Issue 81: Mar 08, 2010 Connections Newsletter
7 Principles for Teachers
Jennifer Partrick
Mar 08, 2010
Never Work Harder Than Your Students & Other Principles Of Great Teachers by Dr. Robyn R. Jackson (2009) is a ‘must read' for any educator. This book is filled with pertinent information that will positively impact everything that teachers do in their classrooms.
The foundation upon which this book stands are the 7 Principles. They are:
1. Start where your students are
2. Know where your students are going
3. Expect to get your students to their goal
4. Support your students along the way
5. Use feedback to help you and your students get better
6. Focus on quality rather than quantity
7. Never work harder than your students
A chapter is devoted to each principle. Dr. Jackson explains the principle, gives concrete examples of the principle along with strategies for teachers to try as they endeavor to implement the principle. Also, there is a section in each chapter entitled "Yes, but..." for teachers who may want to give excuses about why they cannot possibly do or try a strategy. Remember the old saying, "If we do what we've always done, we're going to get what we've always got."
This book validates the frameworks and strategies of LEARNING-FOCUSED. Principles 2 and 3 are all about goals which should be your state standards. Teach the standards but also support students where they are (Principle 1). We can support our students where they are by making sure that we differentiate instruction and accelerate learning. LEARNING-FOCUSED offers workshops devoted to differentiation within whole group instruction and in small group settings using Flexible Grouping in order to support all students regardless of where they are in relation to grade level expectations as well as on Catching Kids Up with Acceleration.
Principles 4 and 5 are embedded in the LEARNING-FOCUSED Acquisition Lesson. The lesson plan is designed to ensure that you stop at designated times to use Assessment Prompts in order to gather feedback which directly impacts instruction. These stopping points give students an opportunity to discuss and/or practice what they have just learned.
Principle 6 is related to quality. LEARNING-FOCUSED Unit design directly influences quality in terms of structure, foci, time, levels of learning, vocabulary, conceptual themes, and an overriding key learning. This design, along with exemplary teaching practices, results in quality instruction and learning.
Principle 7 binds all the other principles together. How often do you leave school absolutely exhausted while your students seem to skip towards the bus? Your students should be working harder than you. If not, who is doing most of the work? It must be your students who are working the hardest.
References:
Jackson, R. (2009) Never Work Harder Than Your Students & Other Principles Of Great Teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Adjusting Instruction
Carol Brewer
Mar 08, 2010
Have you ever taught a lesson that your students did not understand? Have you taught a lesson when you did not realize that students did not "get it" until the end of the lesson when they summarized? When reflecting on the lesson, where was the breakdown in instruction? At what point did you "lose" the students?
Assessment Prompts can assist teachers with the answers to the above questions. They are used during Teaching Strategies in the Acquisition Lesson. Assessment Prompts are the tools used to distribute the guided practice as well as the summarizing. This means that within a lesson, students are allowed time to practice and/or summarize what has been taught. This practice and summarizing is distributed throughout the lesson instead of just at the end.
Assessment Prompts can be used to adjust instruction. For example, let's say you are instructing a Cause and Effect lesson. Together with students read the first paragraph stopping occasionally to "think aloud" to model cause and effect. The first Assessment Prompt could be for the students to sort picture or word cards into cause and effect. These cards may or may not have anything to do with the content of the text because you are assessing their understanding of the comprehension strategy (cause and effect) that is being taught. The Assessment Prompt could be as simple as, "What is a cause? and What is an effect?" Observe the sorting activity to check for learning. At this time you can adjust the instruction according to the results of the sorting activity.
The most important thing about adjusting instruction is to have a "bank of ideas" for instruction. If the students do not "get it" one way, do you have additional ways for instruction? When the breakdown in learning occurs, are you flexible enough to adjust instruction to meet the needs of all?
During grade level planning time, brainstorm different ways to teach the same concept. Share with colleagues how you have used modeling and scaffolding. Write these different ideas on the back of the Acquisition Lesson, or add it on Toolbox in the Additional Information section at the bottom of the Student Learning Map.
For more on Acquisition Lessons and Assessment Prompts see Connecting Exemplary Practices in Acquisition Lessons.
Reinforcing Effort
Denise Burson
Mar 08, 2010
Research (Covington 1983 and Hartner 1980) has shown that recognizing effort ultimately pays off in the enhancement of achievement. People generally attribute success to ability, other people, and luck as well. However, these beliefs inhibit, instead of enhance achievement.
Three generalizations have been drawn on the effects of reinforcing effort on student achievement:
1. Most students are not aware of the importance of believing that their level of effort is related to their achievement. (Seligman, 1990, 1994; Urdan, Migley, and Anderman, 1998).
2. Student achievement can increase when teachers show the relationship between an increase in effort to an increase in success (Craske, 1985; Van Overwalle and De Metsenaere, 1990).
3. Students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort.
Implementation:
1. Teach the relationship between effort and achievement. The Chicken Soup Series is an excellent resource of stories. Use examples from the well-known people as well as the unknown so students recognize success in all situations and under many situations. Encourage students to think about: "What does effort look like?"
2. Recognize effort. Students who are recognized for effort will make the connection between effort and improvement.
3. Provide a visual representation of effort. (effort log)
4. Create a class effort rubric. A class that shares a common definition for effort will also share the understanding of effort and achievement.
5. Recognize individual students for personal progress. Winning usually indicates that others have lost, or are "below the winner." When students have personal goals, or reach pre-determined standards of excellence, recognition is for personal achievement, which is unique to each student.
6. Make clear the real goal of effort. "The harder you try, the more successful you are" is what the act of recognition should communicate to students, not "the harder you try, the more prizes you get." Make this clear to students and apply it in practice.
Additional Resources
Dr. Mel Levine publishes All Kinds of Minds - A Web site resource for educators. He shares ideas for recognizing effort of students, and how to support learning differences. http://www.allkindsofminds.org/activity.aspx?id=12
