To help encourage conversations and dialogue about the structures and factors that help us learn, this week's topic/question for the dinner table is: What type of feedback works best for you to help you learn?
Please see link to Google Form to share your responses: What Helps You Learn? (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Despite the rainy and dreary weather that we had Saturday morning, I hope that everyone was able to unplug a bit and take advantage of the 'no homework' weekend. We enjoyed some nice family time - dinner out as a family Friday evening, bowling on Saturday, and watching the playoffs - before participating in the Day of Service at Blake on Monday.
I want to start by thanking our staff for the professionalism that was clear in our work on Friday during the professional afternoon. Fully acknowledging the challenge that can be felt or encountered as we head into a long weekend, the presence and commitment to our students was clear as we went deeper with our discussions on exit skills, standards, assessments, and systems of feedback with our shared essential question for our work: How can we curate the progression of student learning and growth? At the heart of all of our endeavors is our mission and the goal of student learning as our barometer of real progress. Taking this to the next level, it is critical that we continue our focus on the 'learning skills' as the The posts and links below reflect this centralized focus on learning, recognizing the need to openly challenge our current thinking and structures that are in place...
How To Add Rigor To Anything
by Terry Heick (@terryheick) in TeachThought
Rigor is a word that is referenced often in regards to a framework for learning, or a key characteristic of high standards for our students. Heick's post was used to help stimulate thought for our PD on Friday and I think it is important for us to keep the ideas he shares in regards to the 'myths' that are often shared about rigor, along with strategies we can use to add rigor to lessons, units, and assessments.
Rigor matters because it imposes cognitive load on students, forcing them to confront misconceptions, reconsider positions, separate the implicit from the explicit, and other critical thinking practices that distinguish shaky familiarity from true understanding. As such, it’s different for every student. If students can’t consistently negotiate rigorous tasks, either understanding or thinking habits should be more closely examined. But if work is beyond their Zone of Proximal Development, students are only being setup for disengagement, frustration, and ultimately failure.
in MindShift - Excerpted from the book, UnCommon Learning: Creating Schools That Work for Kids, by Eric Sheninger (@E_Sheninger)
Sheninger is a well-known digital leader and this excerpt from his book focuses on the structures and focus areas that need to be emphasized and understood when integrating technology. As we continue to integrate technology and have discussions about our work, it is important to keep in mind that learning is the goal - student engagement can help us get there, but it is the learning that we need to hold as our standard.
Having fun, collaborating, communicating, and being creative are all very important elements that should be embedded elements of pedagogically sound lessons, but we must not lose sight of the importance of the connection to, and evidence of, learning.
It is so important to look beyond mere student engagement when it comes to technology...Engagement should always translate into deeper learning opportunities where technology provides students the means to think critically and solve problems while demonstrating what they know and can do in a variety of ways...With technology there should be a focus on active learning where students are doing.
Engagement, relevance, and fun are great, but make sure there is observable evidence that students are learning when integrating technology.
Teaching or Learning?
by Will Richardson (@willrich45)
In this brief post Richardson asks a simple question - Is your school culture one that’s focused on teaching, or is it focused on learning? I always enjoy reading and listening to Richardson as he challenges the 'norm' and really pushes the reader/listener to reflect; in addition to this post, I have also copied the links below to the TED talks we have seen as a staff.
...if you believe that learning is measured by a desire to learn more, to continue learning, then the focus is on creating the conditions for that to happen. Doing real work that matters. Starting with kids’ interests and passions. Seeing the adults in the room as learners as well. The aim is to do things differently.
Will Richardson's TED Talk - 3/5/11
(14:05)
In this talk that we watched two years ago, Richardson asks the fundamental question - 'Do we want our kids being prepared for their futures by a system that has not fundamentally changed in 125 years? I think it is worth bookmarking and coming back to on a regular basis.
The Surprising Truth About Learning in Schools
(16:27)
As Richardson identifies the way our schools need to change in this talk we watched together on Friday, I am encouraged by the steps he articulates to fix the 'broken system:
- State what we believe about how kids learn best
- Create, articulate, and share our principles of belief
- Align our practices with our beliefs
Our work on Friday afternoon helped us take a few steps closer to the fulfillment of the alignment of practices with beliefs. We may, and most likely will, end up with more questions than answers and that is ok. The key is that the discussions are taking place, practices are being examined, traditions that we need to keep are kept, and traditions that are no longer relevant or purposeful are altered. At the end of his talk Richardson poses a direct question: Do we have the commitment and courage to make this happen? As I said on Friday, I don't think we have a choice. And, yes, we do have the commitment and courage. Let's be sure to keep some tenets in mind...
- Let's teach the standards/frameworks
- We are teaching kids
- We need to teach them well
- As we teach them, we need to do right by them
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Take care.
Nat Vaughn