Finding time for a good idea

Good ideas are not easy to come by. Let me specify--the idea is the easy part. The logistics are the hard part. I can come up with some ideas, but figuring out how those ideas are going to work in my classroom is something totally different. I have had the great idea that my students need to podcast about their newest literature circle books, a nonfiction text. I am sure that they have little to no experience with podcasting. This is something I will have to scaffold carefully in order to move them along at a good pace, but also ensure that everyone works in their ZPD. One minute of frustration and this balancing act can collapse. There are not a lot of lesson options with podcasting out there. I have experienced this before--I have an idea for a lesson, I know what I want it to look like, but I can't find exactly what I am looking for. I can get lost for hours on the Internet looking at things that don't quite do what I need them to do. I am not quite at ground zero with podcasting. I did fine a great PBS lesson that lays out great steps for scaffolding a podcast lesson. Now I just have to take my own materials and merge the two for the perfect podcasting book discussion lesson!

When "Say Something" Isn't Enough

Spring break did not last nearly long enough. Its only Tuesday, so why do I feel like I never left?

I took the break quite literally--I did no schoolwork, no blogging, no professional reading, no nothing. Of course I took everything home with me; I always do. This year, I even went so far as to unload it from my car and sat it next to my kitchen table. And that is where it was Monday morning when I loaded it all back up. I really should just learn not to bother taking things home.

I've hit the ground running as a coach since my return. I gave my law ed. teacher some spring break homework. We are going to teach his class An Hour to Kill, a true-crime story based on a murder in Conway, SC. Now working our way out of the textbook is enough to rock his world right off its base. So I am wracking my brain for reading strategies that are easily implemented and assessed to pair with the novel, and that is easier said than done. I don't want to throw him totally under the bus because I know he can feel it bearing down on him. (Can't we all at this point?)

I've pulled out an old standby that I've used with students and teachers alike--"Say Something". This strategy can be found in When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers (an awesome reading strategies handbook for any content area). The strategy forces students to bring their cognition to the forefront by making them do one of five things--predict, connect, comment, clarify, or question. I have a great organizer for students and have even used sentence starters to help them with the strategy. What I've noticed, though, is that they seem to get stuck on the comment section. Its like its the easiest one to do and that is almost where they hang out--in their comfort zone. So as I've prepared for my law education teacher, I've revamped the categories.

Many of the strategies are the same, just worded a little differently. I want to push students to think in different directions and I want to offer direct, on-point questions to help them get there. Here are my changes:

Where do you think the author is going with this? (I want students to really examine what they are reading and imagine why the author is giving us such information and what he/she will do with it.)

What are you confused about? What do you still want to know? (I want students to realize that questions come in many types--they can indicate confusion as well as curiosity.)

What can you assume or infer about the characters and/or action? (I had the novel in mind when I created this question. As students learn more about the accused, I want them to develop their own beliefs.)

Make a comment about something you've read.

How can you relate to the characters or the action of the story?

Tomorrow I'll be trying out my new thinking prompts. This activity is best done when modeled repeatedly. Its also best done while reading aloud, either in groups or as a whole class. Beers recommends students working in partners to read to one another and then write each others' thoughts on the organizer. Once students have internalized the expectations, they will be able to notate on the text itself.

Demonstrating Learning

Remember Charlie Brown’s teacher? She always came across with “wuh-wa-wuh-wa-wa-waaaa”. Who knew what she was talking about? Have you ever thought about what our students hear about 15 minutes into a lecture? I’ll give you one guess.
Telling students what to do cannot replace showing them how to do it. Someone should have told Charlie’s teacher to show, don’t tell.

Brian Cambourne studied the conditions of learning for more than 20 years. At the core of his research lies none other than student engagement. When engagement is up, discipline problems are down. Test scores are up. Achievement is up. Fun is up—for everyone involved.

One condition of learning that Cambourne has zeroed in on is demonstration learning. Demonstration is the “ability to observe (see, hear, witness, experience, feel, study, explore) actions and artifacts”.

One popular demonstrational technique for teaching reading is the think-aloud. This way, you, the experienced reader in the room, can provide the key to unlock the text. Remember that all of our content areas come with a new set of vocabulary. Students need the demonstration of cognitive strategies to help tackle the material in front of them.

Students can learn to parrot back answers, but that is neither thinking nor learning. Teachers can demonstrate thinking as a way to move beyond the questions. We need to show students that comprehension doesn’t stop with knowing all the answers. It often means that you are just starting to find the questions.

Demonstrating the process of learning rather than teaching chunks of information is one of the best practices that secondary content area teachers can use, especially when teachers are struggling to cover more and more content each year. While thinking aloud through the text may be daunting for content area teachers, it is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate to students how to access a particularly difficult text. Remember, you are the expert in the room. Share your expertise.