How Does One Wrap up a Course Worth of Material into Three Easy Paragraphs?

I tried by making a list of the chapter topics I read in Models of Teaching. I listed sixteen topics in six model families so far. In Classroom Instruction That Works, I’ve read seven chapters totaling 116 pages. Add the 329 pages from Models of Teaching, the 42 supplemental pages from the syllabus, and the pages of reading from our discussion board and I am overwhelmed with content for this post.

I think the most influential item to me from the course was Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. The methods started becoming cohesive as if I found the Rosetta stone to behaviors I have observed in class. In this piece of understanding, I can begin to plan what models I will use to impart information or give assessments in multiple forms. When I began this class I thought I needed to pick a model to be my best model to teach my topics. When I encountered Gardner’s Interview in the supplemental pages, I realized I would be doing a disservice to my students if I didn’t employ as many models as I can.

As for the sixteen models, there are several I know will make an appearance in my teaching style. I plan to employ Scientific Inquiry and Concept Attainment through Group Investigations while encouraging learning Inductively, but I’ll probably be applying Direct Instruction. There are several models I am skeptical that I will ever employ. I can’t see using the Picture Word Inductive model or Synectics or Role Playing, though who knows how the material will be laid out. I’m glad I know of them. I know there are more models out there beyond the boundary of this text. In previous discussions, I have mentioned the “Flipped” class model which was working quite well for an AP chemistry class. The model has students watch about 20 minutes of lecture via YouTube per night and class time is for working on the homework while getting support from peers or the teacher. Models of Teaching has given me a base understanding of common models, a reference for finding a different one if one is not working, and a reference for fine tuning the model I am using to make it better. I can fine tune whichever model I am using by referencing the no-nonsense Classroom Instruction That Works.

Finally, I’ve learned the most from the discussion board this quarter. Dr. Scheuerman’s questions for us to respond to posed a great challenge for me, particularly in the weeks we didn’t have an accompanying podcast. I wrestled with how to validate my affirmative stance on whether questioning is a valid teaching strategy (I should have listened to podcast 9). I was excited to write about self-efficacy as self-image and self-esteem are so important at my chosen age group. I struggled to post about constructivism and my plans to promote citizenship in my class and I praised advanced organizers. The contents of the questions and the discussion boards replies have made me contemplate my future classes in ways I haven’t thought about them before.   

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2015). Models of teaching (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

How Can a Teacher Foster Student Self-Esteem?

There are many variables that go into one’s self-esteem. At the high school level, I remember re-evaluating how I felt about myself almost hourly. I pegged up when I got a good grade on a science quiz. I pegged down just attending my calculus class. I pegged up hearing that John likes brunettes and down when sally told me my shirt didn’t match my pants. Teachers can’t affect the entirety of a student’s self-esteem but they can do better than my calculus teacher.

My calculus teacher had a liaise-fair style of class. He wrote on the board the homework to be done and the exam date. That’s it. The whole period we chatted and maybe asked him questions if we had done any of the readings or homework, which we never did until the weekend before the test. Basically, we did nothing productive all period. While his style of teaching was preparatory for what to expect in college, I couldn’t even tell you his name. Since I had to create my own goals for the class, my self-regulation happened only before a test, 1) to hopefully finish the homework in less than a Saturday and 2) to get a good grade on the test. Unfortunately, cramming resulted in frustration and tears as I tried to learn two weeks-worth of concepts in a day. My self-efficacy was low as cramming does not create retention. Subsequently when asked by a college placement adviser about math placement, I asked to take Calculus again as I believed I was not learning much from my class. The final blow to my self-esteem was the students in my class. We’d had math classes since 8^th grade together, and most of the class was smarter, or more popular, or funnier, or elected to student council and I didn’t have such accolades to my self-worth.

Teacher’s need to foster their student’s self-esteem. Teacher’s set achievable goals and talk about them, daily or by unit. They aid the student’s self-regulation by providing worksheets, quizzes, and tests often to let them know their progress in learning the material. Daily reflections or reflection notebooks can help a student see their progress. I hope to implement “clear and unclear” check out slips. As the students leave class, they have to provide me a piece of paper with a thing in the lesson that was “clear” and/or the idem in the lesson they are not quite understanding. The reflection on the “clear” can show students that they are making progress toward the goal, boosting self-efficacy. Additionally, a teacher can foster self-efficacy using positive affirmation - by telling students they can do it and having them demonstrate that they can. Finally, the whole person’s self-esteem is bolstered by having a personal connection to each student – a challenge for a high school teacher but important for all academic aims.      

How Does One Take into Account Student Personalities and Emotions?

I enjoyed Gardner’s insight in the eight types of intelligence. I can see classrooms are filled with each of these types, but I struggled with how to address their preferred learning diversity. How do you apply a kinesthetic appeal to a math lesson? Or a musical appeal for that matter? I turned to the internet to get some ideas.

I found this lovely article titled Multiple Intelligences: Practical Classroom Ideas (Provini 2012). It talked about the five ways to integrate Gardner’s psychology into a classroom, through: lesson design, interdisciplinary units, group projects, assessments, and apprenticeships.

We have previously discussed how to integrate different learning styles into our lessons. From the old model of lecture and individual work, to group work and performance art reports, they all touch a part of Gardner’s learning models. One of the kinesthetic solutions provided by the article for a math class was to use the students as the data points on a graph. When the students move around and become part of the problem they retain more. Music can even be woven into a math lesson by discussing that a musical scale is just a string that is divided into fractions. See the 1959 Donald (Duck) in Mathmagics Land for an example.

The article really made me think about how to adjust assessments. As a student, tests were a learning experience for me. I never really knew I could do something without the crutch of the text until the test. I observed a class last year where the teacher always gave a second test. If you didn’t get the score you wanted on the first, take the second one. I think her method took a lot of performance pressure off…. if one has to take a standard test. The article and Gardner encourage other forms of assessment and allowing the student to choose their preferred method of being assessed. Would the student rather write a paper or give an oral report? What about a diorama or working model? These are class design items I will be contemplating before my first day as a teacher.

Interdisciplinary units will depend on the willingness of my fellow teachers and the rules in my school or department. I certainly can relate math to almost any subject. Group projects will be a staple in my class and I will have to see if I have the resources and time for apprenticeships.

Provini, C. (2012). Multiple Intelligences: Practical Classroom Ideas. Education World. retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/multiple-intelligences-integrating-classroom-tips.shtml

Disney. (1959). Donald in mathmagics land. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4gWPurN9k

What Are the Implications That Values Are “Caught Not Taught”?

I think values are both caught and taught. I think student catch values in how a teacher, parent, mentor, etc. presents themselves and the actions they take. If one believes values are “caught not taught”, then we must surround ourselves with good people. Our parents, our teachers, our friends, our neighbors all must be good, because a moment of bad values could be caught like the flu. Therefore, teachers must be exemplary in virtue. Verily, parents should be models of high values as well. But, unfortunately this isn’t always true.

I don’t believe all values are caught. I believe values are taught and affirmed by example. Values of leadership, autonomy, determination, optimism, respect, etc… need some instruction in how to accomplish them as they are not often something one can glean from observation. Leadership among peers would not look like the type of leadership displayed by a parent or teacher and would look different student to student than it would adult to adult. Learning how to address an older person and a peer respectfully is also something often taught and then modeled.

Some values are products of our place in development. Have you ever tried to have a three-year-old keep a secret, or worse, tell a lie? It’s futile. Three-year-olds are the biggest tattle-tails in the universe. They have learned that mom tells the truth to them and have “caught” honesty, but it is also a developmental part of them. Teenagers are developing into postconventional morality where rules are more like contracts and they seek to make things fair to all parties… If you believe Kohlberg’s Stage Theory of Moral Reasoning.

With an understanding of development, I think teachers should go forth and teach values. To the child who comes from a model home, the lessons could only reaffirm the values that are taught and caught from home. To the children who are not so fortunate to have good examples at home, maybe values can be taught. All children in our classrooms would know what is expected of them by their teacher by teaching such lessons. Finally the teacher must adhere to their own teachings. [The falsely attributed quote by] Mahatma Gandhi — “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

What is Meant by “Knowledge is Socially Constructed”and Does Constructivism Promote Academic Excellence?

The number one cause of death among castaways is not food, water, or shelter. It is isolation. There is no one to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, or to keep their hopes up. We humans are social creatures. We get endorphin rushes just communicating. We need each other to build ideas. So why would we want our students to learn alone? We don’t. Listening to a lecture is like listening to the sea; there are no endorphins involved. Students need to bounce ideas off of each other as much as Tom Hanks needed Wilson. He needed hope. Our students need to work in groups to brainstorm concepts, test them in the tempest of the group collective, and arrive at the socially constructed answer.

“Using cooperative learning helps teachers lay the foundation for student success in a world that depends on collaboration and cooperation.” (Dean et al., 2012, p.35) When students are put together in groups to solve a problem, they chat or communicate in some fashion. This communication is not only about the problem, it is subtly organizing power among the members and students volunteer information that may not have occurred to the rest of the members. The group also lets members know when they have an error in their thinking, usually in a gentle way. They organize and divide the tasks and ensure that all members are completing the work, without micromanaging. The members of the group learn the content as they collate and report their findings. This knowledge the group has gained about their reported subject has been socially constructed.  

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

The Practical Use of Advanced Organizers and Their relatted Use to Instructional Media

Advance organizers seem natural to me. Many of the topics I will need to discuss in my (math and Chemistry) classes took men many years to realize intuitively. Ausubel states as the last sentence of our reading, “…some entirely new topics are introduced at the higher levels, since many advanced topics are too complex and abstract to be taught successfully on an intuitive basis.” (1978) Can you imagine trying to get a class full of students to intuitively arrive at the quadratic formula? 

x = (-b+- (b^2-4ac)^1/2 )/ 2a

The quadratic formula is used on a quadratic equation that you don’t intuitively see its roots. For example, the quadratic equation x^2+3x+2=0 factors to (x +1)(x+2)=0,  yielding the roots x= -1 or -2. Now if the equation is x^2+3x+3=0, then you have to use the quadratic formula, as it doesn’t factor nicely. Furthermore, the formula comes out with a negative square root. (It’s okay to scream!) If you recall, negative square roots are the beginning of the abstract concept of imaginary numbers (a human convention to handle the negative root messiness). Using an advance organizer that builds on the student’s prior knowledge of quadratics and presents the abstract concept of imaginary numbers and quadratic formula would be preferable to just bumbling into the concepts intuitively or by a structured lecture. This is just one example of how I can find practical use for advance organizers. Many of my high school math and science classes were structured with them.

“The web is full of short video clips and interactive media that engage students and help to introduce new content.” (Dean et.al., 2012, p.61) Khan Academy is my favorite site for all things math for all ages. Vihart on Youtube links math to science, cooking, music, art and about everything else. Bozeman Science and Tyler DeWitt are YouTube channels for chemistry though they are more on the content/lecture side of things. CrashCourse on Youtube has little videos, often in cartoon form, that would be good as advance organizers. CrashCourse not only has chemistry, but history, philosophy, and others. Check them out. I expect to use these in my classroom to give my content more appeal, depth, and memorability to today’s media-connected youth.  

Ausubel, D. (1978). Instructional Materials Retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/20801/files/415635?module_item_id=121144

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

What is the relationship of concepts to facts?

Concepts are creations of the mind. Facts are found in the physical world. They have a mass or quantity or time associated with them. Concepts are created when we try to organize and process our factual physical world. Concepts can be right and wrong. The long-standing concept of the flat earth is a good example. Concepts can come to you in your dreams as did the Periodic Table of the Elements to Dmitri Mendeleev. Concepts can become fact through proof. The relationship between concepts and facts is in their creation.

The concepts that will be important in my math or chemistry class will be ones to make learning fun and nurture good people; collaborative learning, effort is important, honesty, being conscious of “intent and impact” when speaking, and others. Specifically, in chemistry, the concept of the mole of measurement was the most difficult for me and for most people. It is an abstract weight, as it can vary based on the substance. I think it is important concept to give extra attention. In math, quadratics (ax² + bx + c) occur everywhere throughout high school. Giving students a great foundation in that concept will allow them to envision 2D or 3D conic sections or factor equations for answers or even measure triangles for bracing on a table or bookshelf. 

How is questioning a teaching strategy?

I think asking questions is a valid teaching strategy. Questioning allows students to construct their own knowledge through their discovery of the answers. It models how they should form their own questions about the world around them. It encourages them to be curious.

Asking questions allows the student to connect ideas themselves. As the inductive model says, children are natural sorters. Questions often help build concepts and generalizations. Questions can be leading or require the student to come up with a new concept.

Asking questions permits students to link an idea to something in their experience. The question, “How tall does the Goliath sunflower get?” can be answered by “As tall as my brother, standing on top of my shoulders.” This silly answer is wonderfully memorable because it is personal. It links the more scientific question of maximum height to previous knowledge and experience.

Asking questions can stretch the mind. As shown in the Synectics chapter (Joyce, 2015), the practice of thinking of a problem after doing mental warm-ups, the mental warm-ups are questions in terms of metaphors, personal metaphors, and compressed conflicts. This series of instructor-led questions gets the student’s minds ready to think about the topic or problem-of-the-day.

Asking questions leads to scientific inquiry. Asking questions about a picture begins the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM). Asking questions is the foundation of the models we have read so far.

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2015). Models of teaching (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.