Passionate Learners Through a Literacy Lens
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Full day workshop by Pernille Ripp on creating passionate learning environments with a literacy focus.
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Passionate Learners Through a Literacy Lens
- 1. Passionate Learners- How to Engage and Empower Students through Literacy
- 2. This is Pernille Ripp who teaches at Oregon Middle School who blogs at pernillesripp.com who tweets at @pernilleripp who emails from psripp@oregonsd.net who writes books for Corwin, Routledge, and Solution Tree who really loves reading
- 3. Bjerringbro, Denmark - Population 7,390
- 5. Agenda for Today ■ Student Engagement ■ Our Physical Space ■ Teacher Talk vs. Student Voice ■ Break ■ Student Choice ■ Engaging Literacy ■ Lunch ■ Global Collaboration ■ Authentic Purpose ■ Plan for Change
- 7. If You Were Students in a Traditional Classroom You would already have been told: ■ Where to sit ■ When to go to the bathroom ■ To put away your devices ■ To stop talking ■ To stop eating ■ And to listen “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 9. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 10. My day (is awesome) Oregon School District, WI “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 11. On a post-it write down one thing you wish would change in education. Fill out as many post-its as you would like. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 12. 3 Minutes To Go
- 13. What do you have control over? Now Sort Them What do you not have control over? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 14. What do we notice? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 15. Why the need for change? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 16. Over 3 years, the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy asked more than 350,000 high school students in over 40 states about their engagement in school. Their answer? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 17. image from here “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 18. image from here“Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 19. What do you think? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 21. “ All teachers should let students choose where they sit. Hallie “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 23. “ Grades don’t say how much I learned, it is just an opinion. People can’t say how much I learned and how hard I tried because I am the only one that knows that. Brooke “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 24. “ All teachers should try the homework that we get every night because then they would see how much we have to do. Taegan “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 25. “ “I know that I am better than the letter grades teachers give me.” David “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 26. What Literacy Used to Be “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 27. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 28. What Reading and Writing Used to Be Like “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 29. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 30. Then I Changed A Little Bit
- 31. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 32. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 33. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 34. It’s time to create a plan for change- what do you really want to get out of today? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 35. Share with someone (if you feel comfortable) what your goal is “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 36. Student Engagement Why we lose sleep at night
- 37. Some Hard Truths about Engagement Students become disengaged, because… ■ They feel no connection ■ They feel little urgency ■ They feel there is no purpose ■ They feel they have no power ■ When the teacher talks too much ■ When the teacher does not differentiate ■ When they do mostly worksheets ■ When learning becomes something just to get through “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 38. The engaged student is... (1) Attracted to their work (2) Persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles (3) Take visible delight in accomplishing their work Phil Schlecty (1994) “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 39. 3 Areas Needed for Engagement 1. Behavioral engagement, including how often the student completed homework on time, followed school rules, and responded in class discussions. 2. Emotional engagement, including whether the student felt interested in his or her class subjects and accepted in the school culture. 3. Cognitive engagement, including how well the student managed and monitored his or her own learning. Eccles & Wang (2013)
- 40. ■ Connections Web ■ Vision video ■ Share a read aloud ■ Circle ■ Silent challenges ■ Regular challenges ■ This or That (idea from Jenn Gonzales) ■ Dear future student letters Community Ideas
- 41. We are really good at speaking with students in elementary But what about MS or HS?
- 42. Quicks Tips for Re-engagement ■ Energy up or energy down ■ Silent sharing ■ Dance break ■ Turn and talk ■ Draw it out ■ Affirm and replace ■ Move location
- 43. Would you like being a student in your own classroom? Let’s start with our physical space “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 44. “ Giving the classroom back to your students is more than just changing one’s mindset; it is also about physically changing the room to signal the change. The teacher’s desk, the flow patterns, even what is on your walls all mirror the expectations of the classroom. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 45. Our Classroom ■ Is spare ■ Has breathing space ■ Moveable furniture ■ Has room for the students “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2015 Pernille Ripp
- 46. Our lassroom
- 48. Let’s discuss our classrooms
- 56. Reflect on your environment “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement in Literacy” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 58. Teacher Talk A surefire way to make students quiet
- 59. Research has shown the average attention span for adults is 8.25 seconds before our brain wants different stimuli. Goldfish = 9 secondsSource: Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Mayer: “Not Quite the Average: An Empirical Study of Web Use,” in the ACM Transactions on the Web, vol. 2, no. 1 (February 2008), article #5.
- 60. What do we tend to ask students to do most in our classrooms? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 61. Listen “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 62. Teachers are estimated to speak 60-75% of the time (Goodlad, 1984 noted by Crandall, in Arnold, 1999: 235) “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 63. Some teachers ask between 200-300 questions a day. Most students ask 2 questions a day. John Hattie “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 64. The more students we teach, the more we speak. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 65. 3 Most Common Types of Questions 1.Procedural Questions - “Is that clear?” 2.Display questions - “Who is the main character?” 3.Referential Questions - “Why do you think the author wrote that?” Which do you ask the most?
- 66. Unnecessary Teacher Talk - 4 Things to Avoid ■ Echoing their answer ■ Asking lengthy questions ■ Saying much more than the student when receiving an elaboration ■ Repeating instructions to all
- 67. Ideas for Increasing Student Talk Time ■ Ask open-ended questions ■ Set a timer for lessons ■ Limit how many questions you answer ■ Stop interrupting ■ Give them something worth talking about ■ Emphasize importance ■ Stop thinking you have to have all of the answers
- 68. How would your students describe your teacher talk? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement in Literacy” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 69. You are probably wrong... How much do we think we talk versus how much do we actually talk? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 70. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 71. Student Voice A Fundamental Right
- 72. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 73. Ways to Give Students a Voice ■ Circle (From Restorative Justice) ■ Reflection/surveys ■ One-On-One ■ Creating a community ■ Blogging ■ Video newsletters
- 74. How do your students have a voice in your environment right now? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement in Literacy” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 75. Are they allowed to say what they want or only what you want to hear? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 76. Student Choice Another Fundamental Right
- 77. Lessons in Motivation ■ Choice matters ■ Motivation is contagious ■ Punishment/rewards stifle learning ■ Be excited yourself ■ Consider outside factors ■ Manage/Guide what is in front of you
- 78. Of all the rewards given, grades are the most common reward (Seoane and Smink, 1991). “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 79. 5 Tenets of Choice ■ Choice in engagement - how will they learn? ■ Choice in product - how will they show their learning? ■ Choice in setting - where will they learn? ■ Choice in timeline - when will they learn? ■ Choice in assessment - how will their learning be evaluated? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 80. Which of these do you incorporate already?
- 81. This is not our educations, it is theirs. We have to remember at all times “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 82. Literacy The Building Block for Further Success
- 83. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 84. What do students say have made them dislike literacy in school?
- 85. Book Clubs
- 86. Reading Logs
- 88. What Are We Reading/Writing For?
- 91. No Abandonment
- 93. Homework
- 95. Good Fit Books
- 96. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 97. Fluency = Fast
- 98. Great speed does not make a great reader. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 99. “ There is no ideal speed in reading. Thomas Newkirk, 2011 “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 100. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 102. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 103. No Choice
- 104. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 105. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 106. How many well- meaning things do we do that actually stop a love of literacy? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 107. Why Read 30 Minutes A Day? ■ If daily reading begins in infancy, by the time the child is 5 years old, he/she has been fed nearly 900 hours of brain food! ■ Reduce that experience to just 30 minutes a week, and the child’s mind loses 770 hours of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, stories, and vocabulary development.
- 108. That means a kindergarten student who has not been read aloud to could be entering with less than 60 hours of literacy exposure. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education
- 109. Every child should have at least two hours of sustained silent reading time a week - but how many do?
- 111. Student Beginning of Year Reflection “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 112. Parent Beginning of Year Survey “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 113. Why surveys? ■ Equal voice ■ Ability to ask questions ■ Direction for later learning ■ Immediate feedback ■ Creating/supporting reflective practitioners ■ Protected honesty “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 115. When to survey? Whenever you want! Tips: Make them short Make them to the point Do it at the beginning of class Give them the bigger purpose “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2015 Pernille Ripp “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 117. Lesson Planning Let’s Start From the Back
- 118. How to Plan Student-Centered Lessons By yourself: ● Know your goal ● Brainstorm initial ideas With students: ● Discuss outcome/breakdown standards ● Flesh out details and tweaks ● Discussion ● Start rubric Allow enough time for proper setup - it will save you time in the long run. Before “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 119. The Difference of 10 minutes
- 120. What is the purpose? Where are the choices? How many paths? Who is this for? What to do if…. What tools can we use? Questions to ask while planning
- 121. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 122. Engaged Readers Are ■ Motivated to read ■ Strategic in their approaches to comprehending what they read ■ Knowledgeable in their construction of meaning of text ■ Socially interactive while reading (Guthrie, Wigfield & You, 2012, p. 602).
- 123. This I Believe Project Breakdown Goal: To create a 4 or 5 paragraph speech modeled after the “This I Believe” format. See this link for examples. Summative standards assessed: Standard 2: Evaluate claims in a text; assess and express the soundness and relevance of reasoning. Standard 10: Present focused claims with support, using eye contact, volume, and elocution Due Date: June 1st “Passionate Learners - Student Example
- 124. How to Plan Student-Centered Lessons By yourself: ● Don’t fret ● Expect failure ● Hold back With students: ● Support and discuss ● Bring out the process not just the product ● Be a learner, not a leader ● Discuss rubric and tweak During Even in failure students can learn, if we give them the proper support “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 125. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 126. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2015 Pernille Ripp
- 127. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 128. “ “What would you like to discuss?”
- 129. How to Plan Student-Centered Lessons By yourself: ● Finalize rubric ● Observe and assess With students: ● Feedback discussion on project ● Students self-assess ● Feedback is given to individual students After The after piece is often where we spend the least amount of time, but it is where we should be spending the most. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 130. Conversation: ■ What worked? ■ What didn’t work? ■ How should I change this for the future? What to Ask? Reflection: ■ How did you use your time? ■ What did you learn from this? ■ What are goals you need to set? ■ What will you need to accomplish that? “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2015 Pernille Ripp
- 132. My Standards ■ Determine/analyze development of central ideas/themes in a text; ■ Analyze how story elements interact. ■ Write informative texts to convey ideas; select, organize, and analyze content; summarize ■ Write narratives to share events, using vivid detail & ordered sequence. ■ Draw evidence from texts to support written analysis. ■ Command the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and vocabulary. ■ Present focused claims with support, using eye contact, volume, and elocution “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2015 Pernille Ripp
- 133. Covering Them ■ Students deconstruct ■ A few standards at a time ■ Spiral approach ■ Keep parents informed ■ Have continuous goal progress and discussion ■ Allow your standards to cut your curriculum down “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 134. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 135. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 136. The biggest gift we can give to students is slowing down for deeper understanding. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 137. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 138. Global Collaboration You don’t need to be 1:to:1
- 139. Share your own reading life “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 140. Types of Tools Solo Google Apps Tackk Kidblog S’more Animoto TodaysMeet Groups Skype Twitter Edmodo Voxer “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 142. Tackk.com
- 143. KidBlog - Blogging Will Change Them “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 144. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 145. Provide an audience “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 146. Todaysmeet - a backchannel discussion area
- 147. Skype in the Classroom
- 149. Why not ask an author?
- 150. Twitter - for Students Too
- 151. Why Twitter?
- 152. This Is Why
- 154. A walkie-talkie app
- 155. “Passionate Learners - Student Engagement” © 2016 Pernille Ripp
- 163. Create Your Own
- 164. Ideas for collaboration An open-ended question Discussion around a common topic A challenge A presentation A contest A community Partner with your library Ask about the weather Create for others
- 167. Ways to Spread Positivity ■ Speak up and stand up ■ Remove the power from those who are negative influences ■ Ask privately if they are okay ■ Spread the cheer
- 171. “ You may be just one, but think of how far one person’s words can go, the ripples they can start, the waves they can become.
- 173. “ “I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
- 175. “ “My hope for all teachers is that they should look at everything as if they were the student.” Carolyn
Hinweis der Redaktion
- The thing is though, I wasn’t born a rule breaker. In my hometown of Bjerringbro, Denmark (population 7,390), I did not strive to be a rebel without a cause. In fact, I was your average tomboy, a middle of the roader, the “if only he/she tried” child that we now strive not to label in our own classrooms.
- My name is Pernille Ripp. I am a teacher much like many of you I am an author, I am a mother and I am also a dreamer. I am someone who believes in the power of inspiration and the power of reflection. I am someone who believes that our power is defined by our thoughts, not just our words.
- Mindset Main Points: I am not an expert I am on a journey that has led me to reflect a great deal on what I do So are you, some of you may be further than me, and that’s ok. I don’t expect you to compare to each other but instead celebrate the journey you are on and the steps you are taking. When I first started teaching, I thought I had to do what everyone else was doing: book clubs led by me, book reports with projects, dictation of genres, leveled baskets, and a serious check out system, I didn’t read the books my students read
- Aha Main Points: I killed my students’ love of reading, Reading was homework Reading was graded on a scale Book report rubrics meant even if a kid had worked super hard they couldn’t get a good grade - falling asleep I had to share my passion for reading
- Bring people up to post theirs
- Think of doing this with students whenever they get frustrated or caught up in minutia
- Since 2006, more than 350,000 students in over 40 states have taken the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), in which they were asked why they were disengaged or if they have ever considered dropping out, and why. Engaging in learning activities is an active action. It takes focus. But since focusing can be tiring, students will often decide to “switch off” if they don’t find the effort rewarding enough. This is where boredom comes in. According to the HSSSE, Two out of three respondents (66%) in 2009 are bored at least one day a week in class in high school; nearly half of the students (49%) are bored every day and approximately one out of every six students (17%) are bored in every class. http://www.naviance.com/blog/how-to-increase-student-engagement-at-your-school#.VoCNBRGMBaE
- The Gallup Student Poll surveyed nearly 500,000 students in grades five through 12 from more than 1,700 public schools in 37 states in 2012. We found that nearly eight in 10 elementary students who participated in the poll are engaged with school. By middle school that falls to about six in 10 students. And by high school, only four in 10 students qualify as engaged.
- Talk at your table/turn and talk
- I asked my students what they wanted to make sure to tell you and here is some of what they said
- This is so simple and yet it is one the biggest things we refuse to do. Why? Most students will not abuse this, yet we assume that some will, so what? Then talk to them about it. You want to see your distracted kids get more focused - let them sit wherever they want. If it doesn’t work tell them privately.
- Grades are only an opinion and not a true indicator of what they really now. So we need more ways to provide feedback than a grade; have students self-assess, have them reflect, give them written feedback. The minute you put a grade on something it is done. It doesn’t matter what you say after that. So if you want students to keep growing as learners, don’t put on a grade on it or at the very least, don’t show it to them.
- I started to do this and boy was I surprised; all that studee I thought would be short and sweet wasn’t really. We tell students to have lives outside of school but then give them more practice work - why? Do they all really need it? If they do, then we are not doing our jobs as teachers.
- What labels are we creating for our students? What do they overhear us say? No child comes to school thinking they are a struggling reader or bad at math, they get that from us.
- Talk at your table/turn and talk
- When I first started teaching reading I thought it was all about reading and answering questions
- what had happened to my passionate readers and writers? Those kids that came in to the classroom clutching their books who dreamed of ebing authors?
- I thought if I added book clubs I would reignite the passion - we would have a shared text and students could support each other through it
- Book clubs didn’t do it - I had to realize that I was part of the problem, more so than I thought and that the students needed amazing ways to reignite their passion for literacy.
- Create passionate readers and writers in our classroom so we could be contagious
- How we use our time is the first step? What do we value, not what we say we value, but what we actually do. What is the first thing to go when you are running short on time? For me it was IR and creative writing.
- Reflection - teacher or leadership reflection
- Reflection - teacher or leadership reflection
- Which of these do you control?
- Are we taking enough time to simply talk about books? Get to know our readers? Confer with students? Or are we so overtaken with the limited time we have that we have little room for discussion? Do students have enough time to talk about books and their reading life?
- Energy up or energy down - yoga or dance break Silent sharing - whiteboards to share Dance break - depending on the mood you need Turn and talk - teach someone else Draw it out - drawing out thoughts/solutions Affirm and replace - affirm feelings, shift the focus to something else
- Do you agree?
- Insert classroom pictures
- Have a space that is run by the students - have them share their reading life
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NuhEooGlKGCb9KuyHWc9_y3_I9wWpW7Ou_q2qjUPex0/edit?usp=sharing Reflection on classroom environment
- Because that is what will speak the loudest
- http://d1025403.site.myhosting.com/files.listen.org/Facts.htm
- http://d1025403.site.myhosting.com/files.listen.org/Facts.htm
- http://d1025403.site.myhosting.com/files.listen.org/Facts.htm
- http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/languageteaching/daviesessay1tttessaybank.pdf
- https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/john-hattie-teachers-must-see-their-impact-believe-it
- http://d1025403.site.myhosting.com/files.listen.org/Facts.htm
- http://arcaold.unive.it/bitstream/10278/1005/1/05Menegale.pdf
- https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/english-teachers-are-you-talking-too-much-class
- Reflection/turn and talk
- The casual labels we use become powerful titles for a child Main Points: Not struggling readers - but emerging readers Not slow readers - but meticulous readers Idea: Ask students how they would like to be referred to Don’t try to create fake labels, students will see through it and figure it out Have them embrace a reading identity - our language matters
- Students don’t actually need rewards to work. Sure they work in the short-run but guess what after a while you have to up the ante and keep going up because it just isn’t going to be very effective for long. And yes, students will take rewards if you offer them, but they will actually also work without the perpetual carrot dangling in front of their noses. And you won’t believe me until you actually try it. Rewards tend to go to the same kids over and over and over. We say that it is really up to the students to get the rewards but at the same time we can probably all list the kids that would have a hard time earning one. So then who are we fooling? Rewards split the students. If you ever want to create a class of have and have not’s in your classroom just hand out rewards; the students will quickly figure out who the “smart” kids are and who are not. Or worse, who the teachers like and who they don’t. Rewards devalue the learning. By attaching a reward to a learning task, you are telling a student that the task is not worth doing if it weren’t for the reward. That is not how learning should be. Learning should be fun, exciting, and curiosity driven, not mechanical and focused on the end point. When a reward becomes the end point, then that is the focus. You keep giving rewards; the students won’t work without it. With rewards you create a culture of “what’s in it for me?” and the learning just isn’t enough. And yet the learning and experience should be enough for the child, provided it is meaningful and purposeful. So set them up from the beginning to earn rewards and soon there will be hardly any extra work or deeper digging into concepts. If the child knows that they “just” have to do whatever to get a reward, or an A for that matter, then that is what they will do. The learning stops wherever you dictate it to. The students will argue with you. My first year students would get upset over which sticker I gave them because in their minds certain stickers were worth more. A sticker! Now equate that to extra recess, or books, or special lunches and think of the conflict it creates. You want to make sure your struggling learners keep feeling more disenfranchised; keep up the rewards. Rewards become the measure of success. If you don’t reward a child then they don’t think they have succeeded. No more handing them back a project with great feedback; if that sticker or some recognition isn’t attached then it just isn’t enough. I had students collect stickers and notes to showcase to the other students, it became a competition of who could gather more. It wasn’t about what they had learned or how great a project was, it was only about how many they had. Students lose their voice in the learning process. When a teacher is the only one deciding on success shown through rewards, the classroom does not belong to the students. That teacher is therefore the ultimate power within the room and the kids know it. If you want to create a student-centered classroom, you cannot have such a vast difference in learning authority. To build the kids confidence they have to have a voice. But they all get rewarded…. Some schools run weekly recognitions of students for whatever reason, or some classrooms do. And while this may seem innocent enough, after all, there is nothing tangible tied to it, it still causes jealousy and anxiety. If a program calls for recognizing every single student for the same things, then why are we recognizing in a public way in the first place. Wouldn’t it be easier just to state the expectations and then tell the kids that we are happy they are all living up to it? There is no need to create weekly recognition if we are doing our jobs right as educators; making our students feel valued and respected as part of the learning community. Rewards create more work for the teacher. I was so worried that everyone had been on my “Awesome board” that I kept track = more paperwork. I also had to make sure that I was eating lunch with all of my students = more paperwork. I also had to make sure I could justify to parents why one child got a certain privilege and another didn’t = more paperwork. Do you see where I am going? Rewards and trying to keep it “fair and balanced” creates more work for us without providing any long-term benefits.
- Reflection
- Reflection
- Students don’t actually need rewards to work. Sure they work in the short-run but guess what after a while you have to up the ante and keep going up because it just isn’t going to be very effective for long. And yes, students will take rewards if you offer them, but they will actually also work without the perpetual carrot dangling in front of their noses. And you won’t believe me until you actually try it. Rewards tend to go to the same kids over and over and over. We say that it is really up to the students to get the rewards but at the same time we can probably all list the kids that would have a hard time earning one. So then who are we fooling? Rewards split the students. If you ever want to create a class of have and have not’s in your classroom just hand out rewards; the students will quickly figure out who the “smart” kids are and who are not. Or worse, who the teachers like and who they don’t. Rewards devalue the learning. By attaching a reward to a learning task, you are telling a student that the task is not worth doing if it weren’t for the reward. That is not how learning should be. Learning should be fun, exciting, and curiosity driven, not mechanical and focused on the end point. When a reward becomes the end point, then that is the focus. You keep giving rewards; the students won’t work without it. With rewards you create a culture of “what’s in it for me?” and the learning just isn’t enough. And yet the learning and experience should be enough for the child, provided it is meaningful and purposeful. So set them up from the beginning to earn rewards and soon there will be hardly any extra work or deeper digging into concepts. If the child knows that they “just” have to do whatever to get a reward, or an A for that matter, then that is what they will do. The learning stops wherever you dictate it to. The students will argue with you. My first year students would get upset over which sticker I gave them because in their minds certain stickers were worth more. A sticker! Now equate that to extra recess, or books, or special lunches and think of the conflict it creates. You want to make sure your struggling learners keep feeling more disenfranchised; keep up the rewards. Rewards become the measure of success. If you don’t reward a child then they don’t think they have succeeded. No more handing them back a project with great feedback; if that sticker or some recognition isn’t attached then it just isn’t enough. I had students collect stickers and notes to showcase to the other students, it became a competition of who could gather more. It wasn’t about what they had learned or how great a project was, it was only about how many they had. Students lose their voice in the learning process. When a teacher is the only one deciding on success shown through rewards, the classroom does not belong to the students. That teacher is therefore the ultimate power within the room and the kids know it. If you want to create a student-centered classroom, you cannot have such a vast difference in learning authority. To build the kids confidence they have to have a voice. But they all get rewarded…. Some schools run weekly recognitions of students for whatever reason, or some classrooms do. And while this may seem innocent enough, after all, there is nothing tangible tied to it, it still causes jealousy and anxiety. If a program calls for recognizing every single student for the same things, then why are we recognizing in a public way in the first place. Wouldn’t it be easier just to state the expectations and then tell the kids that we are happy they are all living up to it? There is no need to create weekly recognition if we are doing our jobs right as educators; making our students feel valued and respected as part of the learning community. Rewards create more work for the teacher. I was so worried that everyone had been on my “Awesome board” that I kept track = more paperwork. I also had to make sure that I was eating lunch with all of my students = more paperwork. I also had to make sure I could justify to parents why one child got a certain privilege and another didn’t = more paperwork. Do you see where I am going? Rewards and trying to keep it “fair and balanced” creates more work for us without providing any long-term benefits.
- http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1292&context=theses
- And which would you like to focus on more?
- When should we have student choice? All the time
- Students don’t actually need rewards to work. Sure they work in the short-run but guess what after a while you have to up the ante and keep going up because it just isn’t going to be very effective for long. And yes, students will take rewards if you offer them, but they will actually also work without the perpetual carrot dangling in front of their noses. And you won’t believe me until you actually try it. Rewards tend to go to the same kids over and over and over. We say that it is really up to the students to get the rewards but at the same time we can probably all list the kids that would have a hard time earning one. So then who are we fooling? Rewards split the students. If you ever want to create a class of have and have not’s in your classroom just hand out rewards; the students will quickly figure out who the “smart” kids are and who are not. Or worse, who the teachers like and who they don’t. Rewards devalue the learning. By attaching a reward to a learning task, you are telling a student that the task is not worth doing if it weren’t for the reward. That is not how learning should be. Learning should be fun, exciting, and curiosity driven, not mechanical and focused on the end point. When a reward becomes the end point, then that is the focus. You keep giving rewards; the students won’t work without it. With rewards you create a culture of “what’s in it for me?” and the learning just isn’t enough. And yet the learning and experience should be enough for the child, provided it is meaningful and purposeful. So set them up from the beginning to earn rewards and soon there will be hardly any extra work or deeper digging into concepts. If the child knows that they “just” have to do whatever to get a reward, or an A for that matter, then that is what they will do. The learning stops wherever you dictate it to. The students will argue with you. My first year students would get upset over which sticker I gave them because in their minds certain stickers were worth more. A sticker! Now equate that to extra recess, or books, or special lunches and think of the conflict it creates. You want to make sure your struggling learners keep feeling more disenfranchised; keep up the rewards. Rewards become the measure of success. If you don’t reward a child then they don’t think they have succeeded. No more handing them back a project with great feedback; if that sticker or some recognition isn’t attached then it just isn’t enough. I had students collect stickers and notes to showcase to the other students, it became a competition of who could gather more. It wasn’t about what they had learned or how great a project was, it was only about how many they had. Students lose their voice in the learning process. When a teacher is the only one deciding on success shown through rewards, the classroom does not belong to the students. That teacher is therefore the ultimate power within the room and the kids know it. If you want to create a student-centered classroom, you cannot have such a vast difference in learning authority. To build the kids confidence they have to have a voice. But they all get rewarded…. Some schools run weekly recognitions of students for whatever reason, or some classrooms do. And while this may seem innocent enough, after all, there is nothing tangible tied to it, it still causes jealousy and anxiety. If a program calls for recognizing every single student for the same things, then why are we recognizing in a public way in the first place. Wouldn’t it be easier just to state the expectations and then tell the kids that we are happy they are all living up to it? There is no need to create weekly recognition if we are doing our jobs right as educators; making our students feel valued and respected as part of the learning community. Rewards create more work for the teacher. I was so worried that everyone had been on my “Awesome board” that I kept track = more paperwork. I also had to make sure that I was eating lunch with all of my students = more paperwork. I also had to make sure I could justify to parents why one child got a certain privilege and another didn’t = more paperwork. Do you see where I am going? Rewards and trying to keep it “fair and balanced” creates more work for us without providing any long-term benefits.
- Turn and talk
- While most students will do book clubs, they ask us to please not assign the book - let them choose from a large selection assign the pages - let them figure it out assign the questions lead the discussion - let them do it have an unrelated project attached to it
- Most kids don’t need reading logs because they already read Those that could benefit from them usually don’t fill them out They end up quantifying an otherwise relaxing experience If you want to know if a child is reading; ask them Have them fill out a log in class if needed
- Why Reading Sucks… Main Points: Ask the students why reading sucks - exorcise their demons to make room for new habits May seem counterintuitive but students need to know they can be honest with you, they have to know they can trust you, plus it gives them a way of testing you - can you handle the truth or will you get upset? This is important as we need students to trust us with their true reading habits - are they really fake reading? Are they really reading the right book or are they too hard For there to be a true passionate reading environment, it has to be mired in truth
- Students tell me of well-meaning teachers that would take recess away to have them read instead. I have done this. It did not have the intended outcome.
- For several years I have used either the 40 book challenge or the 25 book challenge with my students, but I have modified it more and more. Some kids just want to enjoy the act of reading, rather than feel the pressure of a challenge. While I still see the value in challenging students, this response is something that has made me think a lot about how I react myself to a challenge and the pressure I feel, rather than loving reading
- It is a risk to love…Book abandonment Main Points: When we focus on quantity versus quality we lose sight of what reading should feel like Book challenges - what are they great for, what are they not so good for Share out a book challenge idea Abandoning a book is not something to be ashamed of - you know yourself well enough as a reader to let go of something that will stop you from being a passionate reader - hooray!
- Students report having a lot of homework so then the last thing they want to do when they get done with that is read. As a school community we need to take a hard look at the homework we assign and whether or not it is more important than reading. We are sending mixed signals to students about what is important We often don’t count reading as part of our homework
- http://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/reading-in-school.htm
- Again, in our eagerness to help students discover who they are as readers we have started giving students levels, lexiles, and designations for which books they can read. Students are bigger than their labels. Sure, help them discover which books they should consider reading but do not stop them from reading some books because they are outside of their level. Three things will happen; they will struggle through it, they will abandon it, or they will pretend they read it to save face. Help them navigate great books and keep handing them to them.
- Levels are a teacher’s tool - Irene Fountas Main Points: Trend of levels being used to support readers Be careful, levels can become a box that we place the child in Idea: Only level part of your library Think hard about any level Idea: You grab 3 books that you think may interest a student, they grab 3 books - then they pick.
- Our obsession with fluency has led to a notion that all great readers are fast readers, and that is not true.
- Proficient readers have a satisfying rate, one where they can fully comprehend what they are reading and make meaning. Often when readers race the clock such as on standardized test, we lose comprehension rendering the results invalid. And why do we time tests? It is for administrative convenience, not because it is good for students. Because a timed test is easier to manage than one that is untimed. According to Thomas Newkirk (2011), “the fluent reader is demonstrating comprehension, taking cues from the text, and taking pleasure in finding the right tempo for the text”
- Depends on the purpose, depends on the book Yet we incentivize kids that can read quickly We create environments in which we encourage students to fake read - reading logs, competitions, rewards, - story of Nathan and reading two books in one night
- If a child is re-reading something that is not necessarily a bad thing. They may be savoring a text, wanting to revisit it, they may be creating deeper or they may need help finding something that is worthy of their love. Ask questions before you steer away.
- http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/kfrr
- This works in some cases but if you love science fiction or fantasy this rule will stop you in your tracks
- Don’t care much about standardized test scores
- The Commission on Reading's report Becoming a Nation of Readers We often do warm up work and such when we should use that time to have students read instead. My students read at least 1,800 minutes this year if not more
- When should we have student choice? All the time
- When should we have student choice? All the time
- Lesson planning survey https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NuhEooGlKGCb9KuyHWc9_y3_I9wWpW7Ou_q2qjUPex0/edit?usp=sharing
- http://www.scilearn.com/sites/default/files/imported/alldocs/rsrch/30388RAExtra10min.pdf
- What to do if students are lost? Need support? Finished early? Finished late? Etc
- http://www.eoc.sc.gov/reportsandpublications/everythingaboutreading/Pages/WhatisEngagedReading.aspx
- Great way to start a conference
- Turn and talk
- Turn and talk
- Are we taking enough time to simply talk about books? Get to know our readers? Confer with students? Or are we so overtaken with the limited time we have that we have little room for discussion? Do students have enough time to talk about books and their reading life?
- Using tools that allow students to collaborate in real time our in different time zones Ideas - continue the story, group book reviews, writing for an authentic audience
- Use blogging for book recommendations book discussions sharing writing
- Ideas: mini book clubs, email to voice, feedback in writing, note student privacy or parental consent
- February 3rd
- Partner with your local library - field trip, bring them in - our school library is not enough http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/part-3-library-users/
- I say there is hope. That amongst all of this fear, all of this uncertainty and poorly considered reform, we can still look at our students and see them rise. They know we suffer through testing with them. We can teach them to be resilient. We teach them that sometimes life asks you to do things that make no sense, and we must get through it with grace, courage, and creativity. We can still teach them to love true learning. So when it all seems to be too much, too dictated, too little too late, think of the students. Think of their potential to be passionate learners. Think of the good we can do for them every day when they enter our schools, when we tell them good morning, when we end the day by saying thank you. Thank you for being part of our room, for being part of something bigger than you, for placing your faith in me as your teacher, and for fighting for change by speaking out. So have hope. Because our students do, day after day. They hope we will build a community with them and that school will become about them again. You being here today is a step toward hope because you are trying to become a better educator
- I am continually awed by the incredible educators I get to teach and learn with every day, in my school district of Orgeon and in my networks. I am renewed in my already strong belief that we are the change. We are the change for all of those children whose lives have been determined by assumptions, circumstance, and test scores outside of their control. We are the change for all of those teachers who don’t think they have a voice. You do. Although you may just be one person, there are so many things you can do to change the system. Bring the focus back on the kids, improve teaching conditions, and keep our students passionate and curious. Give them a voice within your room so that the whole school may hear them. Connect their voices globally so that the whole world may hear them.
- Stand up for yourself and your beliefs; they matter, and so do you Speak up because as each voice joins the chorus, we become louder. Blog, write to your paper, talk to your community, start a conversation and spread the word. Change will come if we continue to fight for it. Join together - enough of this us versus them debate. Enough with tearing other teachers down. Show me a perfect teacher, and I will show you 10 people that disagree. We are not perfect, nor should we ever think we are; embrace each other and stand together; this is not just for us but for the kids. Try your ideas, steal my ideas, and then be proud if they work. Be proud if they fail for at least you tried something. Believe in them, believe in you, and believe in your team. Be the change. Be the change. Be the change. You may be just one, but think of how far one person’s words can go, the ripples they can start, the waves they can become.
- Our youngest daughter, Augustine, showed up 10 weeks early weighing a little less than 4 pounds. Faced with many weeks in the NICU we inevitably talked about what being born premature can do to brain development and what types of disabilities a child like her may have, particularly how her method of learning might need to be different than non-premature children. Having her made me realize that we urgently need to create classrooms where all students can learn no matter what their start in life was. No matter what they go home to, no matter what they have to overcome. Teaching all children is a personal mission to me and that is why learning should be personal as well. We have to teach all of the kids, not just the ones that we were taught how to teach.
- What if, at this conference you decided to not just be inspired by others’ ideas, but also decided to share some of your own. What if you spoke freely, let your creativity out and finally shared that thing you have been thinking of doing but haven’t been quite sure how to start. What if you decided to start believing in yourself today? What if instead of saying no to yourself you said yes, just this once? What is the best thing that can happen?
- We don’t need more money to change the way we teach We don’t need more technology to personalize our learning We just need to change first So take your dream and your need for change and do something with it. It is not too late to reinvent yourself, not too late to make a difference. And if you are just starting out, don’t start the way I did. Start out right. Be the change. Give the classroom back to your students. Teach all of the students you have, not just the ones that fit the mold. Personalize your learning starting now.