Daily Reflection Exit and Entrance TicketI have been using a reflection ticket (Google Form) nearly every day with my students as part of my VL adventure. One student said the other day (as he was filling out the form, "I learned it because I believed in myself." I think it is awesome (I love reading over their responses.) and something I've never done before BUT I am struggling to figure out how I measure how effective it is. The other day I taught a whole lesson on summarizing and when they took the low stakes quiz a lot of them asked, "What is summarizing?" Well, I don't need a magic wand to figure THAT one out. That particular lesson was NOT effective! Here's what I'm thinking. This unit wraps up in one week. I think for the next unit I will give them all a pretest similar to the post test and use that as my benchmark. Then I will have concrete data on how they grew or did not grow! I am open to suggestions. What metacognition methods do you use in your classroom? How do you help students reflect on the content AND their work/attitude? This is the form I am currently using: Low Stakes TestingaI have been giving several low stakes quizzes every week as a learning strategy. So yay for that...BUT here's what I need to do to improve (my goals, if you will):
Truly Believing in Each ChildThe other day we were in a meeting and someone said, "Oh, ______ could never do that." I'm not judging. My thinking in the past has not been totally different than that teachers' comment. I am kinda appalled at MYSELF for not truly believing that each child can excel. I THOUGHT I did, for sure. But now that I am really conscience of it, I am seeing that this is a growth area for me. To really and truly believe that each student can achieve. Last year if a child was struggling too much because things were truly too hard, I'd lower my expectations. This year I'm like, "Nope. You have to write more because you CAN." In the past I would care more about their feelings than pushing them to excel. This is QUITE the eyeopener for me and it is a true pleasure to make the shift. ReflectionIt is so helpful to put all of this into a blog post. It helps me organize my thoughts and hold myself accountable for future actions. If you got all the way down to this line, thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. #bettertogether
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One of the hardest things about going back to school is putting my learning and reflecting on pause so that I can get my school legs back and get all my ducks in a row. But I feel like I am steady on my feet and eager to jump back into blogging, sharing, learning, growing, and being better together!
A few things I am excited about.... Book Creator
A colleague helped me with Google Classroom the other day (Thanks, Joni!). I said, "Thanks, I'm not sure I would have figured that out on my own." She replied, "Oh, you wouldn't have slept until you did." True story. I love figuring things out and won't stop until I get to the bottom of things. Often it is my Twitter community to the rescue.
I became a Book Creator Ambassador and am having fun figuring out the ins and outs of BC. How do you share a book with colleagues? How do you set it so students can't see other students' books? How do you make a template that students can copy and make their own? The other day a great teacher friend of my was reflecting on technology and said something to the effect of, "How do you add all of that in when we just need to teach the standards?" Part of me figuring out the ins and outs of tech platforms is to incorperate them into what I am learning about Visible Learning and Powerful Learning. I am hoping to add in the focus of VL and PL (not just platforms) now that I am settled into the school year.
My next steps with Book Creator?
I'd like to keep creating and sharing #onetinytip videos as I think of things that would be helpful to know in BC. My next project with Book Creator is to create gratitude and reflection books that my students can add to on a regular basis. Still brainstorming with the best way to do that.... Learning and sharing new things keeps me energized and excited about my work. I can't not. First chunk to distill into an action plan: Visible Learning. Visible Learning 👀 1. Teach Growth Mindset and Mistakes. 2. Remember: Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Where to next? CLEAR standards and PUNCTUATE the lesson. 3. Discussion Notes for "Who do you want to be? What do you want to do?" p. 69 VL for Literacy. LOVE this. Make copies. 4. Teach strategies for learning that students can access and draw from when they are struggling. Connie Hamilton to thank for this list. 5. Cornell Notes p. 60 VL for Literacy AND sketch-noting. 6. Less teacher talk. I am going to record myself and/or invite others in to observe me and give me feedback.
7. Objective must be obvious and criteria must be posted. 8. Google form to reflect every night. Small quiz every night. 9. Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. 10. Use data sheet found on Twitter to keep track of learning. It's time. Time to sift down my learning and decide what action steps I want to implement this year. Visible Learning 👀 |
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I got so much out of the #hackingQs Twitter chat tonight. I want to secure some of the great ideas that were shared. I hope that's okay!
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From Connie:
It's helpful to point out when students persevere on their own. "See - you did it all on your own." Sometimes they don't notice their own successes. It's great to point them out. @conniehamilton
From Connie:
It's helpful to point out when students persevere on their own. "See - you did it all on your own." Sometimes they don't notice their own successes. It's great to point them out. @conniehamilton
About wait time Connie wrote:
EVERYONE struggles with this. Here are some ideas: 1. TELL kids you want to give at least X seconds. Then have someone hold you to it. 2. Cover your mouth. (I know-silly, but I do it all the time) 3. Mentally respond to your Q 3X before you speak. #BookCampPD #HackingQs
EVERYONE struggles with this. Here are some ideas: 1. TELL kids you want to give at least X seconds. Then have someone hold you to it. 2. Cover your mouth. (I know-silly, but I do it all the time) 3. Mentally respond to your Q 3X before you speak. #BookCampPD #HackingQs
Oh, wow. Sometimes things come to you as a gift from the universe that you didn't even know you were looking for. I just started Connie Hamilton's book, Hacking Questions and my mind is already blown. It's funny how sometimes you don't realize how bothered you are by something and then someone names it and you're like-------------------------------------- |
I've always been subtly bothered by the hands-up system I use in my classroom. Like a good little Teach Like a Champion teacher, I've use cold call on a regular basis. I have called on students I know are not paying attention to wake them up. My big solution has been to use index cards with names on them to make sure I am calling on students equally. But the hands up system has never quite sat right with me.
Hack #1 Assume All Hands are Up
As soon as I read the hack title, I was intrigued. Here are my take aways from this hack: (But I REALLY recommend you go and read it for yourself!)
Next Hack: Kick the IDK Bucket Keep the cognitive baton in students’ hands
Gotta go! I have more reading to do!
I find these seemingly simple but powerful ideas so invigorating and exciting. Small changes matter. (Although getting my students not to raise their hands will be no small task.)
Hamilton, Connie (2019-04-14). Hacking Questions: 11 Answers That Create a Culture of Inquiry in Your Classroom (Hack Learning Series Book 23) (Kindle Locations 388-389). Times 10 Publications. Kindle Edition.
- Label different forms of interaction: Teach the students protocols and then tell them which one you are using in your lesson. Be transparent. What I'm thinking is that my students have been raising their hands for 4 years and it will take great intentionality to retrain them. The power in this to me all is the goal of having ALL students engaged.
- Blurt time (all students share ideas like a round of popcorn sharing)
- Take volunteers (this is for when you want a student to explain and example or model something for his/her classmates)
- All hands up "Communicate to students that you assume they always have their hands up." When you are using this concept, use a random name caller. But more importantly (in my mind) is truly giving students a time to talk, write, or think before calling on anyone.
Next Hack: Kick the IDK Bucket Keep the cognitive baton in students’ hands
Gotta go! I have more reading to do!
I find these seemingly simple but powerful ideas so invigorating and exciting. Small changes matter. (Although getting my students not to raise their hands will be no small task.)
Hamilton, Connie (2019-04-14). Hacking Questions: 11 Answers That Create a Culture of Inquiry in Your Classroom (Hack Learning Series Book 23) (Kindle Locations 388-389). Times 10 Publications. Kindle Edition.
I am inspired from my summer learnings about visible learning and the science of learning. Shout outs to Pooja K. Argarwal, Patrice M. Bain, John Hattie, and Jennifer Gonzales/Cult of Pedagogy.
I want to do two things this year with my kiddos.
1. Give my students a vehicle for reflecting on their learning.
2. Measure my impact on student learning.
And here's how I am going to do it. (Obviously, this is a work in progress! ✍️
1. Every evening my students will complete a Google Form called Tomorrow's Goal Self-Assessment and take a pretest in our LMS, Powerschool. The questions on the form are mostly taken from John Hattie's book, Visible Learning for Teachers.
I want to do two things this year with my kiddos.
1. Give my students a vehicle for reflecting on their learning.
2. Measure my impact on student learning.
And here's how I am going to do it. (Obviously, this is a work in progress! ✍️
1. Every evening my students will complete a Google Form called Tomorrow's Goal Self-Assessment and take a pretest in our LMS, Powerschool. The questions on the form are mostly taken from John Hattie's book, Visible Learning for Teachers.
2. After each day's lesson, my students will fill in another Google Form and take a post-test that is the same as the pre-test.
3. THEN, (here comes the fun part), I will measure the pre-test against the post test and find out the impact the learning activities and instruction had on my students. I have some brushing up to do on my math and need to figure out the best way to calculate (I'm thinking Google Sheets, not in my LMS...) this in a doable way.
Big thanks to Craig Parkinson for sending me this video to help me figure things out.
Big thanks to Craig Parkinson for sending me this video to help me figure things out.
This is a HUGIGANTIC leap for me. I am not data-calculation inclined. I am probably biting off more than I can chew, but Girl's gotta dream big. If you read this and are trying something similar or have some advice, please leave a comment or find me on Twitter @messy_tech Thanks!
I'm towards the end of John Hattie's book, Visible Learning for Teachers, and my head is FULL! I've loaded it to its gills. Now, as per retrieval practice, I am going to see what I can PULL out of my brain! Here goes:
1. There is a difference between praise and feedback. Do not mix the two. General praise in the classroom to build a warm climate and community is fine. But feedback is about 4 different things:
1. There is a difference between praise and feedback. Do not mix the two. General praise in the classroom to build a warm climate and community is fine. But feedback is about 4 different things:
- Content (Nope): Task and product level
- Process level
- Self-efficacy (nope but close) Self-regulation or conditional level
- (Had to look this up) Self level
- Task and product has to do with correcting answers, giving more information, building more task knowledge. This feedback is the foundation for the others.
- Process level is "aimed at improving the strategies and processes". I think this goes back to what he was saying about teaching students learning strategies to empower them (mneumonic devices, highlighting, etc.) "Can you try a different strategy?"
- Self-regulation or conditional level has to do with students understanding and having awareness of where they are in their learning. This feedback is 'usually in the form of reflective or probing questions - can guied the learner on 'when', 'where', and 'why' in selecting or employing task and process-level knowledge and strategies." p. 135
- Self level is also known as praise and is not the same thing as feedback. "...providing feedback with no praise compared to feedback with praise has a greater effect on achievement." p. 135
Perhaps the most deleterious effect of praise is that it supports learned helplessness: students come to depend on the presence of praise to be involved in their schoolwork. p. 136
Mind blown.
On page 136 Hattie writes that we want students to move from "What do I know?" and "What can I do?" OR "What do I NOT know?" and "What can I NOT do?" to:
On page 136 Hattie writes that we want students to move from "What do I know?" and "What can I do?" OR "What do I NOT know?" and "What can I NOT do?" to:
One take away I get from Hattie again and again is the importance of the intentionality of our mindset towards students and the words we choose to use. It's a lot to process and can feel overwhelming. But if I can just change one tiny thing and keep doing that, I believe it WILL make a difference in my students' learning, confidence, and success.