Better Learning Through Structured Teaching

Fisher, D. and Frey, N. (2008). Better Learning Through Structured Teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Summary:

This book gives teachers a guide to instruct students so they can develop stronger learning skills. “It is a framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibilities.” The authors walk teachers though process of modeling (or focus lessons), guided practice, collaborative learning, and independent practice. These four approaches to a single lesson help meet many critical challenges teachers face like differentiation and time management. Each step is important for students to see in a series of lessons. The Focus Lesson establishes the purpose of the lesson. This is where the teacher needs to do explicit modeling for the class. Students may have many questions at this time. During Guided Instruction the teacher will use prompts to facilitate learning as students increase participation in the lesson. Students may begin to understand the expectations at this time but are still not ready to complete the task independently. Collaborative Learning is a vital step in the process. They must work together, with the teacher nearby, to create independent work. The teacher has not back away completely yet but is slowly handing more responsibility to the students. The Independent Practice is when the teacher has stepped away for running the lesson and the students are now in control of their own learning. Throughout the book there are examples and dialogues from across grade levels.

Analysis:

I have actually had this book sitting on my shelf for a while now. I got it while in the BTSA program for Chula Vista Elementary School District. CVESD is a big participant in Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR). One of the authors, Douglas Fisher, provided many professional development meeting through the year. I understand the idea of GRR and like the concept. I think it is a natural way of teaching, starting with modeling and setting the expectations then slowing giving control to of learning to the students until finally they are working independently. There was just one part that I could never wrap my head around. AS CV administration preached GRR they explained that the framework was linear and that every lesson had to have all components every time. I never understood why exactly. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t start at a different step. Now that i read the book, I understand that I can. Not all lessons will have all parts of GRR at one time in one setting. It makes so much more sense to me after reading the book. I enjoyed the reading. It was quick and provided lots of examples. Most of the book is just good teaching practice and nice to hear reiterated from time to time.

Quotes:

“All focus lessons should establish a purpose for learning...setting objectives and providing feedback. That is critical to the success of English Language Learners.” (21)

“Guided instruction is not ability grouping. A hallmark of guided instruction is that the dialogue between teacher and learners is carefully crafted following the principles of scaffolding.” (40-41)

“Independent learning is not simply photocopying worksheets for students to complete.” (86)

“Independent learning should allow students a ‘direct encounter’ with the phenomena being studied rather than merely thinking about the encounter, or only considering the possibility of doing something about it.” (89)

“Learning occurs through one of the following four ways and that each person probably learns best through just one way: concrete experience, observation and reflection, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.” (90)

“Although we have presented this framework in a sequential manner, implementation is not a linear process. We rarely march lockstep through a focus lesson, followed immediately by guided lessons for all students, then collaborative learning, holding independent learning for the very end of the unit. Instead, we view these components as recursive and iterative.” (110)

Class Sizes Rise, Mostly Due to Budget Cuts

Otterman, S. (2009). Class Sizes Rise, Mostly Due to Budget Cuts. New York Times. pp A30.

This article discusses the what New York City has experienced in the last year of the rise in class size. On average class size has only increased by one student per class. High school English classes increased from 24.7 students to 26.4 students and high school science classes increased from 26.1 and 27.4. The other grade that has seen the greatest lift in enrollment is kindergarten. “This is very sad since most experts believe that these are the two most important grades to keep class size.” The main increase in class size was due to budget cuts. With the increase in class size and the budget cuts there were 1,650 less teaching positions this year than the year before. The city had been decreasing class size regularly over the past decade. The ironic part of the report was that the increase occurred the same year that the state gave millions of dollars for a program called Contracts of Excellence, which was supposed to reduce class size.

Children’s Museums “Exhibit” Educational Outreach

Bafile, C. (2009). Children’s Museums “Exhibit” Educational Outreach. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from Educational World. http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev169.shtml

This article was exciting for me to stumble across. My school has a partnership with the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center. The Fleet is an amazing resource for teachers and schools. Museums are not only a place for classrooms to visit on a field trip but a place where teachers can check out educational learning kits, units of study, and online resources. Most teachers are unaware that their local children’s museums can be so helpful. This article gave many examples of how museums are getting involved with schools in their area. Boston’s Children’s Museum, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, The Kid’s Space Museum, and The Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine are leading the way with their school outreach programs.

Helping Your Child With Homework

Paulu, N. (1995). Helping Your Child With Homework. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from The Kid’s Source Website. http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/homework.html

Homework remains at major battle in schools today. Students don’t complete homework, may not understand homework, fight with parents to get homework completed, and the list continues. This article starts off by saying that homework is a project for the whole family. Everyone becomes involved in each night’s assignments. Then The author gives many reasons for why teachers assign homework and why homework can help students. Then it provides many suggestions for families about how to help. Things like picking a place and keeping it consistent, remove distractions, and provide all supplies and resources, be a good example and show interest. The article also gave suggestions about how teachers can help parents that are unable to speak English fluently or do not understand the curriculum. I found this article more informative for parents than for teachers. However there was quite a bit of information for teachers. Homework is such a big issue for elementary school children. I do not believe in giving homework in kindergarten. My students are in school for many more hours everyday than is required by law. By the end of the day most 5 year olds are tired and are unable to do any type of homework that would be meaningful. They get enough instruction at school that it is more important for them to spend time with their family, play a game, go for a walk, or read a book.

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Boston: Little, Brown.

Summary:
In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell looks at all of the factors that must come together if one is to become a true “outlier.” He defines an outlier as a person whose success falls outside normal experience, and looks at many different examples of just such people. Some of the deciding factors include:
• A person’s birthdate, which can affect the age in which they start school, sports, etc...
• A person’s willingness to practice- ten thousand hours for expertise.
• A person’s ability to have a combination of both general intelligence and “practical intelligence.”
• A person’s social status, in particular, coming from a middle or upper class family who parent in a style that fosters a child’s talents and abilities.
• A person’s cultural background.
• A person’s persistence and willingness to work much harder than others.
• Being in the right place at the right time, and seizing the opportunities that are presented.
Reflection:
I was completely intrigued by Gladwell’s findings on success. He uses an exhaustive list of resources to meld together many factors that contribute to success. Although the book is not written specifically for use in education, there are many examples in the book from education, and many more applications for his theories for education. Some of the factors are inherent, but there are many factors that can be cultivated by reform in education.

Relevant Quotes/Concepts:
“A boy who turns ten on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who doesn’t turn ten until the end of that year--- and at that age, in preadolescence, a twelve-month gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity.” 24.
The same can be said of the December 1st cut-off date for entry to Kindergarten in California. Students born on or after Dec. 2nd will be in a classroom with students who may have up to a twelve-month gap in physical, emotional, and intellectual maturity.
“But most parents, one suspects, think that whatever disadvantages a younger child faces in kindergarten eventually goes away. But it doesn’t. … It locks children in to patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years.” 28
“Elementary and middle schools could put January through April-born students in one class, the May through August in another class, and those born September through December in a third class. They could let students learn with and compete against other students of the same maturity level.” 33
“The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.” 39-40
“To Sternberg, practical intelligence includes things like “knowing what to say to whom, and knowing when to say it for maximum effect.” …And, critically, it is a kind of intelligence separate from the sort of analytical ability measured by IQ. … the presence of one doesn’t imply the presence of the other.” 101
“Lareau calls the middle-class parenting style “concerted cultivation.” It’s an attempt to actively “foster and assess a child’s talents, opinions, and skills.” Poor parents tend to follow, by contrast, a strategy of “accomplishment of natural growth.” They see their responsibility to care for their children but to let them grow and develop on their own.” 104
“Alex has those skills because over the course of his young life, his mother and father--- in the manner of educated families--- have painstakingly taught them to him, nudging and prodding and encouraging and showing him the rules of the game, right down to that little rehearsal in the car on the way to the doctor’s office.” 108
“The As overwhelmingly came from the middle and upper class. Their homes were filled with books. Half the fathers of the A group had a college degree or beyond… The Cs on the other hand, ere from the other side of the tracks.” 112
Here Gladwell is discussing the cultural differences of students who were determined to have exceptionally high IQs at the age of five or six. He tracked them in to adulthood and divided them in to three groups: As: The top twenty percent, he success stories, college graduates, lawyers, doctors, etc.. Bs: The middle 60 percent who were doing “satisfactorily” Cs: The bottom 150 who had done the least with their “superior mental ability.”
“The most important consequence of the miracle of the garment industry, though, was what happened to the children growing up in those homes where meaningful work was practiced. … [They learned that] if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.” 151
“We took them out of their cultural and re-normed them. …That is an extraordinarily liberating example. “ 220
“it turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. …That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. …American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills. … When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage.” 229-230
“Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.” 246
“When it comes to reading skills, poor kids learn nothing when school is not in session. The reading scores of rich kids, by contrast, go up by a whopping 52.49 points” [during the summer.] 258
“Everything we have learned in Outliers says that success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed. …Nor is simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities--- and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. …They were born at the right time with the right parents and the right ethnicity.” 267-268

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers

Greenberg, J. and Jacobs, S. (2009). Preparing Tomorrow’s Teacher’s. National Council on Teacher Quality.

This article came about because administrators in Wyoming were concerned that the new wave of entering teachers were not as qualified to teach reading and math to their students. The thought of this is a little scary. If teachers are not prepared to do the job that they were hired for the students’ and their test score will be greatly affected. And in this time of NCLB where test scores are extremely important the council decided to investigate how the university were preparing their teachers. The programs that were used in the study produce over 70% of the nation’s teachers. “It found that the University of Wyoming College of Education: (1) does not screen applicants to ensure that teacher candidates are academically proficient; (2) does not prepare candidates to teach the science of reading. Coursework only includes exposure to two of the five components of effective reading instruction. Further, although the program uses better textbooks than is common throughout the country, the texts do not cover all of the components; (3) has improved its mathematic s preparation program since we rated it in our national study (June 2008) and now satisfactorily provides the mathematic s content preparation that elementary teachers need, although textbooks could still be improved; and (4) does not ensure that aspiring elementary teachers know the science of reading instruction and understand elementary mathematics content at a depth that is sufficient for instruction.” In the end the council only could give recommendations for what to do to improve teacher education programs but was unable to actually implement anything and left it up to the Professional Teaching Standards Board to establish any changes.

After School Programs in Public Elementary Schools

After School Programs in Public Elementary Schools

Basmat Parsad, B. Lewis, L. Tice, P. (2009) After School Programs in Public Elementary Schools. National Center for Education Statistics.

This article explores how elementary students across the country spend their time in after school programs. There are four categories that the researchers grouped the after school programs: fee-based stand-alone day care programs, stand-alone academic instruction/tutoring programs, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLCs), and other types of formal stand-alone or broad-based after-school programs. The researchers arranged statistics by enrollment size, school locale, region, and minority percentage. The findings were interesting but not shocking. It was interesting for me to see because as a new charter we are trying to implement some after school programs. Currently we are only able to offer the free-based stand-alone day care program but in the future we would love to include after school programs that offered more enrichment.

Deciding to Teach Them All

Tomlinson, C.A. (2003). Deciding to Teach Them All. Educational Leadership 61(2), 6-11.

Summary:
This article explained one teacher’s method in finding out how to best meet the individual needs of each student, and how Tomlinson feels one can foster equity and excellence in a classroom of mixed ability learners.

This particular teacher came from a gifted program and wanted to use the skills and curriculum she had learned while working with gifted children in a classroom with varied skills and levels. Many adaptations had to be made, but ultimately a successful year emerged.

She was willing to accept responsibility for each individual child’s success, despite circumstances of each child’s life. To do this she asked herself questions of each student that would not limit their academic achievement but rather expand it. Examples of her questions were:

• What are their strengths?
• What can I do to ensure that each student works at the highest level of thought and production possible?
• What releases the motivation born in all humans?
• How might I adapt the agenda to work for the student?
• What circumstances will be the most effective catalyst for this student’s development?

It was through these types of questions that this teacher was able to find equity and excellence for each learner in her classroom. She taught each student from his or her point of entry into the curriculum, therefore all students had quality teaching that challenged them.

After presenting this teacher’s experience and questioning technique, Tomlinson went on to share that differentiation can reinforce status, or it can liberate students from stereotypical expectations. She suggests six principles to foster equity and excellence in academically diverse learners:

1. Good curriculum comes first.
2. All tasks should respect each learner.
3. When in doubt, teach up!
4. Use flexible grouping.
5. Become an assessment junkie.
6. Grade to reflect growth.

Tomlinson believes that it is through these principles teachers will be able to maximize each student’s full potential.

Quotes:
“Instruction furthers excellence when it moves a learner as effectively as possible toward expertise as a thinker, problem solver, and producer.”

“Asking the right questions has an enormous impact on how we pursue equity and excellence in our classroom.”

“Do I intend to teach each individual child?”

Leading to change: effective grading practices

Reeves, B.D., (2008). Leading to Change: Effective Grading Practices. Educational Leadership, 65(5), 85-87.

Summary:
Written for school administrators, Douglas Reeves makes a case for radical changes in school grading policies. In an effort to reduce the student failure rate, Reeves proposes the change does not lie in a new curriculum, new leadership or new technology: he argues schools need a “better” grading system. In this proposed system, is the elimination of zeros for missing work, using averages of scores throughout the semester and the implementation of heavily weighted tests, projects, etc. and the end of the semester. Reeves argues that when grading policies change, in addition to decreased failure rates, schools also see improved discipline and morale in students and teachers. The article outlines three steps for administrators to follow when creating change in grading systems: define a sense of urgency, identify teacher leaders to share grading practices and reassure the community that most grading practices will stay consistent.

Analysis:
When discussing differentiation in the classroom, the topic of differentiated grading must be addressed. While this article does not specifically address the issue of grading when differentiating instruction, it does refer to the concept of re-defining grading in association with specific student needs. Certain students (for many reasons) cannot complete homework at home. Reeves’ proposal differentiates grading by not giving zeros for missing work, therefore different student needs are met. I feel there are many issues with this form of grading, for example it addresses the heart of the grading issue: what do grades really represent? If grades reflect student learning and knowledge, then perhaps missing work should not significantly affect a grade. If grades reflect learning and work ethic then leaving out missing assignments do not accurate. We also need to consider the impact of grades, especially in the high school setting. Most often, a student ‘s GPA are a large part of college entry consideration and inconsistencies in policy can create inequality in admissions. The Reeves article serves as a possible solution to student failure and poor morale, however it makes huge assumptions about the value of grades in general. One must first buy into the argument that grades do not accurately reflect student learning and that grades are a significant motivator in student achievement and behavior. I would challenge Reeves to examine the affect of making changes to policy in the long term and how it affects students in college.



Relevant Quotes/Concepts:
“Grading seems to be regarded as the last frontier of individual teacher discretion” (Reeves, 86).

“Ask your colleagues to calculate the final grade for a student who receives the following 10 grades during a semester: C, C, D, C, B, B, A, F, F. I have done this experiment with thousands of teachers and administrators. Every time- bar none- I get the same results: the final grades range from F to A and include everything in between” (Reeves, 85).

“The difference between failure and the honor roll often depends on the grading policies of the teacher” (Reeves, 85).

“The benefits of effective grading practices are not limited to a reduced failure rate- although that benefit alone is sufficient to justify change” (Reeves, 86).

Other sources:
Guskey, T.R., & Bailey, J.M. (2001). Developing grading and reporting systems for student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Marzano, R.J. (2000). Transforming classroom grading. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Reeves, D.B. (2004). The case against zero. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(4), 324-325.