Great Infographic on the Effects of Teachers

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I am a firm believer that TEACHERS MATTER. (If you need more than my humble opinion, check out John Hattie's book on Visible Learning.)

Below in a great infographic from Open Source Matters that synthesizes the effects of good teaching. Know that today (and every day) you will have a lasting impact of a child!

Photo Credit: Open Source Matters

Speak Less, Question More

This week, I've been working with teachers as they organize their curricula around deep understandings and essential questions. One of the biggest struggles that novice teachers face during this process is the use of "content" as the lens through which they view their teaching instead of a lens of "understanding."

My objective is to destroy a powerful paradigm that has been propagated through the ages. We have been trained our entire lives to believe that teachers "deliver" instruction, often to the rebellious masses. While research has proven that this does not lead students to genuine understanding, it is a concept America has been conditioned to accept.

To create a change, teachers must be provided with opportunities to make sense out of their experiences through rich discussion and reading. The less talking I do as the facilitator, the better. However, I am so passionate about the work that I often speak up. There is no malicious intent in my desire to share, nor do I believe that most teachers operating in "teacher-centric" classrooms WANT to disengage their students.

My goal next week is to SPEAK LESS, and QUESTION MORE.

Here are a few of the question starters I plan to use (They might work in your setting too!):

• When this study is finished, what will true understanding look like?
• Is true understanding of this topic worth attaining? Why? 
• Can you identify a question that frames the entire study and transcends this topic? 
• Why? Why? Why? 

 CC Photo Credit: Sarah G

Getting Lost-- A Reminder to Keep It Fresh

My new gig has required a bit of traveling. The most challenging part of the travel has been navigating the Bronx. The Subway trains don't always behave as I expect, and I often become disoriented when I leave the station. Several times, I've walked down a street for several blocks only to find out that my destination was in the other direction completely! Needless to say, I am a novice.

However, whenever I struggle with a new task, I allow the feeling to crystallize. I also remind myself that this is the exact frustration, anxiety and anticipation that my learners feel when they are mastering new material.

Just because the content or concept may seem easy to me, it is not familiar to my learners. This is frequently referred to as the "expert's trap." When one is extremely facile with an idea, it can be difficult to appropriately address learner concerns and misconceptions.

One way that I've managed to avoid the "expert trap" with my learners is to integrate at least one unfamiliar content item or concept that supports the understandings that I have identified for a given unit. This forces me to go through the learning process, allowing me to identify potential misconceptions and struggles.

What will you try that's new this week?

Photo Credit: Peter Shanks

My "Beef" with the Word Rigor

I think I've heard the word "rigor" at least 50 times this week. It was uttered in almost every conversation about teaching and learning that I experienced.

Yes, I want students to have rigor.
Yes, the Common Core Standards have increased rigor.
Yes, performance tasks can add rigor to your teaching if used correctly.

However, my questions is: What defines rigor?

While the answer is seemingly simple, it is often elusive. Rigor can be difficult to define, and one person's version of rigor may differ from another's. Dictionary.com defines rigor as a "strictness or harshness." How harsh is harsh? Just a few days ago, a teacher told me that rigor was adding additional problems to the worksheet. Clearly, this is not the type of "harshness" that we wish to inflict upon students.

I think the entire conversation and movement can be simplified by changing the language we use. Instead of using the word "rigor", which simply describes a level of difficulty, use the word transfer.

Insert skeptic comment here --> Ok, Kristen. But how does changing one word alter the conversation about teaching and learning?

Well, transfer has a very clear definition. Transfer is when students can use content and skills in novel situations. Essentially, the use what they have learned to solve authentic problems or build creative plans. There are near and far transfer, but I would venture to say that any degree of transfer meets most educators' definitions of "rigor."

So, ensure that you ask students to use their capacities in novel situations. It ensures that the rigor's built right in!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81851211@N00/227465632

Essential Questions at SLA

Recently, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the role of essential questions in curriculum design. My reflection and study has led me to believe that learning experiences should be organized around meaningful questions, not isolated discipline-related or skill-related criteria. Of course, my visit to Science Leadership Academy (SLA) for Educon 2.4 this weekend affirmed my current beliefs. At this school, the curricula is driven by meaningful questions and themes at each grade level. Most important, the students at  SLA are cognizant of these questions and themes, and they were able to eloquently discuss them when asked.

How could you use this concept to redesign learning for the students in your classroom? your system? your district?

A Culture of "DO," not "KNOW"

My most meaningful session at Educon was a discussion regarding the necessity of moving away from learning that is driven by "content coverage" and moving to learning that is driven by important process skills. David Jakes set the stage by providing us with some background on design theory. (His excellent presentation resources are available here.) Then, David set us loose to redesign selected aspects of school.

Bill Ferriter, Patrick Larkin, and Larry Fliegelman were my partners in this endeavor. (Could you ask for a better team? Seriously?) Quickly, our conversation turned to the need to focus on "doing" instead of "knowing." This idea holds enormous implications for schools. Specifically, the ways that schools use time, materials, and staff would be deeply affected. Consider the following questions that we considered in our session:

What if students could learn whenever they felt like it?

What if graduation and advancement was based on competency?

What if kids worked independently on meaningful tasks to provide evidence of learning?

While it's easy to dismiss this thinking with a series of "yea, buts," I encourage you to ask "WHAT IF" instead.

Thanks to David for the fantastic session, and thanks to Bill for cleaning up our messy diagram and sharing it out!

Building Better Learning Online

Here's a digital copy of my Encienda Educon presentation, "Building Better Learning Environments." The presentation has 20 slides with 15 seconds on each side. Enjoy!

If you cannot see the embedded video below, click here to access the presentation.