The Power of Patience

A thoughtful and evocative article about slowing down in the classroom, giving students time to focus, and teaching them that patience and "immersive attention" are imperative skills for lifelong learners.

http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/11/the-power-of-patience#article-images

Make Just One Change

Make Just One Change by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana is game changer in my classroom.  At only 176 pages, it lends itself to an easy summary: Teach students to ask their own questions.  The authors' premise is grand enough that their work goes beyond the realm of education and into healthcare and mental health, parent and family engagement, voter engagement, and microdemocracy.

The authors set up a very simple system for creating an environment full of inquiry and creativity.  First, I introduce the Question Focus, or QFocus, which is essentially a prompt.  For my current unit on World War 1 and the New European Imperialism the QFocus is: Competition between industrialized European states.  Using that prompt as a springboard, plus some prior knowledge from reading around the topic, pairs of students began to ask questions.  The rules for this stage are powerful in their brevity.

1. Ask as many questions as you can.
2. Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the questions.
3. Write down every statement exactly as it is stated.
4. Change any statement into a question.  

The second and third rule relate to each other in an incredibly powerful way.  On a whim, I asked both WCIV sections if their teachers often rephrased or tweaked the statements they offered in class.  Every hand went up.  I then asked how it felt when that refining process occurred.  Every student felt "dumber", "less valued", "upset, because I meant what I said."  The overwhelmingly negative reaction to something I always considered helpful in a goal-oriented classroom was incredible, and I promised them I'd try never to do it again.  

As of now, my WCIV sections have worked with a partner to develop an open and closed version of each question (60+), whittled their options to three refined questions, and chosen one on which to write a paper.  The paper marks the second assignment where the students have designed and produced their own work.  The strange thing is the extent to which I have to let go of the room- it's not easy or natural for me, but, hey, they're the ones in school.  It's nice to bump into something so good, I just have to remind myself, "Do this."  

The Right Question Institute

PDC Webinar October 23: 'Sell' More to Students

Webinar: Daniel Pink on How Teachers Can ‘Sell’ More to Students (October 23, 2013)

Daniel Pink reminds us that anyone trying to teach, persuade, or convince another is “selling” a product. In this “Age of Information Parity,” teachers need to develop the three new ABC’s of selling: Attunement (seeing from another’s point of view), Buoyancy (staying afloat in a sea of rejection), and Clarity (differentiating the meaning from the noise). He gives “quick, cheap, and actionable” suggestions for increasing creativity in group dynamics by decreasing the appearance of power of the leader and discusses the value of falling near the middle of the extroversion--introversion scale to better relate to others. He shows the consequences of relying on others to be motivated to participate as opposed to the results obtained by eliminating barriers to participation.

This webinar can be accessed on demand for the next four months here: Archive

The  email address is STONER@BLAIR.EDU and the password is webinar.

PDC Webinar October 16 Intentional Instruction

Webinar: Intentional Teaching: Infusing Instruction with Purpose by Fisher & Frey (October 16, 2013)

This webinar provided concrete methods for introducing and framing daily class around the students’ learning outcomes and the purpose behind them (as opposed to the teacher's goals for the day). The authors propose that keeping the focus on student outcomes allows for greater critical thinking and deeper learning as students are encouraged to go beyond “what we are doing today...” by presenting “what we are learning today...” Students are encouraged to discover the purpose in each lesson as it relates to class and beyond. Strategies for guiding class deeper into critical thinking are presented.

This webinar can be accessed on demand for the next four months here: Archive 

The  email address is STONER@BLAIR.EDU and the password is webinar.

The Post-Lecture Classroom

I remain totally convinced that the power and the potential of the Blair academic experience lies in our ability to push students to use their classroom time as an exploration of content, skills, and big ideas -- at their own pace and with our guidance.  That this flies in the face of the teaching that some of our graduates will experience at university only re-enforces my concerns about the quality of teaching at that level.  How we approach this student-centered classroom experience (via the "flipped-classroom", "harkness"-style discussions, "socratic seminars", project-based learning) will vary by discipline and teacher, and will no doubt evolve over time.  The article below looks at some of these efforts as well as attempts to quantify the results to a small degree:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/the-post-lecture-classroom-how-will-students-fare/279663/

A Return to Balance in Education: A selection of "Life's Operating Manual"

Sarah O'Neil passed along this thoughtful and inspiring selection from Tom Shadyac's Life's Operating Manual:

Life's Operating Manual Link

Playing with Fire

An impassioned essay that reminds us what we are all about and why we teach:

Playing with Fire

Cheating Feels Good?!?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/in-bad-news-cheating-feels-good/?_r=0

Interesting - and disturbing - data points re: why some people cheat (and feel good about it).  While the circumstances aren't directly reflective of our students' experiences at Blair, the questions and concerns are valid nonetheless.  

Time for me to start asking students to sign the honor pledge at the end, not beginning, of assessments....

-- Rachel

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

 

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ... (Filmed at TEDxPugetSound.)

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html


Shared by Maria

PDC Roundtable 9/24/2013 -- Effective Homework

PDC Thursday Roundtables—September 24, 2013:

Topic:  Effective Homework

Attendees:  Rachel Stone, Zoe Blatt, Ann Williams, Solomon Fleckman, Sarah O’Neil, Hans Doerr, Maria Bowditch, Rob Merrifield, Eric Lunger

Reading:  The Atlantic focus on Homework, September 2013

Thoughts:  There are challenges with any one approach to homework – does the assignment engage all students?  How does one assignment address the variety of learning styles present in each of our classes?  Do we know how to construct the most effective assignments?  How do our assignments integrate with assessment?  The conversation was fruitful and raised more questions than it provided answers.  That said, the issue how we best use student time, energy, and focus beyond the classroom is clearly one that deserves consistent conversation and attention by the faculty.

Particular questions and issues that were raised:

•  AW, RS, and others noted that reading is a challenge for kids.  HD suggested more focused work on efficiency in reading and homework as part of a study skills curriculum.
•  Should we teach kids that there is a natural time limit to effective work?  EL noted that he tells his students to work for 45 minutes and then stop.  This helps kids prioritize the work and provides valuable feedback to the teacher about the amount of time an assignment requires.  SO asked if our kids are over-loaded and thus have too much work?  AW noted that the best  Blair students have a tendency to not stop, they keep pushing to complete assignments regardless of what they are told.
• SF pointed out that the most important part of any assignment is providing explicit directions and immediate feedback.  Kids should always know why they are doing an assignment.  Movements exist to make sure that nothing new is covered in homework while others suggest that homework is the primer for the actual practice of the discipline in the classroom.
• Rachel asked if we are preparing our kids to be Good Students or Good Learners?  With life-long learning as a goal, how do we help students earn an appreciation for our disciplines?  We don’t want to create a culture of dishonest students, but long homework assignments do lend themselves to cheating.  AW noted that 90% of AHC cases revolve around overwhelmed students.
• Do we as teachers actually understand the demands made on a Blair student’s time?
• Should we focus more effectively and intentionally on reading skills and learning skills? 
• SF asked how much we are meant to prepare kids for the kid of instruction they receive in college, especially if that kind of instruction isn’t always as good as what we can provide here?
•  Let’s ask our alums about their college experience to get a real feel for how prepared they are and understand what types of skills they really need!
• Stress vs. Challenge:  do our kids know the difference? 
• If we enforced a lower limit on homework (Hotchkiss has a strict 30 minute limit per class), would that help?  Do our grading policies help or hinder kids in their approach to homework? 
• What do college professors want from their students?  How can we best prepare them?

Action Items:

1.          Encourage departments to have regular conversations about homework types and policies that work best in their disciplines.
2.          Continue to reflect on how we can best prepare kids for the types of work we ask of them – reading and study skills.
3.          Encourage departments to reach out to college professors to get a sense for what they are seeing in their classrooms and what types of preparation they would like us to cover with our kids.  (The History Department hopes to undertake this task in the Spring.)