroom room after a chaotic activity, how you want them to write their thesis statements, how you want them to back up their answers using evidence.

It works for any skill, big or small.

It doesn’t work for content. You can’t gradually release the causes of WW1. Either you know ‘em or you don’t. But you can gradually release the thinking and reading and writing ABOUT the causes of WW1.

And honestly, you should have some part of Gradual Release going on more days than not.

I know you know this, but let’s review anyway. It helps.

Step One: I do it. (teacher does this part)

You-the-teacher do the task for them. Go ahead, contrary to what you thought growing up, you CAN give them the answers (for this part, anyway). Show them what the task looks like when it’s done well.  (I know it feels weird and a little idiotic to give them all the answers. Do it anyway.)

*Note -- this works 100% better when you show them HOW to do it. Model this with a THINK ALOUD!!

(full-support scaffolding)

Step Two: We all do it (do this whole-class)

The whole class works through the task. It takes twenty-some student brains  -- minus the teacher brain that only prompts the kids but doesn’t answer anything.

(take some scaffolding away)

Step Three: You all do it  (do this in small groups)

Put kids in partners or small groups so they have two or three brains on a task. Remember to use the five “O”s of collaborative structures, otherwise it will bomb.

(minimal scaffolding)

Step Four: You do it. On your own.

“Come on, now, I know you can do this on your own, kiddos!”  I can’t take the tests for the kids. I can’t vote in their stead. I can’t do their jobs for them. And so they have to start on their own at some point. Now is the time! This is where you push the little darlings out of the nest and hope they fly. And if they don’t, you scoop them up, help them again, and then push ‘em out of the nest again. For the few that are still unable on their own, this is when you-the-teacher give ‘em a little one-on-one time.

(Scaffolding is gone. Kids can try to stand on their own)

So, most of us are pretty good at step one and step four. We tend to be good at the “I do” and the “you do on your own”. It’s the middle we sometimes forget about.

But we can’t do all the work for the kids (step one) and we can’t push ‘em off the cliff (step four) without something in the middle.

It’s like learning to ride a bike. First, you watch someone show you how THEY ride a bike. Then, you ride with extra support -- training wheels or a grown-up holding on.

Then, the grown-up lets go and you ride (or crash).

Then, you try it again.  

Old dogs can learn new tricks. I can. Our kids can.

What about you? Email me newmantr@pcsb.org

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Making Connections

Do you remember the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” that went around the internet a few years ago? In the game, players try to see how many degrees of separation are between any single actor and Kevin Bacon, who has been in wide variety of movies.

For example, Elvis Presley’s Bacon Number is 2. Elvis was in Blue Hawaii with John Archer who was in the Little Sister with Kevin Bacon.

The game, which has spawned two websites and several apps as well as a Google search (‘Bacon number: Elvis Presley’) is even touted as the “precursor to social media”. Twitter thanks you, Kevin Bacon!

It’s fun to make connections.

Like we talked about last week, our students really struggle with Level 3 thinking. Level 3 thinking often involves thinking abstractly, making connections, and planning with evidence.

I want to challenge you to have your kids use Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (or a number of connection strategies below) to help them think about connections within and outside of content.

Here are my caveats:

a.            Don’t tell them the answers! Please..... no matter how “off” they are. Make THEM come up with better answers.

b.            Model the Thinking! Demonstrate how you would do this. Show them what it looks like!

c.            Gradually Release it! You do the strategy. Then, try it whole-class. Then, do it in small groups. Then have them do it on their own. That’s how skill-learning works!

So here are a BUNCH of strategies to help kids practice Level 3 thinking. I challenge you -- I double dog dare you -- to try to use one every day. Mix it up or keep it consistent. But do SOME Level 3 thinking every day.

1.    

Agree or Disagree – WITH EVIDENCE

a.            How? Have kids decide if they agree or disagree with a particular statement AND give evidence from text.

b.            Like? Statements like “The Red Cross is the most helpful International Organization” or “Brown vs. Board was the biggest event in the Civil Rights movement” or “The executive branch has more power than the judicial branch”

c.            Why? If they can use evidence to justify their opinions, they can recognize when it’s used elsewhere.

2.   Hypothetical Situations

a.            How? Have kids create plausible hypotheses about what they know about government – and defend their hypotheses with evidence.  

b.            Like? For example:  “Abraham Lincoln would believe _____ about federal income taxes based on…..” Or “If there was a major hurricane to hit Tampa Bay, the organization _____ would be the biggest help to people in need because … ”

c.            Why? One of the “types” of Level 3 thinking is making predictions and using evidence as support.

3.   Reason and Draw Conclusions –

a.            How? Help the students to practice drawing conclusions based on a reading that doesn’t explicitly state them.

b.            Like? For example, have students draw conclusions about what group(s) the 14^th amendment was talking about when it was passed and what groups might be debated  about, under the 14^th amendment today.

c.            Why? One of the types of Level 3 thinking is “reasoning and drawing conclusions”.

4.   Now and Then –

a.            How? Have kids apply certain principles to historical and modern scenarios.

b.            Like? For example. What might have been an example of the “right to bear arms” during colonial times and what might be a modern example – and why are the two examples different?

c.            Why? Another facet of Level 3 thinking is applying a concept to a new situation

5.   Compare and Contrast (with nuances) –

a.            How? Have students compare two different constitutions, amendments, court cases, international organizations. They need to come up with more than just one similarity or difference and they need to get past the obvious.

b.            Like? For example, Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board are not just different because they had different “answers” to separate vs. equal. They’re different because one involved an adult, the other, a child. One led to MORE segregation and the other to LESS segregation. Look at the justice’s opinions they gave.

c.            Why? Comparing and contrasting with evidence and nuances is a Level 3 skill.

6.   Explain a pattern –

a.            How? Have kids explain a certain pattern.

b.            Like? For example, give them two different years’ electoral maps and have them explain the difference in the voting results. Give them two different federal budget categories and have kids hypothesize or explain why spending rose, fell, or held steady.

c.            Why? Explaining a pattern is another example of Level 3 thinking

7.   New Situation –

a.            How? Give kids a scenario and see if they can apply a Civics concept to that new scenario.

b.            Like? For example, how does the 1^st amendment of free speech apply to online bullying? How does the concept of social contract apply in areas with extremely low civic participation?

c.            Why? Being able to apply a principle or concept to a different scenario is another example of Level 3 thinking.

8.   Evaluate effectiveness –

a.            How? Have kids evaluate the effectiveness of an event, a law, or a concept, using evidence.

b.            Like? How well did Brown vs. Board desegregate schools? How well did it desegregate America as a whole? Where did it work best? Where did it work least? How well did the Federalist Papers influence Americans and modern politics? In what aspects of modern life do people still believe in its concepts? Where don’t they?

c.            Why? If students can evaluate the effectiveness of something, they first know enough and second think deeply enough about a topic to make those decisions. They key is WHY

I double-dog dare you to try one of these every day until your EOC to give your kids consistent practice in Level 3 thinking.

Did you try one? Or more than one? As always, let me know! And who’s your favorite Bacon connection?

By the way, my Bacon Number is infinity. Because, you know, I haven’t been in any movies. But Charlie Chaplin has a Bacon Number of 2! Who knew?

-Tracy

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

On the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother”, one of the main characters, Barney Stinson (played by multi-talented Neil Patrick Harris), loves to use dramatic pause. One of his catchphrases is “Legen... wait for it... dary! Legendary!” He likes to add “wait for it” in the middle of sentences and words for comedic effect quite a bit.  (For the record, it usually works. He’s a pretty funny character and it’s a pretty funny catchphrase)

So this week I had Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” in my head.  And as I tried to get a word in edgewise in my home (All of us are chatterboxes in my house. Even the baby!) I thought about how much we hate silence.

We hate silence in my house. It’s why we talk so much.

I know I’m not the only one who hates silence. It’s why so many people have their TV or radio or iPod on so much of the time. It’s why our students pop on their headphones whenever they get a chance. It’s why we answer the questions we ask to our students.

We hate silence.

As Tom Petty says, “The waiting is the hardest part”. So. True.

Do you know that feeling in class? The fear of silence? I must have acted on that dislike of silence every day of my teaching career. I still do it. It goes like this:

I ask a question. I look around. When no one raises a hand in one or two seconds, I answer my own question. Sometimes I chastise the class (“Really guys? Nobody knows this one?”). Sometimes I don’t. But either way, I just answered my own darn question.

It is best demonstrated by actor Ben Stein as the teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller in the forever-immortalized words “Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?”

As he teaches Economics class he pauses long enough to ask “anyone? anyone?” before answering his own questions:

“In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the ... Anyone? Anyone? ... the Great Depression, passed the ... Anyone? Anyone? ... The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered? ... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work ? ... Anyone? Anyone know the effects? it did not work and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? ... Anyone? Anyone? ... Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something d-o-o economics. Voodoo economics.

(If you need to see it to laugh today, check it at  ... Anyone? Anyone? ... ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA  

Do kids learn much with the teacher-asks-and-answers-herself method? I doubt it.

According to research, in most classrooms students are given less than one second to answer a question posed by a teacher.

Less. Than. One. Second.

We know learning has to be engaging. We know that kids need to manipulate content in order to really learn it. We know that answering our own questions just shows how smart WE are. (Duh. We’re the adults with degrees and teaching jobs. We’re a pretty smart bunch)

But it doesn’t do much for kids.

I’m going to suggest something LEGEN -- wait for it -- DARY!

Wait time.

(No, don’t wait again! That’s the THING. The waiting. The suggestion is about WAITING!)

Yes, we all know about wait time. It says that when you pose a question to your class that you WAIT for them to answer. Research from the 1980s (maybe in response to Bueller? Bueller?) has been confirmed again and again over the past few decades. Increased wait time does huge things for student learning. When you increase wait time from one to FIVE seconds you will see the following benefits:

1. The length of student responses increases 400 to 800 percent.
2. The number of unsolicited but appropriate responses increases.
3. Failure to respond decreases.
4. Student confidence increases.
5. Students ask more questions.
6. Student achievement increases significantly.

(Seriously? Only five seconds? It takes me longer to make my legen-waitforit-dary jokes again!)

It’s hard to do. I get that. But it’s totally worth it.

This week, try to increase your wait time. Record yourself (audio or video will work) or have a colleague come observe and time your wait times. It can be powerful. It can be engaging. It can be legen-waitforit-dary.

 So this week, think of Barney Stinson. Think of Ben Stein’s “Bueller, Bueller”. Think of The Sound of Silence. And think of Tom Petty singing “The waiting is the hardest part”

And increase your wait time.

As always, I love to hear how it goes! Drop me a line!