I enjoy collecting quotes and sharing them with my students. In my desk at work, I have two envelopes. Right now, one is overflowing with scraps of paper that have written or printed thoughts from other people. And almost every day of the school year, I'll search through that envelope for one to write on my whiteboard, an insight to share with my students and any adults who visit my classroom. The second envelope is empty, but it will get fuller and fuller as I transfer the scraps of paper from the first envelope to it--my effort not to repeat a quote during the two years I have my students. In the past, they've noticed repetitions, and on several occasions, students have given me either their own quotes, or ones they've found, to share.
Recently, I came across the following idea: "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." This is credited to Theodore Roosevelt, but, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson University, there is no known source written by Roosevelt to which this idea can be attributed.
Regardless of the source's accuracy, I find the thought intriguing. I agree with the opinion suggested that a person who lacks morals is a menace to society. A moral, in the sense of this quote, is a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. And because this quote is typically assigned to Theodore Roosevelt, a former president of the United States, it might be assumed that the morals aren't Roosevelt's personal convictions, but the commonly agreed upon set of morals around which the United States society is oriented. A person who is unaware of or who doesn't subscribe to this set of morals could be a potential threat to harm the greater community.
But what challenges me as a teacher is the suggestion that educating the mind and educating the morals can be exclusive. Can a person develop a well-educated mind without also developing morals? Is it possible to be a critical thinker without considering the set of beliefs by which one will conduct him or herself? And is this quote questioning my practice?
A quick perusal of local school districts' statements of vision/mission/purposes yields the following ideas: "...with engaged and enthusiastic learners...is committed to developing well-rounded individuals...cultivates curiosity and collaboration...encourages responsible citizenship...engage students' minds, hearts, and voices so that they become educated, caring, and responsible adults...inspires self-driven excellence...where all students will learn, grow, and become contributing members of our society...prepare students to become life-long learners and contributing members of society..." It's evident that on paper, or websites in this case, public school educators are committed to educating both the minds and the morals of students. But can this be translated easily into action?
Morals seem to depend on our judgment. In argument writing, an argument of judgment explores what may be right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, fitting or not fitting, etc. But is it easy to make sound judgments? Good judgment, it appears, depends on the honing of other critical thinking skills. Making inferences, categorizing, identifying characteristics, determining similarities and differences, recognizing causes and effects, and making reasonable predictions are all skills upon which judgments rest. For example, an unfortunate problem in schools is bullying. Students report witnessing bullying, and the moral issue they then face is whether or not to intervene. In order for a student to decide to step in when he or she witnesses bullying, a number of other thought processes need to occur. The student must know what constitutes bullying, be able to tell when a situation is bullying, and when it isn't, be aware of the different ways to interrupt a bullying situation, and have a picture of the dynamics that typically result in bullying and the immediate and long-term effects of bullying on the parties involved.
As I've illustrated, it takes time and effort to make good judgments. Also, each of the aforementioned thinking skills require clear instruction and much practice. Ideally, students would tackle judgments based upon our society's morals after some experience making sound judgments around concrete topics, such as which mascot is the best choice for a school to adopt or which person best qualifies to receive a particular award or why a game or toy may or may not be suited for a particular child. But that would mean passing up many opportunities to address basic values of our nation.
So, it appears that public school educators, in theory, are committed to educating both the mind and the morals; the path to educating about the morals is through and dependent on educating the mind; and that path is long, complex, and arduous. But am I getting my students to the point where they can grapple with our society's values and asking them to reason out how they think about core morals?
When I reflect on my teaching recently, I must admit I don't sufficiently attend to educating my students in morals. I give a lot of focus to critical thinking skills. And I allot time, occasionally, to discussion or writing about morals students encounter in the literature we read. But, for the most part, I depend on my modeling to educate students in morals. I leave it to the students to glean from my actions what they should adopt as morals of our society.
However, every day in my local newspapers, I see evidence of people in our country violating what I perceive as morals of our society. A woman allegedly shoots four people in response to having a child removed from her custody. Two people are arrested for intending to sell drugs to addicts. Dozens of students at an Ivy League school are caught cheating in a Sports, Ethics & Religion class.
Yet, at the same time, I can also always point to instances in the paper of people upholding the morals of our society. Recently, in the local paper, there have been articles about a man who earned both a Purple Heart and Bronze Star during his service in World War II, a group of volunteers who plan to record the life stories of people with Alzheimer's disease, and a retail company's plan to eliminate stereotyping in their promotion of toys.
Lorin Anderson, in "What Every Teacher Should Know: Reflections on 'Educating the Developing Mind,'" and Daniel J. Levitin, in The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, both clearly state what they believe should be a primary goal of educators. They think we should emphasize teaching students how to make good judgments about the quality of the sources and the information they find while doing research. And this is an important skill. Without reliable information, students will be misguided in their thinking. But being able to discern which sources are and aren't dependable and what information in sources is valid seems to be just a part of a greater process and not the ultimate goal.
The eventual target, it appears, should be to educate students in morals. And I believe I've been remiss in my approach. It seems incumbent upon me to address, explicitly, morals with my students. For, in the end, I want them to be good people--generous, honest, accepting, courteous, gallant, just, and gentle. My hope is to do my part to help my students become protectors of our society.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
A Lesson Teachers Can Learn From Grey's Anatomy
For the past few months, I've been watching old seasons of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. At the end of a long day, it's easy to queue up another episode, recline on the couch, and lose myself in the social and professional difficulties of the show's main characters.
One critical aspect of Grey's Anatomy, is that the primary setting, Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, is a teaching hospital. This setting drives the plot of the first eight seasons--a group of doctors progress through their residencies towards becoming attending physicians. These residents learn from their mentors in labs, patients' rooms, operating rooms, and the operating rooms' observation decks.
An observation deck is often the setting for scenes. Viewers see characters seated above an operating room, and the observers are regularly taking notes on the proceedings below. It's clear that residents are expected to observe operations and learn from what they see and hear attending surgeons and other residents doing and discussing in the operating room.
But it's not just residents who frequent the galleries during operations. Attending surgeons are also seen watching procedures, and taking notes. It's clear that these characters, who have already established themselves in their careers, are still interested in learning from their coworkers. And it's here that teachers can learn a lesson--observation is a powerful way to improve one's practice.
Over the holiday break, my principal sent out an email to teachers in the building. She asked for volunteers to have administrators in the district come to a class and observe us teach. The purpose of the observation was for the administrators to practice using a new evaluation method that will be implemented across the district next year. I volunteered.
This past Thursday, four administrators came to one of my classes to observe me teach. Even though I knew this observation was for them to learn, I was nervous. I hoped that all would go well--that students would be on task; that the discussion I had planned would be lively; that I would not have time to kill at the end of the lesson. A few hours after the administrators left, one sent me an email, thanking me for letting them observe me. In her email, she used the terms "daunting," "well above any job description," and "this risk" to describe the observation.
I find it regretful that an observation of a teacher, done by other educators and meant for the purpose of learning to become better at one's job, is an anomaly that garners the above thinking from both myself and the observers. I should have been at ease in this situation, and the administrators should have seen this as just another of many opportunities to become better at leading teachers to being better teachers.
So, I've decided that it's time for me to do my part to make a change. Just like the Grey's Anatomy attending surgeons, I intend to make it a regular part of my practice to observe my coworkers. I can learn ways to improve how I teach from watching any of my coworkers--those with 30-plus years of experience, and those with less than five; those who teach the same subject as me, and those who teach other subjects; those who are currently teaching 8th graders like me, and those who are teaching 5th graders.
And I plan to make more of a point of inviting my coworkers in to watch my classes. I enjoyed the conversation I had with the administrators on Thursday after the class was over. As we talked about the lesson, I found myself reflecting on what I'd done and making mental notes of how I would adjust the lesson for the next class. Being observed helps me be more mindful of my techniques, of all the little things I do and don't do that may or may not make a lesson a success for the students.
I'm a teacher. But I'm also a learner. And while learning to become a better teacher through attending workshops, doing independent reading, taking part in book studies, and taking graduate classes are all valuable, I should also be taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge and skill in teaching that surrounds me by both observing my coworkers and being observed by them while we teach.
One critical aspect of Grey's Anatomy, is that the primary setting, Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, is a teaching hospital. This setting drives the plot of the first eight seasons--a group of doctors progress through their residencies towards becoming attending physicians. These residents learn from their mentors in labs, patients' rooms, operating rooms, and the operating rooms' observation decks.
An observation deck is often the setting for scenes. Viewers see characters seated above an operating room, and the observers are regularly taking notes on the proceedings below. It's clear that residents are expected to observe operations and learn from what they see and hear attending surgeons and other residents doing and discussing in the operating room.
But it's not just residents who frequent the galleries during operations. Attending surgeons are also seen watching procedures, and taking notes. It's clear that these characters, who have already established themselves in their careers, are still interested in learning from their coworkers. And it's here that teachers can learn a lesson--observation is a powerful way to improve one's practice.
Over the holiday break, my principal sent out an email to teachers in the building. She asked for volunteers to have administrators in the district come to a class and observe us teach. The purpose of the observation was for the administrators to practice using a new evaluation method that will be implemented across the district next year. I volunteered.
This past Thursday, four administrators came to one of my classes to observe me teach. Even though I knew this observation was for them to learn, I was nervous. I hoped that all would go well--that students would be on task; that the discussion I had planned would be lively; that I would not have time to kill at the end of the lesson. A few hours after the administrators left, one sent me an email, thanking me for letting them observe me. In her email, she used the terms "daunting," "well above any job description," and "this risk" to describe the observation.
I find it regretful that an observation of a teacher, done by other educators and meant for the purpose of learning to become better at one's job, is an anomaly that garners the above thinking from both myself and the observers. I should have been at ease in this situation, and the administrators should have seen this as just another of many opportunities to become better at leading teachers to being better teachers.
So, I've decided that it's time for me to do my part to make a change. Just like the Grey's Anatomy attending surgeons, I intend to make it a regular part of my practice to observe my coworkers. I can learn ways to improve how I teach from watching any of my coworkers--those with 30-plus years of experience, and those with less than five; those who teach the same subject as me, and those who teach other subjects; those who are currently teaching 8th graders like me, and those who are teaching 5th graders.
And I plan to make more of a point of inviting my coworkers in to watch my classes. I enjoyed the conversation I had with the administrators on Thursday after the class was over. As we talked about the lesson, I found myself reflecting on what I'd done and making mental notes of how I would adjust the lesson for the next class. Being observed helps me be more mindful of my techniques, of all the little things I do and don't do that may or may not make a lesson a success for the students.
I'm a teacher. But I'm also a learner. And while learning to become a better teacher through attending workshops, doing independent reading, taking part in book studies, and taking graduate classes are all valuable, I should also be taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge and skill in teaching that surrounds me by both observing my coworkers and being observed by them while we teach.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Welcome the Common Core State Standards
In the United
States today, some people seem to think our public education system is broken.
We're told what is happening in the classrooms of the 21st century
is a shadow of the educational approaches of the mid-20th
century. An impression exists that the techniques of educators today are
failing to prepare students for the challenges of adult life. But this is
untrue. Many trends and practices in public schools today are proving
successful at preparing students for college, the workforce, and civic life in
the future.
One of the hottest educational topics of concern gracing the editorial pages and education sections of newspapers lately is the Common Core State Standards [CCSS]. Many people have misgivings about the impact on students and the public of implementing a set of standards throughout the country. While the CCSS and their execution aren't perfect, people should be ready to embrace them because the CCSS are a positive development in public education today.
One of the hottest educational topics of concern gracing the editorial pages and education sections of newspapers lately is the Common Core State Standards [CCSS]. Many people have misgivings about the impact on students and the public of implementing a set of standards throughout the country. While the CCSS and their execution aren't perfect, people should be ready to embrace them because the CCSS are a positive development in public education today.
Some have
suggested the CCSS are a national curriculum. This is incorrect. A curriculum
is a set of courses offered by a particular institution or that comprise a
particular field of study. Calling the CCSS a national curriculum conjures
images of students across the country only taking Civics, Economics, U.S.
History, and World History for high school Social Studies classes or only
taking Language Arts, math, science, and Social Studies in middle school
because these are the subjects with which the CCSS are specifically oriented.
But the CCSS doesn't require, or even suggest, study of only particular
subjects. Rather, the CCSS outlines sets of skills students should learn in
preparation for college, careers, and civic life.
For example,
one standard is students should be able to read an informational text and make
logical inferences based on details from the text. The CCSS then outlines a
progression of benchmarks, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, which will
enable students to achieve this standard at a degree of depth necessary for
college, careers, or civic life. Thus, a third grade student will be expected
to determine the main idea of a grade-level text and identify details which
support that main idea. An eighth grade student must also identify the main
idea of an informational text, but he or she must be able to analyze the
development of the idea over the course of the text. And a twelfth grade
student must be able to identify two central ideas in an informational text and
analyze how they interact and build on one another as they develop through the
course of the text.
National
standards in education are not a new development. The National Council of
Teachers of English adopted standards for English/Language Arts in 1996. The
National Council for the Social Studies developed standards in 1994. In 1989,
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics published Curriculum and Evaluation Standards
for School Mathematics.
And the National Science Education Standards were established in 1996. Also,
because of the No Child Left Behind Act, individual states, or small groups of states, such as Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, developed sets of
standards for public school students to achieve. The CCSS are an outgrowth of
such standards.
Neither
are national standards unique to the realm of education. They may not be called
standards, but in many aspects of our everyday lives, we reap the benefits of
national standards. Take a man traveling by car from New Hampshire to Missouri.
He can, thankfully, be assured that the bridge he drives across in New York is
subject to the same standards of design as a bridge he drives across every day
on the way to work from Newport to Claremont. And if he stops to eat at a
restaurant in Indiana, he can be confident the grilled chicken on the menu has
been processed according to the same good manufacturing practices of food as
the chicken he likes to have as a topping on a pizza from Out of the Ordinary.
Finally, when our intrepid traveler reaches his destination, he trips while stepping
out of the car and breaks his arm. But he can be happy to know that the doctor
setting the bone is expected to adhere to the same performance measures as the
doctor at Valley Regional Hospital who successfully set the traveler’s leg, broken
while skiing on Mount Sunapee, the previous winter. It’s important to establish
national standards to help ensure the public’s well being, including the future
success of public school students across the country.
The establishment of the CCSS should hearten a variety of stakeholders, as well. Right now, 40% of freshmen in colleges must take one or more remedial courses before entering into the typical curricula of the colleges. There has been a disconnect between the rigor of preparation in K-12 schools and the expectations of colleges. In the future, college admissions counselors may feel confident the B a student from Florida receives in English during eleventh grade means she can perform as well in English 101 in college as a student who receives a B in eleventh grade English at a high school in Massachusetts. Also, the CCSS should, ultimately, save students, parents, and businesses money because the students are prepared for either college or careers after high school and do not need to pay for remedial courses or require costly extra training by businesses. As well, a math teacher in a public school in Montana should feel confident that a student who has transferred there from Arizona can slide easily into the math class. And parents should not have to be concerned that if they move from a school district in Maryland with their fourth grade student, their child will be behind in reading in the school district in Alabama.
The establishment of the CCSS should hearten a variety of stakeholders, as well. Right now, 40% of freshmen in colleges must take one or more remedial courses before entering into the typical curricula of the colleges. There has been a disconnect between the rigor of preparation in K-12 schools and the expectations of colleges. In the future, college admissions counselors may feel confident the B a student from Florida receives in English during eleventh grade means she can perform as well in English 101 in college as a student who receives a B in eleventh grade English at a high school in Massachusetts. Also, the CCSS should, ultimately, save students, parents, and businesses money because the students are prepared for either college or careers after high school and do not need to pay for remedial courses or require costly extra training by businesses. As well, a math teacher in a public school in Montana should feel confident that a student who has transferred there from Arizona can slide easily into the math class. And parents should not have to be concerned that if they move from a school district in Maryland with their fourth grade student, their child will be behind in reading in the school district in Alabama.
That last point addresses a primary reason why the CCSS are positive to the progress of public education in the United States. From Brown vs. Board of Education to Lau vs. Nichols to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to No Child Left Behind, efforts have been made to provide each student in public schools with the equal opportunity to receive a good-quality education. By adopting national sets of standards for knowledge and skills acquisition, the state and federal governments are further trying to assure that students, no matter what school district in what state of the country they are learning in, are all having the opportunity to learn to the same standards of achievement.
Without question, the CCSS are tough. They ask students to learn complex concepts and skills throughout their public education. Upon comparison to the standards states already had in place, researchers found only two states with standards as challenging as the CCSS. But public educators and the parents of the students passing through the public schools should be confident in students’ abilities to learn at high levels. College, business, and civic leaders are—they know what it takes to succeed in those arenas as adults, and the CCSS have their support. The adults tasked with preparing children in public schools to pass onto college, business, and civic positions should adopt the CCSS as a guide to students’ future success and incorporate the standards into their curriculum at all levels of public education.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Students' Sense of Control and How Teachers Can Affect It
When I was in junior high school, a teacher gave me some advice about luck. She told me and my classmates that for good luck, the first thing we should say out loud at the beginning of each month was "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit." And for years afterwards, I followed that advice.
Did my life improve due to my adherence to this advice? Did I excel in school? Did I land my dream job and wow my employers, so I got promotions and raises? Did I become full of confidence and optimism and happiness? No. My life didn't unfold as I expected it should going forward, and I didn't understand why.
But today, 30-plus years later, I do understand. I was susceptible to my teacher's advice, and I wasn't getting what I wanted in my life, because of my locus of control.
Locus of control is what people see as the forces which shape their lives. There are two types of locus of control, internal and external. People with an internal locus of control believe the course of their lives is dependent on what they do. The actions people with an internal locus of control do or don't take are the primary causes of their success, or lack thereof. On the contrary, people with an external locus of control believe the way their lives progress is primarily due to outside forces, or intangibles, such as luck. If a person doesn't get the promotion, it's because the boss dislikes him or her. If someone's relationships keep falling apart, it's due to the mirror he or she broke five years prior.
In junior high school, and for years afterwards, I had an external locus of control. This wasn't due to the teacher who suggested a way for me to bring myself good luck. By then I was already settled into that mode of thinking. And this locus of control orientation kept affecting my adolescence and young adulthood.
In the very least, educators should be concerned about their students' locus of control orientation about academics. Michael Wise, in "Locus of Control in Our Daily Lives: How the Concept of Control Impacts the Social World," concludes that locus of control orientation significantly affects our daily lives. And according to Drake Baer in "How Your 'Locus of Control' Drives Your Success (And Stress)," people's locus of control orientation impacts emotional health, success in school, ability to deal with stress, job satisfaction, problem solving, and goal achievement. Which orientation more positively affects these aspects of our lives? Internal.
Can students' locus of control orientation change? Mark Phillips, in "8 Myths That Undermine Educational Effectiveness," suggests it can't change. In his discussion of the first myth, he states that significant variables to students' success are socioeconomic status, neighborhood, psychological quality of home environment, and support of physical health. Phillips' implication is that factors outside of students' control greatly influence how well they will do in school. Also, in The Organized Mind, Daniel J. Levitin asserts that locus of control is stable and isn't changed by experience other than to strengthen the orientation someone already holds. However, Kendra Cherry states in "What Is Locus of Control?" that as people get older, locus of control becomes more internal. And Baer writes that locus of control isn't set and can change based on experience. Finally, in The Skillful Teacher, Jon Saphier and Robert Gower posit that students can be retrained to have an internal locus of control, rather than an external locus of control.
Based on my personal experiences, I think teachers should believe students' locus of control orientation can change from external to internal, and teachers should make efforts to bring about that change when it comes to academics. What Cherry writes makes sense. Much of students' lives is out of their control. Students are dependent on adults to make many decisions for them and to ensure that the students are safe and healthy. But when it comes to education, each student can largely be in control of how much he or she learns and how successful he or she is academically.
There are a number of actions I take to reorient students to an internal locus of control, one of which is a quote of the day. Each day, I write a different quote on the board. Many of these quotes have either the direct or implied idea that students can control their success. Quotes, such as "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work," commonly attributed to Thomas Edison, and "You fail, and then what? Life goes on. It's only when you risk failure that you discover things," by Lupita Nyong'o, send the message that students' get out of life what they put into it. I hope that by regularly repeating this kind of idea through these quotes, students will start to believe they can choose how their lives will progress.
Another tactic I take is through my encouragement or praise of students. Whenever students tell me about a test they have coming up in another class, or a performance or competition they're anticipating, or when I give a quiz, I never say, "Good luck." Instead, I say, "Try hard," or "Do your best," or "I'm sure it will go well." And when a student has done well on an assignment, I use phrases such as "Nice job," "Good work," or "Strong effort." As with the quotes, I hope regularly sending the message that effort correlates with success will lead students to believe their effort can control how well they do in school.
A third way I try to influence my students' locus of control happens when I teach them reading and writing strategies. During the course of instruction, I make sure to point out, explicitly, why and how the strategy can help students become a better reader or writer. I talk about the need to become more skillful writers and the need to be able to comprehend increasingly more complex texts. I encourage the students to apply the strategies I teach them to their work in other subjects. By explaining the usefulness of the strategies, my wish is that students will decide they can use the strategies to have more success in school.
Finally, sometimes students tell me about issues outside of class or school and how they think these issues are beyond their control and are impacting their in-school performance. When this happens, I try to reason with students and suggest strategies they can choose to use, so they feel more in control. If, for example, a student is distracted in class by concerns that don't involve the class, I'll point out that for the time in class, he or she can choose to forget about the worries and concentrate on the activities before him or her. Or, if a student complains to me that disruptions at home are preventing him or her from completing work, I'll suggest going to the library or the after-school study center. And I'll ask the student if he or she is making the best use of study hall time during the school day.
It appears undesirable for students to think their success in school is largely dependent on forces outside of themselves. Unfortunately, it's likely that a portion of our students comes to school each day with this belief. Given the powerful influence students' locus of control orientation can have on their lives, it seems reasonable for teachers to work towards pulling students in the direction of an internal locus of control over academics. And fortunately, teachers may be able to have this impact just through mindfulness of how they communicate with their students.
Did my life improve due to my adherence to this advice? Did I excel in school? Did I land my dream job and wow my employers, so I got promotions and raises? Did I become full of confidence and optimism and happiness? No. My life didn't unfold as I expected it should going forward, and I didn't understand why.
But today, 30-plus years later, I do understand. I was susceptible to my teacher's advice, and I wasn't getting what I wanted in my life, because of my locus of control.
Locus of control is what people see as the forces which shape their lives. There are two types of locus of control, internal and external. People with an internal locus of control believe the course of their lives is dependent on what they do. The actions people with an internal locus of control do or don't take are the primary causes of their success, or lack thereof. On the contrary, people with an external locus of control believe the way their lives progress is primarily due to outside forces, or intangibles, such as luck. If a person doesn't get the promotion, it's because the boss dislikes him or her. If someone's relationships keep falling apart, it's due to the mirror he or she broke five years prior.
In junior high school, and for years afterwards, I had an external locus of control. This wasn't due to the teacher who suggested a way for me to bring myself good luck. By then I was already settled into that mode of thinking. And this locus of control orientation kept affecting my adolescence and young adulthood.
In the very least, educators should be concerned about their students' locus of control orientation about academics. Michael Wise, in "Locus of Control in Our Daily Lives: How the Concept of Control Impacts the Social World," concludes that locus of control orientation significantly affects our daily lives. And according to Drake Baer in "How Your 'Locus of Control' Drives Your Success (And Stress)," people's locus of control orientation impacts emotional health, success in school, ability to deal with stress, job satisfaction, problem solving, and goal achievement. Which orientation more positively affects these aspects of our lives? Internal.
Can students' locus of control orientation change? Mark Phillips, in "8 Myths That Undermine Educational Effectiveness," suggests it can't change. In his discussion of the first myth, he states that significant variables to students' success are socioeconomic status, neighborhood, psychological quality of home environment, and support of physical health. Phillips' implication is that factors outside of students' control greatly influence how well they will do in school. Also, in The Organized Mind, Daniel J. Levitin asserts that locus of control is stable and isn't changed by experience other than to strengthen the orientation someone already holds. However, Kendra Cherry states in "What Is Locus of Control?" that as people get older, locus of control becomes more internal. And Baer writes that locus of control isn't set and can change based on experience. Finally, in The Skillful Teacher, Jon Saphier and Robert Gower posit that students can be retrained to have an internal locus of control, rather than an external locus of control.
Based on my personal experiences, I think teachers should believe students' locus of control orientation can change from external to internal, and teachers should make efforts to bring about that change when it comes to academics. What Cherry writes makes sense. Much of students' lives is out of their control. Students are dependent on adults to make many decisions for them and to ensure that the students are safe and healthy. But when it comes to education, each student can largely be in control of how much he or she learns and how successful he or she is academically.
There are a number of actions I take to reorient students to an internal locus of control, one of which is a quote of the day. Each day, I write a different quote on the board. Many of these quotes have either the direct or implied idea that students can control their success. Quotes, such as "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work," commonly attributed to Thomas Edison, and "You fail, and then what? Life goes on. It's only when you risk failure that you discover things," by Lupita Nyong'o, send the message that students' get out of life what they put into it. I hope that by regularly repeating this kind of idea through these quotes, students will start to believe they can choose how their lives will progress.
Another tactic I take is through my encouragement or praise of students. Whenever students tell me about a test they have coming up in another class, or a performance or competition they're anticipating, or when I give a quiz, I never say, "Good luck." Instead, I say, "Try hard," or "Do your best," or "I'm sure it will go well." And when a student has done well on an assignment, I use phrases such as "Nice job," "Good work," or "Strong effort." As with the quotes, I hope regularly sending the message that effort correlates with success will lead students to believe their effort can control how well they do in school.
A third way I try to influence my students' locus of control happens when I teach them reading and writing strategies. During the course of instruction, I make sure to point out, explicitly, why and how the strategy can help students become a better reader or writer. I talk about the need to become more skillful writers and the need to be able to comprehend increasingly more complex texts. I encourage the students to apply the strategies I teach them to their work in other subjects. By explaining the usefulness of the strategies, my wish is that students will decide they can use the strategies to have more success in school.
Finally, sometimes students tell me about issues outside of class or school and how they think these issues are beyond their control and are impacting their in-school performance. When this happens, I try to reason with students and suggest strategies they can choose to use, so they feel more in control. If, for example, a student is distracted in class by concerns that don't involve the class, I'll point out that for the time in class, he or she can choose to forget about the worries and concentrate on the activities before him or her. Or, if a student complains to me that disruptions at home are preventing him or her from completing work, I'll suggest going to the library or the after-school study center. And I'll ask the student if he or she is making the best use of study hall time during the school day.
It appears undesirable for students to think their success in school is largely dependent on forces outside of themselves. Unfortunately, it's likely that a portion of our students comes to school each day with this belief. Given the powerful influence students' locus of control orientation can have on their lives, it seems reasonable for teachers to work towards pulling students in the direction of an internal locus of control over academics. And fortunately, teachers may be able to have this impact just through mindfulness of how they communicate with their students.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Reading Strategies: An Important Part of Instruction in All Subjects
"Mr. Armstrong, can I go to the library?" "Sam" looks at me expectantly, holding his agenda for me to sign, so he can leave the classroom during study hall. In his other hand he clutches a novel, one of a series of fantasy books.
"Why do you want to go?" I ask, my standard question meant for monitoring students' activities during study hall. I refrain from correcting his improper grammar.
"I'm finished with my book, and I want to return it and take out another one," "Sam" replies.
This conversation takes place between "Sam" and me at least twice a week, for "Sam" is a voracious reader. Any free moment he has, he opens a book and reads it. 'Brendan,' you may be thinking, 'that's great! There are so many kids today who choose to do other things besides read.' Don't get me wrong, I'm happy "Sam" enjoys reading. But here's the catch--when "Sam" is in class and we're having a discussion about an assigned text, or when "Sam" is expected to write about either a text the whole class is reading or one he's selected, what he says and writes shows little thought about what he's reading. It appears that "Sam" reads all of his books on a surface level, concentrating on little more than the plots and the characters' identities and basic roles in the books.
Reading critically is a large focus of the Common Core State Standards. Not only must students be able to identify or explain what texts state explicitly, but they must be able to identify the implicit meanings in texts. This becomes increasingly necessary as students progress in their K-12 education. In elementary school, students learn to read. But once students reach middle school and progress into high school, the focus shifts, and students are must read to learn. Students are expected to learn content by reading, and the texts are increasingly difficult. To meet this challenge, teachers must teach students to use a variety of reading strategies to read both for knowledge and understanding. The following strategies appeal to different types of learners and ask students to gain knowledge and understanding in different ways.
Thank you,
Brendan
"Why do you want to go?" I ask, my standard question meant for monitoring students' activities during study hall. I refrain from correcting his improper grammar.
"I'm finished with my book, and I want to return it and take out another one," "Sam" replies.
This conversation takes place between "Sam" and me at least twice a week, for "Sam" is a voracious reader. Any free moment he has, he opens a book and reads it. 'Brendan,' you may be thinking, 'that's great! There are so many kids today who choose to do other things besides read.' Don't get me wrong, I'm happy "Sam" enjoys reading. But here's the catch--when "Sam" is in class and we're having a discussion about an assigned text, or when "Sam" is expected to write about either a text the whole class is reading or one he's selected, what he says and writes shows little thought about what he's reading. It appears that "Sam" reads all of his books on a surface level, concentrating on little more than the plots and the characters' identities and basic roles in the books.
Reading critically is a large focus of the Common Core State Standards. Not only must students be able to identify or explain what texts state explicitly, but they must be able to identify the implicit meanings in texts. This becomes increasingly necessary as students progress in their K-12 education. In elementary school, students learn to read. But once students reach middle school and progress into high school, the focus shifts, and students are must read to learn. Students are expected to learn content by reading, and the texts are increasingly difficult. To meet this challenge, teachers must teach students to use a variety of reading strategies to read both for knowledge and understanding. The following strategies appeal to different types of learners and ask students to gain knowledge and understanding in different ways.
One type of reading
strategy students can learn to use is connecting with the text. This strategy
involves students making connections between the texts they're reading and
their own lives, other texts, and the world around them. Thus, when a student
reads about how Roger tries to steal
Mrs. Jones’s purse in “Thank You, Ma’am,” by Langston Hughes, he might think of the time his mother found out he stole
candy from the convenience store, how Dally, Ponyboy, and Johnny steal cigarettes
in The Outsiders, and the
sentence for stealing in the penal system of the country he's studying for
Cultural Geography. Students are more likely to remember information when they
can connect it to something familiar, and by making the connections, students think about the text at a deeper level. This strategy especially appeals
to those students who are intrapersonal learners, for these students are insightful
and self-aware.
A second reading strategy students should learn is summarizing. For this strategy, students learn to take the important points, events, or information, and write them more succinctly in their own words. For a novel, students might write a three-paragraph summary of the plot. Students in a history class might write a summary of the goals of key actions taken during Roosevelt’s presidency to get the country out of the Great Depression, and students in a science class might summarize the data from graphs in an article on bird migration. For students to accurately put a text into their own words in briefer form, they must know the factual aspects of what they are reading and be able to see how the facts are connected. Summarizing is a strategy which primarily appeals to linguistic learners, those who are most comfortable reading, writing, speaking, and listening to others speak.
Graphic organizers are a third reading strategy students in middle and high schools could learn to use. A graphic organizer is a visual representation of the type of thinking or organization within a text, or a part of a text. Students record information and ideas from the text within a visual structure that shows the relationships between the information and ideas. For example, a student reading The Outsiders might use a Venn diagram for noting the similarities and differences between Greasers and Socs as Ponyboy and Cherry talk to each other; a student studying the Declaration of Independence in Social Studies might use a tree map to record the document’s main idea, its supporting points, and the details related to each supporting point; and a science student might use a multi-flow map to take notes on the process of photosynthesis. Students learn what the different types of graphic organizers are used for and how to recognize which graphic organizer might be useful for a particular reading. Graphic organizers demand that students know what information is important and how it relates to other information and works together to suggest ideas in a text. Spatial learners, in particular, benefit from learning to use graphic organizers because they think in images and pictures.
Another type of reading strategy teachers can instruct students in is called questioning the author. Questioning the author helps students make sense of challenging texts by encouraging them to ask questions to figure out what the author is either directly stating or suggesting in different parts of the text. Students are taught to ask different types of questions, depending on where they are in the reading or what they are trying to make sense of in the reading, and then expected to accurately answer the questions using information from the texts. A student reading Heart of Darkness may ask, “Did the author clearly explain why others in the Company resent Kurtz?” A student studying U.S. expansionism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in his textbook might ask, “’All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous’ is what Teddy Roosevelt says, but what does it mean?” And a student reading in a science textbook about the different parts of a plant might ask herself, “Did the author tell me how fertilization happens in a plant?” Questioning the author forces students to reread texts to search for answers, increasing the likelihood that they will remember information. And certain questions encourage students to look at the deeper meaning of texts for the answers. This reading strategy is certainly useful to interpersonal learners, those who are strong at recognizing the intentions and motivations of other people.
A final reading strategy frequently useful to students is a KWL chart. This reading strategy employs three columns across a page. The first column is titled K, which stands for know or think you know. The second column’s title is W, which represents want to know or expect to know. And the third column’s header is L, which means learned. Students prepare for a subject by listing in the first column all that they know or think they know about a subject. Then they move to the second column and write a list of questions about what they either want to learn or think they will learn based on the reading they are preparing to do. Finally, as students read a text, they list information that answers their questions from the second column, clears up any misconceptions they had, based on what they wrote in the first column, and other information they find interesting or important, especially that information which might lead them to begin another KWL chart. For example, take a student who is beginning a unit on the Holocaust. She knows that during the Holocaust Jews were sent to concentration camps by the Nazis. So, she writes that down in the first column. But this girl’s primary experience with camp has been the weeks during summers that she has spent at Camp Coniston, and she doubts that was what the concentration camps were like. So, in the second column she writes, “What was it like to live in a concentration camp?” Then she reads a short history of the Holocaust. In it, she learns concentration camps were places where prisoners were forced to work, lived in crowded, uninsulated, unsanitary barracks, and were almost starved to death because they were given only a measly amount of food each day. So, the student lists these pieces of information in the third column. Asking the questions prior to reading creates bridges for students from what they already know to new knowledge and gives students purposes for reading, which results in students more likely retaining the information they read. Also, students often ask questions which seek implicit answers from the text. This reading strategy is particularly useful to both spatial and intrapersonal learners because the spatial learners can see the progression of their growth of knowledge and understanding across the page, and the intrapersonal learner looks inside at what he or she already knows and determines what he or she either wants to or should know about the subject.
Not all students need to be taught reading strategies. A small percentage intuitively develops effective strategies for comprehending texts. But for a majority of students, students like "Sam," this is not the case, and teaching these students a variety of reading strategies is empowering. They're able to choose which works best for them, depending on the subject and type of text. While it takes teachers’ time away from teaching content initially, ultimately, teaching reading strategies pays off as students more quickly, accurately, and deeply read texts once they master the reading strategies. Teachers don't have to spend as much time re-teaching material because more students get it the first time. And this is one reason why teaching students to use reading strategies is necessary in all subjects, not just English. Teachers who take the time to teach, and give students time to practice, reading strategies are doing their pupils a great service, for these skills are certainly ones they can make lifelong use of as adults.
A second reading strategy students should learn is summarizing. For this strategy, students learn to take the important points, events, or information, and write them more succinctly in their own words. For a novel, students might write a three-paragraph summary of the plot. Students in a history class might write a summary of the goals of key actions taken during Roosevelt’s presidency to get the country out of the Great Depression, and students in a science class might summarize the data from graphs in an article on bird migration. For students to accurately put a text into their own words in briefer form, they must know the factual aspects of what they are reading and be able to see how the facts are connected. Summarizing is a strategy which primarily appeals to linguistic learners, those who are most comfortable reading, writing, speaking, and listening to others speak.
Graphic organizers are a third reading strategy students in middle and high schools could learn to use. A graphic organizer is a visual representation of the type of thinking or organization within a text, or a part of a text. Students record information and ideas from the text within a visual structure that shows the relationships between the information and ideas. For example, a student reading The Outsiders might use a Venn diagram for noting the similarities and differences between Greasers and Socs as Ponyboy and Cherry talk to each other; a student studying the Declaration of Independence in Social Studies might use a tree map to record the document’s main idea, its supporting points, and the details related to each supporting point; and a science student might use a multi-flow map to take notes on the process of photosynthesis. Students learn what the different types of graphic organizers are used for and how to recognize which graphic organizer might be useful for a particular reading. Graphic organizers demand that students know what information is important and how it relates to other information and works together to suggest ideas in a text. Spatial learners, in particular, benefit from learning to use graphic organizers because they think in images and pictures.
Another type of reading strategy teachers can instruct students in is called questioning the author. Questioning the author helps students make sense of challenging texts by encouraging them to ask questions to figure out what the author is either directly stating or suggesting in different parts of the text. Students are taught to ask different types of questions, depending on where they are in the reading or what they are trying to make sense of in the reading, and then expected to accurately answer the questions using information from the texts. A student reading Heart of Darkness may ask, “Did the author clearly explain why others in the Company resent Kurtz?” A student studying U.S. expansionism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in his textbook might ask, “’All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous’ is what Teddy Roosevelt says, but what does it mean?” And a student reading in a science textbook about the different parts of a plant might ask herself, “Did the author tell me how fertilization happens in a plant?” Questioning the author forces students to reread texts to search for answers, increasing the likelihood that they will remember information. And certain questions encourage students to look at the deeper meaning of texts for the answers. This reading strategy is certainly useful to interpersonal learners, those who are strong at recognizing the intentions and motivations of other people.
A final reading strategy frequently useful to students is a KWL chart. This reading strategy employs three columns across a page. The first column is titled K, which stands for know or think you know. The second column’s title is W, which represents want to know or expect to know. And the third column’s header is L, which means learned. Students prepare for a subject by listing in the first column all that they know or think they know about a subject. Then they move to the second column and write a list of questions about what they either want to learn or think they will learn based on the reading they are preparing to do. Finally, as students read a text, they list information that answers their questions from the second column, clears up any misconceptions they had, based on what they wrote in the first column, and other information they find interesting or important, especially that information which might lead them to begin another KWL chart. For example, take a student who is beginning a unit on the Holocaust. She knows that during the Holocaust Jews were sent to concentration camps by the Nazis. So, she writes that down in the first column. But this girl’s primary experience with camp has been the weeks during summers that she has spent at Camp Coniston, and she doubts that was what the concentration camps were like. So, in the second column she writes, “What was it like to live in a concentration camp?” Then she reads a short history of the Holocaust. In it, she learns concentration camps were places where prisoners were forced to work, lived in crowded, uninsulated, unsanitary barracks, and were almost starved to death because they were given only a measly amount of food each day. So, the student lists these pieces of information in the third column. Asking the questions prior to reading creates bridges for students from what they already know to new knowledge and gives students purposes for reading, which results in students more likely retaining the information they read. Also, students often ask questions which seek implicit answers from the text. This reading strategy is particularly useful to both spatial and intrapersonal learners because the spatial learners can see the progression of their growth of knowledge and understanding across the page, and the intrapersonal learner looks inside at what he or she already knows and determines what he or she either wants to or should know about the subject.
Not all students need to be taught reading strategies. A small percentage intuitively develops effective strategies for comprehending texts. But for a majority of students, students like "Sam," this is not the case, and teaching these students a variety of reading strategies is empowering. They're able to choose which works best for them, depending on the subject and type of text. While it takes teachers’ time away from teaching content initially, ultimately, teaching reading strategies pays off as students more quickly, accurately, and deeply read texts once they master the reading strategies. Teachers don't have to spend as much time re-teaching material because more students get it the first time. And this is one reason why teaching students to use reading strategies is necessary in all subjects, not just English. Teachers who take the time to teach, and give students time to practice, reading strategies are doing their pupils a great service, for these skills are certainly ones they can make lifelong use of as adults.
Thank you,
Brendan
Monday, November 24, 2014
Student Choice
This fall, I
focused on teaching my students research skills. They learned research strategies, understanding search engines and domains, analyzing sources and evaluating information, and analyzing graphics as sources of information. These and other research skills they learned are vital skills in today's society of seemingly limitless information, and misinformation. Students completed an I-search report to demonstrate how well they could apply the skills they learned. What did I do to encourage the students' use of the skills, rather than just using Wikipedia, or the top three or four sources that popped up when students Googled a topic? I gave them options for what they could research. Students' choices ranged from changing a car muffler to the Ebola virus to the importance of an Ivy League education to becoming a writer to Shailene Woodley. By allowing students a choice of topics, I hoped they would be inclined to use the best research skills possible because they cared about their subjects.
Giving students choices in
their learning is used to increase their
motivation to learn. Students feel empowered, and thus are engaged, want to
complete work, and perform better. Critics of student choice conjure images of free-for-all classrooms, with a lot of interaction, enthusiasm, and activity,
but very little learning. And it may be that some well-intended teachers are giving students free rein, and thus running around their
classrooms like clowns in a circus act. But not all teachers are doing this,
yet they're still providing students with choices that increase their
learning.
One way
teachers allow choice is giving students options for subjects, or topics, about
which to complete an assignment. The topics or subjects from which the students
may choose are ones the teacher has selected because of their appropriateness
to the type of product the students are learning to generate or related to the
unit of study. The I-search report described above is an example.
Or in a health class, students must research an addictive substance consumed by
people, and they can choose between alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine. The choices in both examples lead either to employing
similar skills or to understanding similar concepts.
Teachers are
also allowing for choice of products students make to show knowledge
of subjects or skills. For example, in a unit on cells, the
teacher’s final assessment is a computer-based project, rather than a test. The
three options the teacher gives students are to create a digital story that combines images, text, and narration in a series of
frames, a Glog, which is essentially an electronic poster that can include
images, text, video, and audio, or a Web page, where visitors learn about cells
by reading text and accessing images and video via different links on the page.
Or in a technical education class, the students must demonstrate their skills
at cutting, smoothing, and finishing wood, so the teacher gives them options of
building a bookcase, an end table, or a footlocker. In each of these cases, there are set expectations, but students have
alternatives for how to exhibit their knowledge.
Students spend a lot of time in class either
analyzing or applying the concepts and skills they learn during direct
instruction. One way teachers provide for student choice during these
times in class is through learning menus. A learning menu is a collection of
choices students have for learning activities that engage them in material. The
learning menu a teacher creates usually offers options that address either different
learning styles or levels of understanding. Some teachers present learning menus
either in restaurant-menu style, with appetizers, entrées, side dishes, and
desserts, or as tic-tac-toe boards. Students are given directions for how to
choose the activities to complete while engaging with the material, such as
complete two appetizers, one side dish, one entrée, and one dessert, or perform
either three horizontal or diagonal tasks in a row to make a successful
tic-tac-toe threesome.
For example,
consider a tic-tac-toe learning menu for reading a short story that addresses
understanding at different levels. In the first column are three comprehension
activities, in the second, three analysis activities, and in the third, three evaluation
activities:
Accurately describe
one character, using at least three descriptive words
|
Explain who is the
protagonist of the story, using four details to support your determination
|
Judge how much the
protagonist changes over the course of the story, including four details from
the story to support your judgment
|
Accurately complete a
plot outline of the story with seven important events, including four events
in the rising action, the climax, and two events in the falling action
|
Explain the causes and
effects of one conflict a character experiences, identify two causes and two
effects
|
Judge how well a
character or characters resolve a conflict in the story, using four details
from the story to support your judgment
|
Accurately describe
the setting of the story, including at least seven details that show the time
and place of the story
|
State the central
theme of the story and provide four details from the story which show this to
be the theme
|
Judge how logical a
character’s motivation for one action is, using four details from the story
to support your judgment
|
With learning
menus, students have choices for the activities they complete, but they hone
their understanding of the concepts the teacher wants.
It's important for middle school and high
school students to learn effective note taking in preparation for college, where large
amounts of reading must be completed and understood between classes and in
preparation for exams. Another way teachers are using choice in public schools
today is teaching students several effective forms of note taking and then
allowing them to choose how they will take notes. Summarizing is one choice
students have. Students capture, in their own words and in briefer form than
the text, the main ideas, details, or events from the reading. Students may
also choose double-column notes. A page is divided vertically, with the
left-hand column taking up one third of the page and the right-hand column the
other two thirds. The student writes the first topic or main idea in the left
column at the top of the page. Then in the right column the student writes
pieces information, examples, and vocabulary related to the topic or idea. When
the student reaches the next topic or idea in the reading, he writes it in the
left column lower on the page than the notes in the right column about the previous
topic. Then the student proceeds from there down the page in the right column.
A third choice for taking notes is graphic organizers. Students use series of
bubbles or boxes connected by arrows or lines, which visually represent the
thinking in the text, such as a flow map for narration or process, a multi-flow
map for cause and effect, or a thematic map for main idea with supporting
points and details. A fourth
option for taking notes is annotations. Students mark parts of a reading with
symbols that have different meanings, such as a rectangle around key content
vocabulary, a double underline for important points, and a question mark for
confusing information. Students must learn to take notes, which take effort to
do well, but by giving students effective choices for how to take notes, the
task seems less onerous to them.
Everyone must make choices about their futures, what they want to accomplish.
Effective adults set goals for themselves, and teachers who allow students to
choose goals for their learning serve the children well by teaching them
a life-long skill for success. A teacher allows a student to set one or two
goals for what she wishes to learn or accomplish during a particular unit of
study. The teacher and student agree upon what constitutes successful
accomplishment of the goal(s). Then, part of the student’s final grade is based
upon her progress toward reaching the goal. One way teachers are helping
students choose goals is to review work from previous units and giving the
student a choice for something to focus on that was weak in a previous piece of
work. For example, let’s say that in a student’s first report he failed to
correctly spell several homophones and had numerous run-on sentences. So, the
teacher and student negotiate that the student will correctly spell 100% of
homophones in the new report. The student is still responsible for run-on
sentences as well, and they will be counted into his grade for mechanics, but
the homophones are a separate grade, his goal grade. Another way teachers are
giving students choices for goals is to provide them with a list of objectives
to choose from which are usually stretch goals—activities completed, or skills
or concepts mastered—that go beyond the material taught to the whole class. In
both cases, students have some say in what they choose to learn, but the goals
are related to the material taught in class, and the teacher is involved and
has say over what the students learn.
Student
choice, in reasonable doses, is good pedagogy, and teachers today are
effectively allowing students choices in classes while still maintaining
control over the situations. The keys to effective student choice are limited
numbers of choices and teachers being the originators, or supporters of students in the creation, of the choices.
Thank you,
Brendan
Thank you,
Brendan
Monday, November 17, 2014
Teaching Latin and Greek Word Roots
In late April of 2014, my seventh-grade students finished a unit on the Holocaust. The final project, meant to assess their understanding of the concepts we covered, was a poster they presented to each other in small groups. Since the poster was about a historical novel, one of the concepts the students learned is a historical novel shows what was important about that time in history.
On the day students presented to each other, I circulated around the room during fifth period, listening in on students' presentations and making initial assessments of the students' projects. All of a sudden, from across the room, a student called, "Mr. Armstrong! Come here!"
I turned and saw two students beckoning to me while a third student stood holding his poster up, a dark look on his face. I crossed the room, and one of the students pointed at the poster. She said, "Look what 'Billy' wrote!" I looked at the poster. 'Billy' had written, "The time period is important because it makes people feel grateful that they are not Jewish."
"'Billy' shouldn't have said that, right Mr. Armstrong?" the third student asked.
I looked at 'Billy.' By then he was looking down at his feet, clearly embarrassed, and trying to lower his poster. And I knew what had happened. 'Billy' wasn't intentionally trying to say being Jewish was undesirable. 'Billy' had demonstrated weak written and spoken expression since he had enrolled in our school and joined my class two months prior. This was just another time 'Billy' struggled to convey ideas due to his weak vocabulary.
It was because of 'Billy,' and all my students, really, that I embarked on a new journey to increase students' vocabulary. After some research, I decided the most effective means of broadening my students' vocabulary would be to teach them Latin and Greek word roots. Further research led me to chapter 1 of What Research Has to Say About Vocabulary Instruction. Entitled "Getting to the Root of Word Study: Teaching Latin and Greek Word Roots in Elementary and Middle Grades," it's by Nancy Padak, Evangeline Newton, Timothy Rasinski, and Rick M. Newton.
This chapter is full of useful information and ideas, and I felt, once I'd read it, that it would be an adequate resource for my first year of teaching Latin and Greek word roots. In the chapter, there are four principles on which to base instruction, lists of word roots divided according to grade appropriateness, metalinguistic concepts to be stressed at different grade levels, and numerous activities to use to teach students the word roots and words that contain them. I decided to start each class with a vocabulary activity.
So, far, the voyage seems to be going well. We start out each week with Divide and Conquer, an activity which involves me presenting the word root, its meaning, and five words broken down by parts and showing how the parts add up to make the words' meanings. For homework each Monday, students must find five other words with the root and add them to the Divide and Conquer chart we began in class. Then, each Tuesday, we do Word Spokes in class. I review with students the word root, its meaning, and the meanings of the five words I taught them on Monday, and these are the beginnings of the Word Spokes. From there, students offer words they've found, and when I add them to the Word Spokes, students share the words' meanings. Students have been enthusiastic about this activity because they take pride in sharing words they've found
After Tuesdays, the weeks have varied. Typically, Wednesdays are for a quiz on the previous week's word root and vocabulary that contain it. Thursdays and Fridays' activities have been meant to reinforce students' knowledge of the words they've learned. On these days I've used Wordo, Odd Word Out, and Twenty Questions, which all come from Padak, Newton, Rasinski, and Newton's chapter. I've also added Fill in the Blank, which exposes the students to context clues, and Word Groups, where students have to categorize words based on their meanings. Students seem to be engaged during the activities, and I think it's, in part, due to the variety.
There have been three weeks, including the first week, when there haven't been quizzes because I chose not to teach vocabulary during the weeks before them. On these weeks, I've also been able to do an extension activity. So far, I've only done Root Word Riddles with the students. For this activity, either I've come up with riddles about the vocabulary words, or each student has come up with a riddle for one of the vocabulary words. Students must guess the word based on the clues in the riddle. Students have both enjoyed figuring out which word the riddle is for and writing their own riddles. I see this activity challenging them to think creatively about the words. Eventually, once I've presented enough prefixes, bases, and suffixes, I'll also have the students do Be the Bard as an extension activity--students will have to make up new words with new meanings by combining word roots.
Will this excursion be successful? So far, students have done well on the weekly quizzes. I hope to see more improvement in students' reading and writing skills than last year as measured on the NWEA tests. And if 'Billy' can remember, in year hence, to look for familiar parts of words he encounters as a means of determining the meanings and accurately determine when it's appropriate to use 'intervene,' rather than 'interrupt,' in his writing, that will be a victory in my mind.
Thank you,
Brendan
On the day students presented to each other, I circulated around the room during fifth period, listening in on students' presentations and making initial assessments of the students' projects. All of a sudden, from across the room, a student called, "Mr. Armstrong! Come here!"
I turned and saw two students beckoning to me while a third student stood holding his poster up, a dark look on his face. I crossed the room, and one of the students pointed at the poster. She said, "Look what 'Billy' wrote!" I looked at the poster. 'Billy' had written, "The time period is important because it makes people feel grateful that they are not Jewish."
"'Billy' shouldn't have said that, right Mr. Armstrong?" the third student asked.
I looked at 'Billy.' By then he was looking down at his feet, clearly embarrassed, and trying to lower his poster. And I knew what had happened. 'Billy' wasn't intentionally trying to say being Jewish was undesirable. 'Billy' had demonstrated weak written and spoken expression since he had enrolled in our school and joined my class two months prior. This was just another time 'Billy' struggled to convey ideas due to his weak vocabulary.
It was because of 'Billy,' and all my students, really, that I embarked on a new journey to increase students' vocabulary. After some research, I decided the most effective means of broadening my students' vocabulary would be to teach them Latin and Greek word roots. Further research led me to chapter 1 of What Research Has to Say About Vocabulary Instruction. Entitled "Getting to the Root of Word Study: Teaching Latin and Greek Word Roots in Elementary and Middle Grades," it's by Nancy Padak, Evangeline Newton, Timothy Rasinski, and Rick M. Newton.
This chapter is full of useful information and ideas, and I felt, once I'd read it, that it would be an adequate resource for my first year of teaching Latin and Greek word roots. In the chapter, there are four principles on which to base instruction, lists of word roots divided according to grade appropriateness, metalinguistic concepts to be stressed at different grade levels, and numerous activities to use to teach students the word roots and words that contain them. I decided to start each class with a vocabulary activity.
So, far, the voyage seems to be going well. We start out each week with Divide and Conquer, an activity which involves me presenting the word root, its meaning, and five words broken down by parts and showing how the parts add up to make the words' meanings. For homework each Monday, students must find five other words with the root and add them to the Divide and Conquer chart we began in class. Then, each Tuesday, we do Word Spokes in class. I review with students the word root, its meaning, and the meanings of the five words I taught them on Monday, and these are the beginnings of the Word Spokes. From there, students offer words they've found, and when I add them to the Word Spokes, students share the words' meanings. Students have been enthusiastic about this activity because they take pride in sharing words they've found
After Tuesdays, the weeks have varied. Typically, Wednesdays are for a quiz on the previous week's word root and vocabulary that contain it. Thursdays and Fridays' activities have been meant to reinforce students' knowledge of the words they've learned. On these days I've used Wordo, Odd Word Out, and Twenty Questions, which all come from Padak, Newton, Rasinski, and Newton's chapter. I've also added Fill in the Blank, which exposes the students to context clues, and Word Groups, where students have to categorize words based on their meanings. Students seem to be engaged during the activities, and I think it's, in part, due to the variety.
There have been three weeks, including the first week, when there haven't been quizzes because I chose not to teach vocabulary during the weeks before them. On these weeks, I've also been able to do an extension activity. So far, I've only done Root Word Riddles with the students. For this activity, either I've come up with riddles about the vocabulary words, or each student has come up with a riddle for one of the vocabulary words. Students must guess the word based on the clues in the riddle. Students have both enjoyed figuring out which word the riddle is for and writing their own riddles. I see this activity challenging them to think creatively about the words. Eventually, once I've presented enough prefixes, bases, and suffixes, I'll also have the students do Be the Bard as an extension activity--students will have to make up new words with new meanings by combining word roots.
Will this excursion be successful? So far, students have done well on the weekly quizzes. I hope to see more improvement in students' reading and writing skills than last year as measured on the NWEA tests. And if 'Billy' can remember, in year hence, to look for familiar parts of words he encounters as a means of determining the meanings and accurately determine when it's appropriate to use 'intervene,' rather than 'interrupt,' in his writing, that will be a victory in my mind.
Thank you,
Brendan
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