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10 Ways to Catch Kids Doing Right

10/22/2013

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I was sent this question the other day from a young man who used to attend classes virtually at my school and who is now in his own teacher ed prep program. As I was constructing a response, I figured it might make a nice post. So here you go!

Question:
Ginger, If you have the time, what were some of the strategies you used to catch your students “doing something right”.


First of all, I love this topic. So much of our time as educators is spent “correcting” kids or helping them to do better, which pre-supposes they’re doing something wrong. No, I believe to the very core of my soul that if we want kids to do better, we have to start from and build on the foundation we want to grow. We need to build on the foundation of kids doing Right.

So in response to that question above, I submit 10 ways we would catch kids doing Right:

Answer:
  1.  I intentionally looked for it.
  2. I put them into situations where they got to work in their strengths. In their learning styles.
  3. I asked them to do work that they loved or were excited in.
  4. We laughed and had fun. A LOT.
  5. We created an environment of caring and sharing between students and students-staff.
  6. I asked parents what their kids were good at. What they liked. What they wanted.
  7. I asked kids what they were good at. What they liked. What they wanted.
  8. We always celebrated doing the Right thing.
  9. We made it ok to be weird (Everyone is somebody else’s weirdo. You think you’re normal? How weird is that?!), so it was a safe environment to be someone they might not normally be. To try new things.
  10. I intentionally looked for it. (I put that twice because it’s doubly important, especially for those kids who NEED us to catch them doing right.)
What did I miss? What needs revised?

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Ask us to *need* to learn

2/26/2013

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As adults, the reason we learn new things is because our lack of knowledge gets in the way of something we want to do. So we go out and find a way to learn what we need to learn. Right? Our recognition of our lack of knowledge and our need to know leads to learning. Authentic learning.

But school isn’t set up that way at all. School is set up for us to be “fed” all the information that we’ll ever need to know before we’re asked to use it. Before we even know that we might need it. Before educators even know that it’ll be useful for us. It’s all based on the assumption that “they” know what “we” will need to know.

What if school was set up to help us practice learning how to learn instead of spending time asking us to prove that we’ve retained something that’s been fed to us? Because in the real world, rarely is the information we need to know for our jobs, for our lives, fed to us. We have to go out and find that information.

Well, that is, unless we’re working on an assembly line that requires very little original thought or initiative.  —— long pause ——  And just how many of us in the US have those factory based, assembly line types of jobs now?

Right.

So if we’re preparing our kids for the real world, why isn’t school set up with a series of challenges that made us need to learn information-gathering, idea processing, and content creation? And the kids learn what information (and skills) they need to know through those challenges? And best of all, why couldn’t the challenges be set up in ways students would want to complete them?

And why is this concept so difficult for us to try?

If you’re intrigued, let me know. I think I might have answers but I can’t complete this challenge alone. I need your help too.

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February 26th, 2013

2/1/2013

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My PBL partner, Kevin Honeycutt and I are frequently asked questions like, “Do you know anything about PBL for (insert curriculum topic here).”
Usually the topic is something like “Financial Wellness for New Mothers” or “Religion of the 18th Century” or “Spanish for the Deaf” or “Advanced Mathematics for Budding Actuaries.” Really, it doesn’t matter the title of the class. What’s happening is that the school leader is struggling to help a teacher in a specialty area feel included in shifting education from something being done to kids to something that the kids are doing. And they see that PBL has helped in other classes. They’re really saying, “Can you help by giving this teacher resources that are specific to her area?”

Kevin and me, working with a great group of teachers in Texas.

The answer for this is yes, we can help that teacher with Project Based Learning, if that teacher is willing to work alongside sharing his/her content knowledge to build projects. But if that teacher is looking for a set of scripted lesson plans s/he can buy off the shelf and just “follow” for his/her specialty class…well, we’re probably not going to be able to help with that.

Because you see, Project/Problem Based Learning isn’t about a set of “wash n wear” lesson plans. It’s about engaging kids with the topic — whatever topic it is — in very active ways. If a teacher understands PBL, then any known academic content can be integrated. If you want to help that specialized teacher find lesson for that specialized content area, then allow him/her to learn the basics of PBL and s/he’ll be able to build the PBL for that specialized space.

So what about our LifePractice PBL recipe cards? Aren’t those lesson plans?

Actually, no. If you check them out closely, they’re not scripted lessons; instead they provide ideas and seeds for the toughest parts of PBL: driving questions, integrating, creative product, and creative grouping. They are not about someone who has never had any PBL training picking them up and using them like a traditional lesson plan. Like anyone picking up a recipe card for the first time, we still have to have the basics of cooking in our tool belts. And so would any teacher using our LifePractice PBL recipe cards need some initial training and practice in PBL. They don’t have to be experts to use them, but they do need some training.

If you’re a school leader who’d like to implement PBL in your schools, we’ll be there 100% for you and your teachers, providing engaged training to help all of your teachers partner their content knowledge with the tenets of PBL. If you want that specialty teacher to have assistance in moving her classroom toward a PBL approach, the first place to start is with high-quality learning for her.

Contact us for more information.


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Doomsday 1 LifePracitce PBL recipe card
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Bringing the Outside In: experts in your classroom

10/12/2011

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cross-posted from www.GingerLewman.com

The students in grades 5-8 gathered in the lunchroom as the teacher tested the Skype connection with Christopher Orwoll, the CEO of theKansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. Students were quietly gathering their food, choosing tables, and clutching their already-prepared questions in hand. This was the first-ever working lunch for many of the younger students and it was exciting! 

Soon, several students were lined up, asking questions they had carefully crafted to gain the most essential information that would help them move their parts of the project forward. Mr. Orwoll was standing in front of the actual Apollo 13 capsule and was even moving the camera on his end to various angles and shots so the students could better see the Apollo 13 capsule and other actual space artifacts. Students asked about specific dimensions and functions of various items, as others snapped photos of the video conferencing event, while even others, listening intently, were quietly munching sandwiches and carrot sticks, intermittently scribbling notes for their team between nibbles and sips. 

After the almost hour-long video conference, the younger students marveled that they had been looking at the actual Apollo 13, while older veteran students remembered back to other projects and other experts they had talked with during video conferences. While Mr. Orwoll’s information about the Apollo 13 was extremely helpful, it had become almost commonplace for the veteran students to be able to talk with experts in the field. For now, they were ready to run outside, stretching their legs and refreshing their brains for a few minutes before heading back to work on their model and artifacts with the newfound information. 


While preparing for your LifePractice PBL project, teachers find it easier to call on other teachers who would be a useful supplement to learning. However, in the course of preparing for a project or even during the project, you will likely find yourself asking questions you don’t know the answers to. Or you might find that your students are asking questions that are really smart questions that deserve answers, but despite their best work and your help, you just don’t have the right answers for them. So should you drop those questions and concentrate on only the ones that you and your colleagues can address? 

Of course not. 


In addition to in-house educator experts, strongly consider who else in your local and online communities (Professional Learning Networks), such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Plurk, might be able to serve as a content or skill expert beyond the school-based context. As you need these experts, call on them to assist the students with the learning. 

Likewise, you might decide call upon outside expertise during the preparation of the project. Using experts during The Prep phase helps to ensure that high-quality, rigorous learning is being embedded at each step of the expectations. These specialists may be available to come to your room to share their knowledge with you and your students, or you may need to connect with them via email, phone conference, or video conference, like these students did with Mr. Orwoll of the Kansas Cosmosphere. If a personal meeting is not available, consider using a video conferencing tool, such as Skype, when possible. The combination of visual and auditory connection allows for learners of all ages to have an experience that is very similar to the f2f relationship. In fact, with a little practice, it can become as natural as opening up a virtual “window” on your wall to talk with someone who is just on the other side.


Suggestions for working with non-education experts

As you're gathering names for your “library of experts” that your students are able to call upon for their projects, it is good to remember that many experts will often lead with information, doling it out to students in very large and highly detailed portions. It is your job to help the expert understand the levels of learning and skill in your classroom. Also, this is the prime time to let them know that "empowerment through inquiry" is at the core of the work for your students. Some experts might have a tendency to lecture at students and those will need your assistance with sharing information in portions that are appropriate for your students' ability levels.

While experts should expect to be asked for information and can volunteer some additional information beyond what students have directly asked, the best way for him/her to interact with the students is to ask questions which might cause the student to do deeper research and learning. Sometimes a student may go off to research, only to come back a while later needing to ask that same question of the expert. That's OK as long as the student has truly tried to find the information on her own.

Overall, be cautious; not all experts will be comfortable with the inquiry technique. As the teacher, it’s your job to prepare the visiting expert for this type of learning format. Visit with them ahead of time about the project and your expectations. Provide sample questions, if possible, and in the case of student-contacted experts, let him/her know you’ll be ready to intervene if needed, for any reason. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to ensure that students are gaining high quality, information that leads to deeper engagement of learning, while continuing to foster quality connections with the community. You will need to take the necessary steps to make that connection a lasting and positive interaction for both your visitor and your students.

And don't forget the thank you note afterward!

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