Misconceptions about learning

 A Quiz on Misconceptions About Learning – In this Education Week article, Sarah Sparks challenges us to distinguish between correct and erroneous beliefs about learning and the brain, including brain cell connections, detecting novelty, right-brain/left-brain dominance, developmental phases, expert vs. novice thinking, brain capacity usage, learning styles, testing, native language learning, and dyslexia. Be brave – test yourself!

Middle School Argument Curriculum

 

A Middle-School Curriculum on Argumentation

            In this article in Social Education, Chauncey Monte-Sano (University of Michigan) and Ryan Hughes (University of North Carolina/Greensboro) describe a three-year curriculum they developed – Read. Inquire. Write. – designed to develop the skills of argumentation. Their goal was to scaffold learning for English learners and students reading below grade level so that by eighth grade, students would understand how to construct and critique an argument and formulate a counterargument. Read. Write. Inquire. has five one-week investigations spread through each year, with students asked to respond to a realistic scenario in each module:

            • Sixth grade: Interpreting arguments – Students learn to write a claim, cite specific and relevant evidence, and explain their reasoning on why the evidence is reliable and supports their claim. In one of the modules, students view a PBS documentary on the water supply in Mexico City and are asked to grapple with the question: Why is access to water unequal in and around Mexico City? Sixth graders study causation and write a fully developed argument but don’t necessarily look at alternative perspectives.

            • Seventh grade: Critiquing an argument – Students analyze another person’s argument and rebut it by questioning its claim, evidence, and reasoning. In one module, students read primary source documents on democracy in ancient Greece and are asked to critique an essay submitted to a fictional essay content on the strengths of Athenian democracy. They focus on the essential question, Was democracy in ancient Athens a good form of government? and write to the essay judges with their comments on the fictional essay.

            • Eighth grade: Developing counterarguments – Students write an argument and then formulate a counterargument that takes into account possible rebuttals and counterclaims vis-à-vis their claims, evidence, and reasoning. In one module, eighth graders study Reconstruction, focusing on the question, Did the promise of freedom come true for African Americans after the Civil War? Students write a letter to a museum suggesting how to tell the story of Reconstruction and respond to someone with a competing interpretation – triumph versus tragedy. 

            By implementing this curriculum and fostering a culture of inquiry across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, conclude Monte-Sano and Hughes, “middle school teachers can prepare students to write complex arguments and critically engage with historical and social issues, enabling them to become informed and active participants in shaping the world around them.” 

 

“Read. Inquire. Write.: A Scaffolded Progression to Support Diverse Learners’ Social Studies Argument Writing in Middle School” by Chauncey Monte-Sano and Ryan Hughes in 

Social Education, September 2024 (Vol. 88, #4, pp. 234-240); the authors can be reached at cmontesa@umich.edu and rehughe2@uncg.edu. 

Request PD email from NCTE

 Example: “NCTE’s Annual Convention happens this November; it’s the premier professional learning opportunity available for ELA educators. You can learn more about it on this website: convention.ncte.org. Attending is a way for me to meet leading teacher voices, research scholars, and authors to continue my growth in service of students and literacy. This investment of my time and our funds has a ripple effect because I will bring back what I’ve learned and share it with others. Can we find funds to support this enriching experience for me?”

• Use NCTE’s 2024 Make the Case to Attend template 

• A best practice is to lift up the anticipated impact that attending will have on your practice and that of your colleagues (by presenting back to them key takeaways from the professional learning upon returning), and therefore, on student achievement. 

Building Thinking Classrooms

 

The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing “Thinking Classrooms” 

            In this Mind/Shift article, Kara Newhouse interviews Staci Durnin, a sixth-grade math teacher in Mineola, New York who read Peter Liljedahl’s book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics in the summer of 2023 and decided to try his approach after 29 years teaching with the conventional model. She loved the new approach and says that her students attained a much deeper understanding of mathematics than in previous years. Durnin reports that the transition involved a lot of work adapting lesson plans, but she got support from a 66,000-member Facebook group and it was all worth it. (Click the article link for an interview with Durnin and other teachers who implemented the approach during the 2023-24 school year.)

Newhouse’s article summarizes key elements of the “Thinking Classroom” approach. In 15 years of research, Liljedahl found that in the canonical I DO, YOU DO, WE DO math lesson, few students are thinking; rather, they’re mimicking the teacher. This is a problem, he says, because “if students are not thinking, they’re not learning.” Most of the so-called problem-solving in math classes, he believes, hasn’t been successful in getting students to think. “If we really want to have students learning through problem solving, then they have to get stuck, and they have to think, and they have to get unstuck.” 

Here’s how a Thinking Classroom lesson addresses this perennial problem of low intellectual engagement in math classes, often accompanied by I’m not a math person beliefs among many students:

-   The teacher gives a 3-5-minute introduction reviewing key background knowledge.

-   Students are randomly assigned to groups (two students per group in the primary grades, three in grade 3 and above).

-   Students see the random selection process in action, which makes them more likely to participate actively in their group and get to know all their classmates. 

-   All groups work on the same challenging problem standing up at erasable whiteboards.

-   Each group has one marker, and when a student has an idea, another student in the group writes it on the whiteboard.

-   The teacher circulates observing students’ progress, asking questions, providing vocabulary, giving hints and prods, and differentiating appropriately.

-   Students are encouraged to look at the strategies used by other groups, sometimes taking a “gallery walk” around the classroom.

-   The class convenes to consolidate key learnings, with the teacher drawing attention to successful solutions and common errors on the boards, providing more-direct instruction, and giving the bigger picture. 

-   Meaning-making during group work is messy, says Liljedahl, but it’s pulled together and made neater in this whole-group discussion.

-   Students write key insights in notebooks for their “future forgetful selves.”

-   Students then get up and, in different groups, move around the room solving shorter problems that check for understanding at the “mild,” “medium,” or “spicy” level of difficulty.

-   Each day’s problem gets a little harder, moving in “thin slices” through the curriculum. 

Liljedahl has found that most students need several lessons of less serious math problems to warm up to the new format before launching into the regular curriculum. “What that does,” he says, “is it makes math fun, and it makes math feel achievable and enjoyable. And it can be very disarming for students.” 

Collaboration within groups is a key success factor in Thinking Classrooms, he says: “What we noticed was that real collaboration doesn’t actually begin until students care as much about their partners’ learning as their own learning. And when empathy is unlocked, so many things work better in a classroom.” 

 

“How to Get Kids Thinking Instead of Mimicking in Math Class” by Kara Newhouse in Mind/Shift, August 27, 2024; see Memo 1013 for examples of Thinking Classroom problems at the elementary, middle-school, and high-school level, and Memo 992 for a summary of the first three chapters of Liljedahl’s book.

Difficult Conversations: 5 Things I Learned

 Difficult Conversation

Notes from Administrator Academy "Difficult Conversations" How to discuss Crucial issues to improve relationships and performance".  I have the handout filed under "Management/Difficult Conversations"

1. Difficult Conversation - and conflict management - takes up 40-90% of managers' time

2. There are common, known causes for conflict (see p. 4) unclear expectations, ineffective or poor communication, lack of clear jurisdiction or boundaries, interpersonal style or attitutdes (race, religion, ethics), conflicts of of interest, organizational change 

3. Functional View of Organizational Conflict. (Bacal) is that conflict is normal and can be productive.  Managers must work to manage conflict positively in order to employees to increase their knowledge and skills.

4.  

5. 

Useful resources.

p7. Goleman 5 components of emotional intelligence

p. 11 Committed listening checklist

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

 In the ACT, skills related to reading and identifying the main idea primarily align with the Reading section of the test. Here are some specific skills assessed in the Reading section that are closely related to reading comprehension and identifying the main idea:

1. Main Idea and Central Theme Identification:

   • Students are tested on their ability to determine the main idea or central theme of a passage. Questions often ask about the primary purpose of the passage, the author's main point, or the central message conveyed by the text.

2. Understanding Supporting Details:

   • Students must comprehend how supporting details within a passage contribute to the main idea or central theme. This involves identifying specific evidence, examples, or arguments presented in the text that support or develop the main idea.

3. Recognizing Author's Perspective or Argument:

   • Students are expected to discern the author's perspective or argument and understand how it shapes the overall meaning of the passage. This includes recognizing the author's stance on an issue, the tone or attitude conveyed, and any implicit assumptions or biases.

4. Summarizing and Synthesizing Information:

   • Students are assessed on their ability to summarize key points or main ideas presented in a passage. Questions may require students to provide a concise summary of the passage's content or to identify the main idea of specific paragraphs or sections within the passage.

5. Identifying Central Claims in Arguments:

   • In passages that present arguments or viewpoints, students must identify the central claims or arguments made by the author. This involves understanding the structure of the argument, the evidence presented to support it, and any counterarguments or alternative perspectives mentioned.

Overall, success in the Reading section of the ACT relies heavily on students' ability to comprehend and analyze written passages, identify main ideas, discern supporting details, and understand the overall purpose and structure of the text. These skills are crucial for effective reading comprehension and are essential for performing well on the ACT exam.

Inspirational Things/ Thank you notes

 Ideas to write in thank you notes

Hey educators, If no one else tells you today, you need to know. You are showing up to the most important job there is & you are awesome at it. It's seen even though others might not say. It's known even though it's not acknowledged Your kids are better because of you.