Issue 127: Mar 14, 2011 Connections Newsletter

Challenging Student Apathy

Cindy Riedl
Mar 14, 2011

If I received a dollar for every teacher who has claimed that his or her students typically do not care about learning and are simply warming the seats in their classroom, I would be a millionaire! This mantra continues to be heard in schools across the country.

The root of the problem lies not with the parents of these students, but with what happens to them once they enter kindergarten. These students begin the school experience without the fear of failure. They have no reason to think that school is not a wonderful place to be! In fact they have been waiting for that ride on the yellow bus for years. They are open to adventure and are ready to engage in the magic of learning. Yet, many of these students begin to experience learning situations that they are ill-equipped to deal with successfully simply because they enter school with limited language skills and the basic life experiences their more fortunate peers are afforded. The failure cycle begins early and repeats, year after year until these students realize that school has nothing to offer them. By junior high/ middle school these students have become resistant to learning. They dare us to try, and the mantra begins. “How can we teach students who are resistant to learning?”

It is never too late to break this cycle! Success can do just that! We cannot give up but we need to channel our energies into focusing on what motivates students – interest and emotion. Deep down these students crave success and recognition.

David Perkins’ and Lauren Resnick’s combined research emphasizes how effort makes a difference for at-risk students – 25% of achievement is directly attributable to IQ, 25% of achievement is directly attributable to the opportunities and experiences students have as they learn, and 50% of achievement is directly attributable to students’ self-efficacy and self-esteem. To utilize this research, teachers can address the root cause of learning difficulty for many students – the lack of prior knowledge, vocabulary and experiences that are necessary to connect to new knowledge and skills. Integrating the acceleration practices of previewing up-coming concepts, vocabulary and/or skills and providing a foundation or scaffold for new learning by building lacking background knowledge 2 to 3 days before the main lesson, prepares at-risk learners to successfully participate during the lesson.

These students also benefit from breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps, by previewing examples of authentic student work, from extensive teacher modeling, by partially completed graphic organizers, and word banks during note-taking and by using framed paragraphs.

 

Tips for Accelerating Learning in Your Classroom:

 1. Preview Key Vocabulary with the 4 Box Word Analysis using the following steps:

• Introduce the word and have students repeat it out loud before they record it in the ‘Word’ column.

• Provide the meaning of the word using elaboration and have students record it in the ‘Meaning’ column.

• In collaborative pairs, have students rehearse by paraphrasing the meaning of the word in their own words before recording their response in the ‘In My Words’ column.

• Model examples of a memory device, and have students create a way for them to remember the word using a picture, symbol or personal connection to the word.

 

 

 

(Note: Students can create this model in their notebooks by folding their paper to create the columns.)

2.  Preview Concepts with the Frayer Model for concept attainment using the following steps:

• Introduce the examples and non-examples for a concept, i.e. invertebrates, dictatorship, symmetry, idioms, etc.

• In collaborative pairs, ask students to examine the examples and non-examples to determine the characteristics of the concept and list them in the 'Characteristics' quadrant of the graphic organizer.

• Confirm correct responses during whole group share.

• Provide a student friendly definition or description with elaboration.

 

3.  Build background knowledge with completed graphic organizers that are previewed during background video snippets or trade books. Another excellent example is using trade books to build background experience and understanding such as the book, Zoom,  by Estvan Banyia, to introduce how perceptions are formed. Virtual experiences can be found on many topics using the Internet without leaving the classroom. Today, technology affoeds teachers with multiple oportunities to build background knowledge using the touch of a key. Chekc out the 1950s on UTube. What you will find are pictures with narration that explore that cultural period in the United States. It is exciting, and the topics are without limits.

4.  Use the Auto Summarizing tool that can be found in Word to condense long passages, highlight key information or create a summary of a passage for those students who have limited reading skills. There are publishers that offer this option for their content texts!

5. Teach students how to chunk long passages using distributed summarizing. Use Numbered-Heads! Ones are the readers and twos are the summarizers or they create a question that is answered by the chunk of content read. No popcorn reading! I learned at an early age that if I had a stutter, teachers never called on me to read aloud. Students will do just about anything to avoid looking ignorant in front of their peers. Anxiety can cause diarrhea.

6. Provide Framed Paragraphs for written responses. It does not matter what subject you are teaching. Begin with creating an average response indicating your expectations and then white out the key information in the response. Examples: 'The important information in this passage is... But the most important information was...,' 'To solve this problem, I first eliminate extraneios information, such as..., then using the critical information in the problem, _____ and _____, I identified the operation, _____, to solve this problem.' 'The main idea of this passage is _____ because _____, _____ and _____.' All you need to do is to create the basic response you would expect for your grade level. There is no reason to reduce the rigor of the expected response when you create this scaffold.

7. Differentiating assignments is another technique to engage those who need to be challenged and those who need additional support to meet the rigor of the expectations. Tiered assignments are delicious and easy to create because you begin with a typical assignment and then create ways to make it more challenging for those students who need it and also to build in additional supports for those students who would be unable to complete the assignment on their own. Example:

How do we move people and goods from place to place?

The labels for the groups of words on the transportation word wall fell down. Match the label with each set of words. Try to find some sets of words that could have more than one label.

The words on the transportation word wall fell down. Decide how to display the words so that they are grouped in a logical way that will help us as we answer our Essential Question. Be sure to create a label that describes each category of words.

Brainstorm a list of all the words you can think of related to transportation. Decide how to classify the words into meaningful groups that will help us as we answer the Essential Question. Classify the words in one way and then come up with other ways. Create labels for each grouping.

 

The operative word is K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple Sweetheart. If it becomes complicated, it simply will not happen. Think outside of the box!

R.A.F.T. is another differentiating technique that affords student choice. (R = role, A = audience, F = format, T = topic)

Example:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are unlimited ways to meet the needs and abilities of our students! There is no excuse for apathy! It begins and ends with us – the educators! For more ideas, visit Differentiated Assignments, Catching Kids Up With Acceleration and Scaffolding Grade Level Learning.

Taking the Lead: The Role Student-Led Conferences Play in Student Motivation

Toni Enloe
Mar 14, 2011

How do student-led conferences increase student motivation?

Nothing strikes greater fear in the hearts of many students, parents, and teachers than the dreaded letter.  You know the one…

            Dear Mr. and Mrs. Parent,

            Another marking period has come to the end, and it is now time to assess your child's  progress.  Please contact me at your earliest convenience to set up a conference.

            Sincerely,

            Ms. Child’s Teacher

            Phone Number

Immediately the panic sets in for many students.  What will my teacher tell my parents?  Have I done my best this marking period?  Are there things I could have done better?  Is there anything I need to confess to them before the conference?  Parents wonder… What will the teacher tell me about my child?  Is he/she progressing at a normal pace?  Do I have any reason to be concerned?  Teachers, bless their hearts, are just trying to figure out how much to share and trying to decide what is worth mentioning.  How do they give parents an accurate picture of their child as a learner?

For more than a decade, there has been a growing trend in a conferencing model that allows students to take the lead.  While this trend toward student-led conferences has been most frequently associated with middle school, is has become increasingly popular in both elementary and high schools.

 Many of us grew up with the traditional parent–teacher conference where the student was often times either not invited or if they were, they were often in the “hot seat” left to defend why they were not achieving.  The student-led conference allows students to take a leadership role in the conferencing process.  In a student-led conference, the dialogue is between the student and parent while the teacher acts as facilitator when needed, student advocate, and even sometimes serves as a mediator.  Students traditionally prepare and present a body of their work, often times in the form of a portfolio, and field questions and concerns from their parents about their learning.  The teacher offers assistance when needed, but over 90% of the conference is student directed.  Students take the lead in several ways:

1. Do the planning - They decide what work will be shared based on criteria that have been previously established.  What will be the best representation of their learning?

2. Do all of the talking - They reflect on their work and respond to parental questions and concerns. 

Benefits to all students include:

• Increases accountability – Students become responsible for reflecting on their own work and communicating their goals and strategies for achieving those goals.

• Increases communication between parent and child

• Increases parent involvement and support – Since students send out their own invitations, parents are more likely to attend a student-led conference.

• Increases motivation- When students have an actual audience they tend to take the task at hand more seriously.

• Increases student awareness of the learning process

• Increases student self-efficacy resulting in increased student effort

• Increases organizational and oral communication skills

• Increases student buy-in

 Additional benefits for elementary students

• Even Kindergartners can do it. 

• Encourages student involvement in their own learning at a very early age 

• Allows students to brag about what they have done well by including samples of exemplary work 

• Helps students identify where they need improvement

Additional benefits to middle/high school students

• Provides opportunities for open dialogue about interests and abilities

• Allows parents to help their child develop goals – When everyone is involved in the goal setting, there tends to be a higher percentage of follow-through. 

• Gives students control over some aspects of their learning. 

• Students become more thoughtful, motivated and evaluative when it comes to their learning and more critical of their attitudes toward their own education. 

• Empowers students at a time when they are not in control over many things concerning their education 

• Provides an authentic experience that will prepare students for the work force 

Benefits to parents include:

• Learning more about their own child’s learning and skills

• Working with their child to set goals

• Seeing their child “in action”

• Actively participating in their child’s schooling

For parents of English language learners, parent and student can communicate in their own language removing much of the intimidation that often times exist during a traditional parent-teacher conference.

Benefits to teachers:

• Provides an opportunity to grow student leaders

• Increases parent involvement through positive experiences

• Places more responsibility on the students

• Creates a more relaxed conferencing atmosphere

 How do I start?

Great student-led conferences do not just happen.  They must be well planned and well rehearsed.  DO YOUR HOMEWORK!  There are many wonderful resources available to guide you through the process from preparing parents for a different type of conference, helping students create their portfolios, and prepping students for the conference. 

This conference begins with a different kind of letter, an invitation.

Dear Mom and Dad,

This marking period I have been working really hard and would like to share what I have done with you.  I would like to invite you to my conference on

Date:

Time:

Location:

I have already set a couple of goals for the next grading period, but I would like for us to set my last goal together.

Hope to see you there.

I Love You,

Your Son, Dennis the Menace

How could any parent refuse an offer like this? 

“Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.”  ~Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928

 

Resources for Student-Led Conferences:

The What, Why, and How of Student-Led Conferences

Jack Berckemeyer & Patti Kinney

National Middle School Association

Student-Led Conferencing: Using Showcase Portfolios

Barbara P. Benson & Susan P.Barnett

Corwin Press

A School-Wide Approach to Student-Led Conferences

Patti Kinney, Mary Beth Munroe & Pam Sessions

National Middle School Association