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Learning, Teaching, Development (Establishing A Positive Learning…
Learning, Teaching, Development
Planning for the Upcoming Year
Four Commonplaces of education
Topic
Setting
Teacher
Student
Reflective practice
#
Characteristics of effective teachers:
Embrace self- enquiry
Open-minded
Admit fault
Analyze and reflect on their practice --> make improvements in themselves and their classrooms
Assess their teaching in order to improve it
There is more to learning than just SUBJECTS and CONTENT; learning is about PEOPLE and RESPECT
Passionate teachers and students is not stemmed from textbooks - it comes from experiencing life and hands-on learning
Ineffective teachers:
Do not teach to reach students of various learning styles or abilities
Can't accommodate various abilities
Do not exude passion
Fail to recognize individual abilities and talents
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Effective teachers look like:
Engaging
Take the time to know their students (needs, disabilities, talents, learning styles, personalities etc)
Teachers who show love and care
Make boring subjects fun
Teach students life skills not just textbook content
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Curricular planning
Teachers develop learning goals, and learning experiences for their classes that will consider their students' characteristics, needs, content and context
Seth Godin's YouTUBE video: - Good curriculum measures student learning through experience instead of test scores
Instructional planning
Student entered: Teacher uses constructivist perspective and students actively construct their own learning and knowledge
Teacher-Centrered approach - Teacher establishes content, direction and academic and social tone
Effective planning:
Great instruction
Enhanced student learning
Exemplary environments
Educational psychology
Foundations of Educational Psychology
Learning & Cognition
Development
Social & Cultural Influences
Motivation
Behaviour/Classroom Management
Individual Differences
Assessment & Evaluation
Teaching & Instruction
Psychological Foundations of Curricula
It is important to understand the psychology of learning as well as the foundations of educational psychology so we know how students learn best
Considering Developmental Differences
Growth mindset
#
Reward effort, process, progress
Create more effort
Students come up with and use better strategies
Creates more perseverance
Persist despite setbacks
Mistakes help me grow
Toyota's 5 Whys! - When something goes wrong, ask, Why? Then figure out why THAT went wrong and ask, Why?, then ask Why again and again until you find the root problem
I look forward to a challenge
Development of strategies and collaborating with others
Brain storming, starting with what you already know, taking on new perspectives, asking questions
Effort is rewarded so I learn to love trying!
Criticism and negative feedback are sources of information
The Power of Yet
The concept of GRIT --> leads to growth mindset
"Dream Department" instead of guidance department...or have both. We should tell our students to dream big, and have them actually set goals to do it
In a recent study, effort and difficulty made students feel dumb, but when rewarded for effort and perseverance, students began to feel excited to learn
Therefore, fosters learning
Students not only learn knowledge, and how to apply it, but they can analyze and synthesis and evaluate concepts.
Bloom's Taxonomy
Pushes students outside of their comfort zone
ie. where the "magic" (or learning) happens
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Students can actually get smarter!
Adora Svitak --> "Childish thinking: bold ideas wild creativity and optimism"
What adults can learn from kids
https://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak
Being reflective learners
Education has to be more than a "mere transmission of knowledge," otherwise a persons development lads behind. This idea comes from Maria Montessori, the woman who started Monstessori schools.
#
Montessori schools = Constructivist
Montessori = Learning happens through experiences and the learner creates their own learning
Learning about Students BEFORE they enter the classroom
NOT KNOWING:You see students as a blank slate and not have preconcieved notions of their intelligence
You can determine their abilities yourself
Can see better potential in students with not negative intelligence associations
KNOWING: You want to learn their behaviour patterns, learning styles, potential learning abilities/gifts/disabilities
Why? So you can better prepare your classroom, lessons, environment for their best learning
Speak to previous teachers to find out what worked/didn't work with certain students
How?
OSR
Previous teachers
Report cards
Other students
Principal
Planning For your Students Needs
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Assessment Cycle:
Plan
Implement
Assess
Report/Revise
What will be taught?
When will it be taught?
How and When learning is assessed
Establishing the learning environment
Effective Planning Looks like:
Excellent Instruction
Enhanced student learning
Exemplary environments
Good planning results in great learning experiences and learning goals achieved...despite the student's characteristics/challenges and the context
"Our job is to teach the students we have. Not the ones we would like to have. Not the ones we used to have. Those we have RIGHT NOW. All of them." - Dr. Kevin Maxwell
Instructional Approaches: Instruction that responds to needs of a diverse group of students and tailors to their needs
Universal Design for Learning
Differentiated Instruction
Response to intervention
Good teaching is NOT about identifying winning students, its about making winners out of ordinary people
Development:
Physical, cognitive and social
Learning becomes more organized as children age
Behaviours become more adaptivel
Physical & Cognitive development
Periods of rapid or slow growth
Quantitative and qualitative changes
Genetics and developmental potential
Environment determines potential
Individuals develop at different rates (male, female, also individual)
Students at certain developmental ages think differently, process information differently, and learn differently and interpret differently.
When a student has difficulties:
Have they acquired the skills (social - emotional, academic, physical?)
Does the student usually learn slower than others?
Has the student had enough practice?
Was the material presented in meaningful ways?
Do they have a learning disorder (undiagnosed?)
Prefrontal Cortex development: - Takes 25 years to become fully functional. - Controls decision-making, goal setting, controlling attention, cognitive flexibility, information processing, risk-taking
Learning Early is key: literacy and numeracy skills
Making Instructional Decisions
Meaningful Instruction
Using examples that students can relate to and can connect with
Importance of being inclusive and considering different cultural, religious experiences and perspectives
#
Specialized Instruction Strategies
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Effective Classroom Environments
T.E.S.A (Teacher Expectations and Student Achievment
Differentiating your learning environment by:
Making sure there are places in the room to work quietly
Invites student collaboration
Setting clear guidelines for independent work
Develop routines so students can get help when they need it
Help students understand that some learners need to move around to learn, while others do better sitting quietly
#
The teacher sets the tone of the classroom
Teachers must model the behaviour they expect form students
Developing and approach to instruction
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Universal Design for Learning
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2) Provide multiple means of representation
Cultural representation (ie, indigenous)
Various perspectives
3) Provide multiple means of action and expression
Example: Students with dyslexia may excel at story-telling in conversation vs. other students who prefer writing
Importance of providing multiple ways that students can show what they know
Including Indigenous students who may prefer to express themselves in a more familiar way (ie. story telling or sharing circles or through art
Contributes to making the classroom accessible and fair - or equitable to all
Using assistive technologies
Allowing for action and movement in the classroom
1) Provide multiple means of engagement
When students do not attend to information, they are not engaged, and that material becomes inaccessible to them.
Learners differ in what attracts their attention and engages their interest
Even the same learner will change over time in what they are engaged to as their interests change
Provide various means of engagement throughout the school year, and within each assignment as to engage multiple students on multiple levels
Offer flexibility
Provide multiple modes of presentation
Offer students multiple modes of expression
Provide multiple modes of engagement
Practices to Effectively Engage all Students
Zoe Brannigan
"Letting kids hack their lesson plan"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLENqU4hPJU
How to engage the disengaged
Just like adults, all children want to be successful. They do not CHOOSE to be unsuccessful
Don't give up on kids who struggle, or 'don't get it'
Find a way to help them 'get it'
If students don't learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn
"You never know when a breakthrough will come" - Helen Keller
"Optimism is the faith that leads us to achievement"
Individual Differences: Intellectual Abilities and Challenges
Learning for All
Learning for people with exceptionalities
Trifecta of Support for Success:
Schools
Systems
Communities
UDL: Universal Design for Learning
- Helps student with exceptionalities to be socially included with their peers at school
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Medical interpretation:
Aims to "fix" student's deficits
May be
one sided
Required documentation
However, is important to have a diagnosis
Receive support in schools for assistive technologies (IEPS, EI's)
Insufficient at understanding the whole child
Social Interpretation: - Looks at all sides of a student
Horse example: When thrown off a horse, the medical diagnosis helps to physically heal, but the social and cultural aspect influences your psychological healing
Schools must adapt to students
Building an inclusive practice:
Acceptance of differences
Instruction focused on appropriate teacher interventions
Material being taught is made accessible to all students
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Physical Deficits: Sensory and motor
Images
Sound
Speech
Manipulatives
Expressive tools
Cognitive Deficits
We must provide flexibility within the curriculum
Historical Perspective on Special Education
THEN: "Special Education" - Special teachers & classrooms
Square peg, round hole - change the student to fit the system
Change or fail
NOW: Normal student with exceptionality, integration, change the system to fit the child.
What does change look like?
Teachers who treat each student uniquely and as an important individual
Teachers who are knowledgeable about research-based practices that assist students with diverse learning needs
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Program philosophy, which emphasizes the value of diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, belonging for all
"If you build it, they will come"
If you build it, they will come - Ohio Education Association](
https://www.ohea.org/if-you-build-it-they-will-come/
)
Make a paradigm shift in research, thinking and practice of education
Your lens or perspective with which you view the world
Timothy Shiver: The photographer assumed he was superior to the disabled man, when really the man simply saw the world differently.
Suddenly, the photographer saw the man for his cleverness, athleticism etc, rather than the label of a disabled man
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Labeling Students
Disability = inability to do something
Handicap = A disadvantage in certain situations
Being blind is a handicap if you want to drive but not if you want to compose music or talk on the phone
Being careful with our language towards students
Example: "Child with autism" vs "Autistic child"
Their disability does NOT define them
People-Centerered language, not disability-cantered
Growth Mindset and Inclusion
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"She needs to be pulled our into a separate setting" Vs. "How can I make sure she has a sense of belonging?"
Individual Differences in Intelligence
Ability to learn from experience
Intelligence ranked on a bell curve against abilities of children their age
Wyatt Achievement Test
Visual processing
Attention
Math
Literacy
Creates an individual profile
When Schools crush creativity
Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0 - Book about how humans tend to work on improving our weaknesses instead of fostering our strengths which would make us great at something
Strengths finder 2.0 (
http://strengths.gallup.com/default.aspx
)
Some of these strengths might be: Creativity, Futuristic, Empathy, Ideation, Harmony, Adaptability...Things which education systems often do not recognize or foster
What is Intelligence?
Intelligence is diverse and dynamic
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Many types of intelligence
The Ability to learn from experiences, adapt to situations, understand and handle abstract concepts
Use knowledge to manipulate one's environment
Could mean to change the environment, or finding a new environment completely
Knowing that the Students Know
Understanding by Design
Teach and assess for understanding and transfer
Assess students based on whether or not they can use what they've learned.
What is worth understanding in all of the content we could teach?
We want students to understand larger, and transferable concepts and processes across subjects
Backwards design - plan backward form the end which is understanding and transfer
A way of thinking and planning
Think Big, Start Small, Go for an Early Win
Think big: Think 2-3 years from now, how most lesson plans in your future should be this way
Start small: Start with one or two units per year. Try it, revise it based on what works or not.
Slowly becomes a way of thinking
Got for an Early Win: Pick a unit that is your favourite, or easy. Do not do too much too soon.
Not a new idea! We use it to plan vacations or build a house, but teachers get bogged down in the curriculum expectations
Big ideas - gives us a way of prioritizing our teaching and narrowing the curriculum
Allows students to prioritize curriculum
Just because students knows things, does not mean they truly understand
Can students explain what they know in their own words?
The goal is to have students transfer their learning to real-life applications
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Can students teach each other what they know?
How People Learn Framework
Learner Centered
Children construct new knowledge by building upon prior knowledge and experience
Diagnostic teaching approach
What are the student's backgrounds, cultures, abilities, interests?
What prior knowledge do students have?
What misconceptions do students have?
Knowledge Centered
Teachers help each student "build a bridge" from prior knowledge to the new topics they are learning
Fosters understanding and skill-building
Encourages experimentation and discovery
Students ask questions, and share their ideas
Students organize knowledge and apply concepts to new situations
Students create new knowledge
TED TALKS: "Knowledge is broken"
School should teach us how to learn - open our minds to ideas and critical thinking
Teach kids to be citizens, not workers. By becoming intelligent, confident, critically thinking, scholars, activities, friends, community members and more, we will also get workers.
Teaching for Understanding
Larger, transferable concepts and processes
Prioritizes our teaching
Assessment Centered
Emphasize concepts behind knowledge instead of relying heavily on memorization of facts
Reinforce student organization of knowledge
Build metacognition and self assessment skills
Focus on mastering content
Make their own learning goals and classroom agreements
Gauge what knowledge has been gained
Give opportunity for demonstrating improvement
Improve students abilities to solve complex problems
Assessments can be project based - STEAM! Research, sketch, scale, build, test, fix, re-test, apply scientific knowledge
Projects are interdisciplinary
It is okay to not know a correct answer
Enable students to learn on their own
Development of critical thinking skills
Socio-Cultural Considerations
Foster learning among diverse students
Benefitting All Learners
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Educator biases
Check your biases at the door
A reminder: Who would you rather sit next to on a plane?
a) A women from Iran
b) A refugee
c) A basketball player
d) A person with a bald head and multiple piercings
e) An ex-high security prisoner for 26 years
a) First female in space
b) Former Governor of Canada
c) Canadian par-olympic basketball player
d) 5 year old cancer patient
e) Nelson Mandela
Proof that your biases are innate and they change the way you judge and look at the world
A reminder that students come from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences and that educators must recognize their own biases to combat our differing understandings of the world and therefore, the way we educate
Reflection on personal biases
Have I ever been marginalized? If not, what would that look like or how would my life be different?
Where do my biases come from?
Where do I come from? What are my cultural and personal biases?
Not only are there biases between cultures, but also, between individuals of the same culture
Important to not paint all students from the same culture or experience with the same brush
Different students may struggle for different reasons
Integration of life experiences into daily instruction
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Understanding students who may need accommodation
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Learning difficulties
English as a second language
Students who have experienced trauma
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse
Neglect
Students who have lost a loved one from violence or suicide
Students who may be struggling with mental health and suicidal thoughts or ideations
SUICIDE TALK training for educators that helps teachers understand and know the practical ways they can help students with this struggle
1 more item...
Students experiencing bullying
Student's exposed to alcohol and drug abuse at home
From a war-torn country
From an underdeveloped nation
From a culture significantly different than this one
A minority group
Indigenous background
Importance of teachers to recognize psychological triggers to traumatizing events that may cause a PTSD reaction in students
Have an action place in place to effectively deal with a student reaction to a trigger
Methods in place for prevention of FIGHT, FLIGHT, FREEZE responses in students
practicing Co-regulation with students
Specific methods to improve S.E.L in traumatized chidlren
Differentiated instruction
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Important to consider when planning lessons
Be mindful of popular culture and what students read and are interested in (books, movies)
Creating opportunities where cultures can be shared
Presentations
Sports
Coat of arms
Food day
Culture carnival
Flag mosaics
Class discussions that promote sharing
Sharing circles
Talking sticks
Safe spaces
Question box for those who are shy and students can talk about their experiences
Self- reflection on own learning
Involving parents and others from the community in schools
Assessment of impact on learning and achievement
Tribes training
The students and the teacher are a tribe.
The tribes trail:
Find the road les traveled, follow the signs and directions and reflect on our students' learning
INFLUENCE
Valuing Differences
Setting goals
Managing conflict
Making decisions
Solving problems
Celebrating diversity
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COMMUNITY
Working Together Creatively
Group challenges and support
Constructive Thinking
Social Skills
Shared responsibility
Calling forth personal gifts
Celebrating achievements
INCLUSION
A sense of Beloning
Presentation of each self.
Setting needs and expectations
Being acknowledged
In my Tribe, I feel:
Welcome,
Included
Appreciated
Valued
Comfortable
Respected
Observations of student conversations and reflective journalling
How they participate in class, and how it changes when you incorporate more inclusive practices
Impact on students when their differences are not acknowledged
Fosters ignorance and neglect of different views
Students become misinformed about certain topics because they cannot relate to the perspectives we are teaching
Leads to ignorance
Feel silences, and unsafe
Students can't express themselves
Internalize feelings about others who do not value their culture or other differences
Feelings of isolation, underrepresentation and unimportance
Establishing A Positive Learning Environment
Skills matter more, motivation matters most
Lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.....salt the horses oats so they will want to!
When the need directly affects learning, the school must meet the challenge
Animal School: Fairness does not equal sameness
You can't ask the same of an elephant as you would of a bird. Each has different skill sets - but are both capable of success
1.2 million dropouts, of which, 4% (50 000) are intellectually gifted
Effective Teachers & Environments are well managed and structured
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Build Resiliency in your Students
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Work towards strengthening student's skill deficits
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Environments that models and encourages and supports the use of desired behaviours
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Provide students with explicit strategies for making choices
Reflection on their choices and outcomes
Nurture the independant
Exemplary learning environments
Design to the edges, not the average
The myth of the Average
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4
STEM/STEAM classrooms: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math
"Education is Broken" video, The Mask project he talks about where students combine writing, art, culture, metaphors about life, science and more to create a final project (Instead of an exam)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS2IPfWZQM4
Incorporating technology to make simple solutions for students = big impacts
Dynamic classroom management
Students have the capacity to help manage behaviour in class
Positive learning environments are when students feel supported, pushed to do their best, and set up for success
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Negative learning environments are stringent, do not accommodate different learners, are not inspiring or engaging, and one where student's feel suffocated emotionally, physically, mentally
Views of Learning
Behaviourism
Behaviour can be controlled or modified based on the environment or prevention methods
Reinforcements = Cause certain behaviours to reoccur
Sticker on good test
Homework completed = no quiz
Bonus questions on test
Consequences = Cause certain behaviours to happen less
Late for class = detention
Marks taken off test
Shapes classroom behaviour & learning of skills
Rewarding wanted behaviour; Consequences for unwanted behaviour
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Classical Conditioning
Pavlov's Dogs
Using an unconditioned response to create a conditioned one using a reward
Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner's Rats
Likelihood of a specific behaviour is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement each time behaviour is exhibited
Motivation focused
Memory is the hardwiring of repeated experiences
Task-based learning
Based on external factors - Learning environment
LENSES OF CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR: Why is a child exhibiting a certain behaviour??
There is no such thing as a "bad child", but perhaps, a traumatized , anxious, tired, hungry, neglected, stressed or undiagnosed one
Misunderstood students are often inappropriately punished, when what they need is help
Social-Emotional Competencies
Students may be lacking the skills to cope and respond to a situation
Self-management
Self-Awareness
Responsible Decision-Making
Relationship Skills
Social Awareness
Mental Health
Dr. Greene
Kids do well if they can
Our Teaching philosophy will guide our actions
"Kids do well if they can"
#
What might be getting in a student's way to prevent them from doing well?
Challenging Behaviour = Demands of environment exceeds a child's ability to adapt & respond
Placing
blame
on the child when they cannot meet
your
overwhelming demands
Students may be lacking skills and/or motivation
Many educators see "SKILLS = YES; MOTIVATED = NO", however, its usually the opposite
It takes TWO to tango (the child and the educator)
Social Constructivist/ Constructivist
Both
Experience based learning. Create learning from experience ![]
#
Interactive teaching strategies
Students stay motivated
Role playing, debating, cooperative learning, internships and more.
Intrinsic curiosity
A map maker who is curious about what exists beyond the next corner
Students construct their own understanding of the world
Students continuously testing hypothisese
Thoughtful reflection on their learning experiences
Knowledge is created not acquired
Apply their knowledge to new situations
Student ownership
Higher order thinking
Posting questions to real world problems such as "How to reduce waste to help sustain Earth's resources?"
Piaget's Learning Theory (Social Constructivist)
Knowledge is not forced on learners, they create it themselves
Sensitivity to children's readiness to learn
Inspired discovery learning
Acceptance of individual differences
Learning is done through socializing and discovering with others
Communication & Collaboration
Vygotsky's Learning Theory (Constructivist)
Zone of Proximal Development
Build upon current knowledge = concepts just outside of their reach
Challenging but not overwhelmingly difficult
Area of potential when learning takes place - learning just outside of comfort/knowledge zone, but with help, can be achieved
Scaffolding - Guidance from teacher = guided participation, but still creating their own learning
More Individualized
Cognitive
The mind is like a computer where information is processed, and stored
Emphasis on retention and recall
Instruction that is organized, & sequenced = presented as understandable and meaningful to learner
Instructional strategies include:
Graphic organizers
Chunking
Hook at start of lesson
Visual aids
Nemonic
Activates prior knowledge
Sequencing instruction by teaching prerequisite skills
Important to have Bridging gaps between prior knowledge and what they need to know before learning a new task
Helps with learning difficult concepts
NOT rote learning. Promotes learning that is meaningful
Learning guiding principals will help students find answers even when they aren't sure
Standardized Testing
Purposes:
Story: Four Feet, Eight and a Half Inches
Moral of the story: Sometimes standardized systems are purposeful in the greater context
We want students of the same age to be at the same place in their knowledge and skills
OFIP (Ontario Focus Intervention Partnership) If your school doesn't do well, can implement strategies, funding and support to schools who need improvement in their programming and instruction or learning tools
Accommodating students with special needs
#
More time, reading and writing programs (assistive technologies), manipulatives, special help.
PROs of Standardized testing
Prepares students for the work force
Helping them to think on their feet, and to have solid language and numeracy skills
Data from testing draws attention to schools or programs in need of assistance
Low performing schools may receive specialized funding and additional resources or specialized programming
Low S.E.S schools commonly perform lower than higher S.E.S schools
CONS of standardized testing:
Schools end up being ranked from high-low achieving
Parents may send their children to a different school based on the schools ranking
The problem is that schools might rank highly on other things that are not tested such as arts, sports or science or extra curricular oppertunities
Tests are culturally biased and are disadvantageous to immigrant students or those of different experiences and backgrounds
#
This includes Indigenous Canadians
How can teachers help their students prepare for EQAO?
Convey positive attitudes about testing
Simulate use of time limits during testing
Teach test-taking skills
Familiarize students with types of questions
Students don't understand the purpose of EQAO
They see it as a big, scary test, and may get test anxiety and be very nervous
Contain the same questions for all test-takers
Administered to all test-takers in the same fashion
Are scored in systematic and uniform manner
