Cognitive Demand

Cognitive Demand

We ask a lot of our students every day, both socially and academically. We have high standards that we expect the students to reach every day. We ask challenging questions, but are the students answering the questions or are we? Learning happens when there is “productive struggle.” Students need to be able to problem solve and allowing them to struggle encourages them to do just that! We, as teachers, need to ensure we are giving them the opportunity to problem solve.

We need to teach our students that it is ok for concepts or tasks to be difficult; it is how we react to the challenge that can define who we are as a learner. We support our students and guide their thinking while they are grappling with problems, but how do we start the journey without giving away the answer?

There is an idea that you need to address preconceptions the students have about a concept. I was able to witness this in a classroom a few weeks ago.

 A teacher was working with students on the different types of taste. She asked her students what things could taste like. The students responded with things like sweet, salty, sour, and savory. One student just happen to say she loved salty treats. The teacher asked her what her favorite salty treat was, the student stated Lemonheads. The teacher stopped and discussed with the students what types of foods were sweet, salty, sour, and savory that they already knew about. There were several misconceptions that the students had about some of their favorite foods. The teacher took the time to correct these before moving on to the lesson.

I brought this concept up to a teacher last week, when we were discussing her lesson. The idea that students might be struggling because they had preconceptions about doubles. The teacher thought about it and stated, “That would make sense. He keeps adding 2 to everything. I bet he thinks that is how we double. Counting by 2.”

Knowledge does not transfer on its own. We have to help students make connections between the skills and other tasks in order for them to see how to use the skills. We cannot teach students how to problem solve in math and say they can now problem solve arguments with their friends. We have to help them see these connections. I have been asking students this year how they will be using the skill they are practicing right now in class later. The responses I am getting are varying:

-          “We are going to be able to use this in our writing.”

-          “She hasn’t told us yet.”

-          “This will help us do better on future tests.”

-          “I will be able to do math faster, when I have my facts.”

-          “I will be adding more detail to my writing.”

-          “If I can use a number line correctly, I can do my math problems faster.”

-          “When I am thinking about telling on someone, I think should I? Am I a Danger Ranger?”

-          “So I can help my kids with their homework one day.”

Students are not always sure as to the importance of what we are teaching them. Sometimes they even make connections that we do not see. Are we giving them the time to grapple with tough concepts in order to understand the importance and to find their own connections?

  As we go into the last leg of this semester, will you allow your students to struggle?

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment

“I know what my kids need,” is what educators say when asked why a strategy is being used, differentiating is being done a certain way, or a skill is being taught. How do you know? I believe teachers know their students, I truly do! When it comes to knowing the academic needs of students, I do wonder what information is being used to base decisions on? Formative assessments are the key to making the best decisions we can for our students. Intentionally asking the right question, checking for understanding at the precise moment or intercepting the misconception before it becomes a belief- this is where our skills as an educator shine. Educators have students complete tasks to show their knowledge to the teacher, but what about the learning that leads up to the task? How is the student showing their learning during the lesson?

Educators are great at giving grace to their students for making a mistake, misinterpreting data, or not focusing on the part of the text that houses the answer. Do we give ourselves the same grace? Educators need to take a look at the task students are doing to ensure they are getting the data they think they are getting. Use a protocol on any of your assessments to see it with a new lens. Do we plan to gather information at specific times during our lessons to ensure that our students are learning what we are teaching? People have different experiences, and we rely on these experiences to help us make meaning out of new information. If we are not gathering evidence that the students are learning until we have completed teaching, we are not able to adjust instruction and we will have to reteach any student that did not master the concept taught. If we gathered evidence along the way, we would save time in the long run.

The other piece we need to keep in mind is what we are going to do with the information once it is collected. Educators need to plan in advance what information is needed in order to make an informed decision. How do you know when it is appropriate to move on during a lesson? Asking a question just to ask a question is not going to make your instruction stronger or always give you the information needed. There must to be a purpose behind the question. Sometimes, we would have a deeper classroom discussion if we took a stance on a topic, made a statement, and then had the students discuss their thinking about the statement. Having students think about and explain why they agree or disagree is harder than just saying yes or no to a question.

 We often find ourselves so inundated with data we do not know how to use it; do not waste time on collecting it, if you are not going to use it. There are many ways to assess student learning, use PLC time to talk to your teams about the best way to know your students, to know what they have learned, to know when you need to adjust the lesson! There is not one magic formative assessment that can be a go to every time; use your colleagues to select the correct tool to use for the lesson. What are some formative assessment tools you find effective? Share in the comments.

"Soft" Skills

"Soft" Skills

“Soft” skills are the skills you need to be able to work effectively with others, not just in schools- but in life. I do not like the term “soft,” it implies that these skills are not as important as other skills. They should be considered Professional Skills.

 I was given the opportunity to be a part of NISD strategic summit in the Spring of 2018; there were representatives from the district faculty, our students, parents, the community, as well as from businesses in our area. One topic continued to come up from both students and employers- professional skills. Both groups felt that the students coming out of high school are not prepared in this area. If you google the following: “soft skills,” “professional skills,” “the 6 Cs” you will note that there aren’t just educational articles that populate- business articles are there as well. The workforce is lacking in these skills coming out of both high school and college.

There are six skills that the business world looks for when looking to hire employees.

               Critical Thinking – The ability to take information and analyze it, manipulate it and apply                    it to new situations.

              Communication- The way in which you share information.

              Collaboration- Being able to work with others towards a common goal.

              Creativity- The ability to think of new and innovative ways to complete a task or to present                    information.

             Core/Content Competency- Content knowledge.

             Character Development – The ethics and morals with which a person is instilled.

What teacher is not looking for the same skills in their students? These skills are not something we are born knowing; they are not innate- they must be taught. They are not TEKS; they are not in the Scope and Sequence. We need to look at this as not “another thing,” but as skills to keep in mind when we are developing our lessons. If our goal is for students to own their learning, be life-long learners, and to reach the high expectations we have for them; then developing the whole child needs to be a priority.

How to teach these skills will be a topic for our PLCs. There is not a magic strategy answer for this; however, an excellent place to start is to give our students the opportunities to work cooperatively. Genuinely working in cooperative learning groups give students chances to practice these skills under our watchful eye. When we design lessons for our students we need to keep these skills in mind, spotlight them. We should be modeling these skills daily with students. Just like we model our thinking, we need to model these strategies in everyday lessons. Point them out and talk to the students about what these are and why they are important. Looking at them one at a time does not mean they are not working on the others, but that they are getting feedback from us on one particular skill in order to strengthen the skill. These skills need to be worked on just like any other ritual or procedure: practice, practice, practice!

Let’s look at the second question, “Is it appropriate for our students to learn them?” Of Course, it is! If we look at tackling this challenge as something that is vital to our students becoming successful, we will see the importance. Hattie says, “…the foundation for successful cooperative learning in later years can be laid in elementary school.” (Hattie & Klaus Zierer, 2018) Is it easy? No, but what we do is never easy. By looking for ways to embed opportunities in our day to learn these skills, our students will be able to “engage in a culture of learning that prepares all students to navigate the future confidently.” (Northwest ISD, 2018)

If we want our students to own their learning, these skills are a great way to help them on the path of becoming Life-Long Learners.

Creating an Environment that Encourages Student Learning

Creating an Environment that Encourages Student Learning

Decorating. We all do it. We all want our classrooms to be warm and inviting. We spend HOURS and HOURS decorating our rooms, so that when the students and parents walk in they feel comfortable and warm and fuzzy in the pretty room. But Why? Why do we do this? Does it help the students learn? Does it aid in helping teachers close the achievement gap? Does it encourage engagement? Does it? Or is it because we like our rooms to be pretty? We spend so much time in these rooms, do we want pretty things to look at? I have been in classrooms that  benefit the students and the teacher and I have been in classrooms that only benefit the teacher.

While you are resting and thinking about the theme of your classroom next year, contemplate the following:

• “What is the purpose of putting this on the wall?”
• “How will this help the students?”
• “Is this for me or for the kids?”

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, I am not prompting a cold sterile learning environment. What I am doing is asking you to think about the amount of time and energy you are putting into your room and to think about where you get the biggest bang for your buck. Are you spending more time on decorating the “teacher” space or creating a space to display student work? Are you creating spaces for anchor charts or are you going to have to take things down to hang up your anchor charts.

It is important to create a positive learning environment and we want you to be comfortable in your space, but this year let’s look at how we are setting up our rooms.

 

What does your room say when someone walks in?

  It starts with the eyes, a student makes their first opinions about you and your class based on what they see when they walk in. If they walk into a room that has nothing on the walls and desks in a row, they will get a negative impression of your class right away. Desks being in “traditional” rows tells the students they aren’t going to be working with others, and will be working independently. (Think STAAR testing days.) The empty walls have the students wondering what they will be learning, there is nothing up to give them any clue as to how you teach, what they will learn, or how the class will be in general.

 If a student walks into a classroom and sees desks in groups or pods, they immediately know they will get to sit with peers, they will get to work with peers. People are naturally social, they will meet that need whether opportunities are given to them or not; it is a basic need they need met. It is an encouraging sight when entering a room, for most students.

When people enter a space they look around, they make opinions based on what they see. If there is space on the wall for student work they will notice, if there is a word wall it will be noticed, if the majority of the space is dedicated to students and learning it will be noticed. Students walk in looking for the reading area, looking to see if they will get to go to the “teacher table”, looking for affirmation that the things they love about school are included in the new classroom.  Bottom line is how we set up our room is vital.

 

Classroom Organization: form vs function

One of the complaints we have as educators is that there is never enough time. We can’t make more time, the district and campus gives us requirements when it comes to content minutes; but what we can control is how we maximize our time. Organization is one way to save those precious minutes. “Be prepared” is a norm we talk about every year; we expect our colleagues to come to meetings and PLCs ready to discuss the topic as well as bring anything that will be needed.  We need to have the same expectations for ourselves when it comes to instruction. It is vital that we have our materials ready for each day. Another thing to consider when organizing materials is to look at materials used often and set routines to allow students to be able to access them independently. Allowing students to manage materials for us has multiple benefits: the students gain ownership by being a part of the process, having a job in all parts of the lesson (helping classroom management) and giving the teacher time during transition to address other needs. Setting up these routines at the start of the year makes for an easier transition.

For the last two years we have been discussing how to maximize our flex-spaces. We have many teachers using them in creative ways, from reading nooks to technology “alcoves”, we need to use these spaces to add space to our classrooms and to encourage the idea of flexible learning environments. When thinking about your flex-space, it is very important to talk with your flexmate about expectations and needs before you change the use of the flex-space. Be creative… I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!

 

Small Group Instruction Space

This space is a non-negotiable. Each classroom needs to have a space that the teacher can pull small groups of students to work with. Small group instruction is not just reteaching who did not “get” the lesson, but it is intentional time planned by the teacher to target students’ learning- based on data. (I am starting to get on a tangent…) The important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that this space is planned with student and teacher needs in mind: placed in a space where the teacher can monitor the rest of the class, easily accessible by the students, and easy to reach materials during instruction.  

 

Storage

We have several storage closets in the building; we have cabinets full of materials in the STEAM lab, and our library holds a plethora of supplies. We should not be using our flex-spaces as storage spaces and we should keep our classrooms clutter free.

 

Be You!

When setting up your room this year; show your students a glimpse of what to expect this year. Show them what is important to you as a teacher, as a learner, and as a Schluter Spur. Make your learning environment flexible, purposeful, and amazing. This year is going to be incredible and it is because of the teachers!

   

Finish Strong

Finish the Year Strong

“Finish Strong!” This phrase is used in so many fields and disciplines, but it all means the same thing, Even though you are tired, you have worked hard, do not let up when you are so close to the end. Do not “coast” to the finish line. We only have our students for a limited time, about 187 days. We ONLY have 187 days to make an impact on their lives. The spring can be overwhelming with all the events that happen this time of year but remember every minute we have with our kids should be intentional. Use the time to help them grow as much as possible; to reach and exceed every goal they have set themselves, to help them on the path to life-long learning.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, “the teacher matters!” The way we finish the school year sets the tone for the students for summer--whether they read or not, and sets the tone for the next school year--do they already have in mind that school is always important. I am not sure about you, when a student would ask me if they missed anything when they were absent, I would be offended. I still get offended if someone asks this question when he or she misses a meeting. “Of Course you missed something, important somethings.” We want our students with us to the last day because we plan important, vital, engaging, relevant lessons that they need to have!

Many of us are already making plans for next year, many of us have so many ideas it makes us excited, but do not forget we still have lots of days this year we can make an impact. When you are looking at your lessons, are you excited to teach them? If not, what can be done about that? We often joke that we have to “entertain” the students, but the truth is we need to engage them. No one wants to be in a place they are bored! What can we do to personalize lessons, to engage the whole child, to utilize the idea of anywhere anytime learning?

I am blessed to get to work with one of the most talented group of educators I have ever seen. The amount of knowledge, passion, and innovation is incredible; it is contagious! Be the teacher you wanted when you were in school. Be the teacher you want your child to have. Be the teacher that reaches their students! Leave them wanting more.

Differentiation

Differentiation

This has been a topic of discussion for years! What is the best way to differentiate? How do I make sure that I am differentiating for all kids in a class of 25 (or more)? What data is the best data to use to plan this? How do I find the time?

For me, T-Tess has been the best rubric to reframe my understanding of what differentiation truly is. As an inclusion teacher, differentiation has been extremely important to me; having my students be successful is what drives me. We all know that “Ah-Ha” moment and what that means to our kids- I love this look! Now, as I look back, I was not as effective as I could have been. I look at the strategies I used, the supports I gave, even who got the supports; I see now that I gave crutches to students who did not need them. Did the word bank help? Of course! Would they have been successful without it? Probably. What data was I using to make these decisions? If I could go back, the changes I would make! I think we all feel that hindsight is 20/20. If I had been more targeted with my scaffolds and supports, would I have gotten students to be more successful? I like to think so.

Why is this important to share? Why do I need to say this aloud? Because, we all have tried strategies that did not go the way we wanted them to or lessons that did not give us the results we thought we were going to get. It is important to know that is about our journey. Teaching is not an exact science; kids are unpredictable. We need to have lots of experiences and strategies in our toolbox to be the most successful teacher we can be.  

When we plan lessons, we need to think about all the students in the room. It can be any need the students have:

    Academic- maybe they need less answer choices or maybe they need to have a small group lesson before they start their assignment

  Social/Emotional- maybe the students need to turn and talk about their thinking before they can work without disrupting others or maybe they need a checklist to help them focus on the task at hand?

 

Whatever the need of the students are, it is our goal to meet them in order for them to be successful in their work.  It can be a daunting undertaking, but together we can work to close the gaps, challenge our students, and guide our students to success. Teachers have a tremendous responsibility of educating our future; we take this responsibility seriously.

STEAM- Schluter's Journey

As educators, we know we are teaching students, training students to have jobs that currently do not exist. We accept the challenge to develop minds to be open to the unknown future. When we ask our students what they want to be when they grow up, we smile knowing good and well that we have no idea the opportunities they will have. We live in an age of ever changing technology, one that keeps information once memorized at our fingertips to be recalled at the push of a button. We live in a global society that with a connection that could not have been fathomed when we ourselves where in our students shoes.

Teaching is a cornerstone profession; it is a part of every profession out there. We are innovated enough to see that we have to teach our students- to solve problems, think for themselves, and to be risk takers. These are all very difficult skills to teach. It takes courage, confidences, and the ability to see that failure is not the end, but the beginning to real learning.  We are teaching our students to be future ready- whatever the future holds for them.

The importance of STEAM learning

We have been in the process of incorporating the idea of cross-curricular education within our school for 3 year now. We started small; with the Makerspace in the library during recess and have grown to have a full-on STEAM Lab. The process has not been an easy one, teachers are pulled in many directions and it is often hard to see the value of something new. Luckily for me, Schluter is a school full of innovative teachers that are willing to try new ideas and step out of their comfort zone to ensure our students are receiving the best education possible.

Our journey:

It all started with Christa telling me (because she did not ask!) that we needed a space for students to learn and explore what they are interested in. I agreed. She brought the idea of the Makerspace to Schluter. We worked to come up with challenges for the students to choose from; they signed up to come to the Markerspace during their recess time. There were also opportunities in the library for students to learn about what they were interested in as well. It was a great start! The students worked hard and came up with a variety of solutions for the problems posed. It was exciting to see the learning students where choosing to be a part of.

Then last year during our construction, we hit a snag… space. We did not have the space to grow our program or even to keep it going at the same level. Unfortunately, we were forced to scale back on what we were offering to our kids, BUT what this time did allow is for a team to start thinking about what our kids need. STEAM- we had a group that brainstormed what we were wanting for our kids, what it needed to look like, and what we needed to make it happen! Our team was made up of teachers here at Schluter as well as a representative from Chisholm Trail: they worked on grants, plans, and a vision. Our grant writing proved to be fruitless, but we did not allow this to slow us down. We had to look for down new avenues for our sponsorship.

Our STEAM Lab is filled with materials that were purchased by our PTA, our parents, as well as some of our teachers. We are incredibly blessed to be in a community that is so supportive of the innovation we bring to our students. This year, it has been exciting to see the students working in the lab, in the halls, and in your room. To have a student, who has maybe said five words to me all year, get excited about explaining how wind moves his transportation device- talk about powerful. Or to see a student that struggles social be the center of attention, because a lab was design around his love of a storybook character and disco- moving. The groups that have been in the lab or working on of the lab because it was full, have extremely engaged students who were making connections that otherwise might not have been seen. Has every lesson been a 100% perfect experience where each student mastered each portion of the lab? No, we are learning. We are learning about the process, our students, and the connections they are making when given the opportunity to demonstrate their learning a little different.  

The STEAM lessons that have been designed for our students have been incredible. I cannot wait to see what other lessons our teachers come up with next.