Focus Exclusively on Learning

I am a Carol Dweck: Mindset groupie, and have been for years. Much of my literature review last year referenced Carol Dweck's theory of mindset. If we want students to learn we have to stop referencing the numbers: IQ, grades, GPA, class rank, etc. These are external labels and motivators, which have proven ineffective in deeper, long lasting learning. External motivators like rewards for reading for example, are good at getting compliance, but not at producing readers. My goal as an educator is to not just teach content and skills, but teach students how to learn. I believe grades are arbitrary, and are based on compliance, not on learning, so I have stopped talking about "the numbers," and exclusively talk about proficiency in learning. 

 

Image source: https://www.xyleme.com/want-to-know-what-personalized-learning-looks-like-its-right-in-front-of-you/

I took the unit that I co-teach with the 9th grade social studies teachers, the research process & paper, and created a spreadsheet with the standards that I assess during this unit: internal citations, paraphrasing, and the works cited page. When I pitched it to the social studies teachers they added writing skills, thesis statement, and historic support to the standards based rubric. After adding the students names, I began recording not grades but level of proficiency for each student in each lesson beginning with a pre-assessment. The proficiency codes were

P = Proficient

PP = Partially Proficient

NP = Not Proficient

Then I asked the English teachers for the student grammar tests (a pre-assessment) and recorded that data. Next I recorded student’s first Lexile test scores. Even after only a few entries a picture of the which students needed extra support started to emerge. This standards based spreadsheet data becomes the basis for scheduling student conferences.

Image Source: Rachael Costello

I feel more effective this year, because I am proactive. Recognizing student weaknesses, and intervening early to get them back on the path to success.

I will continue to explore my professional journey in future blog posts.

The Holy Grail of Learning

I feel as though I have found the metaphorical "holy grail," "fountain of youth," or "The Secret" of student learning. 

 

Image source: https://www.slideshare.net/ILXGroup/mind-the-gap-learning-technologies-conference-2016-by-russell-kenrick 

As mentioned in a previous post, last year was spent doing research, first collecting student perspectives on how and why they learn, and then a literature review, based on the themes that arose from the student data. The outcome was four strategies to significantly improve learning.

1. Focus on learning exclusively
2. Conference with students
3. Integrate Non-cognitive Skills
4. Mentor

Employing these four strategies has made me overwhelmingly professionally satisfied. For the first time in my career, I know for a fact I am increasing student learning. I feel empowered, I hold the secret of student learning.

Future blog posts will delve into the details of my execution of each of these themes. 

Re-framing Failure

 I want to re-frame failure. Without knowing it, we as a society are stuck in an antiquated cognitive theory environment on learning that focuses on outcomes, like grades, SAT scores, and prestigious colleges. Ironically this focus on outcomes is actually making our kids less motivated to learn. Research by Dr. Carol Dweck is actually demonstrating our student's intelligence can increase merely by focusing kid's attention on the belief that intelligence can increase if we focus of the process. When students struggle in their learning, we shouldn't tell them the answer, or blame outside factors, or say well you are just bad at that subject. Instead we should show enthusiasm for the difficulty. This embracing of challenges is referred to as a "growth mindset." True learning cannot happen without errors or failure. So when a student struggles, this is an opportunity to strategize. 

The act of strategizing is the learning.

                                                       Image Source: http://webcobblers.com/services/consulting

Your brain is like a muscle, and like a muscle when you stretch it or flex it with weight, the muscle tears a little bit and new cells are built in new empty space. The brain actually gets bigger, heavier, and more efficient when it is exercised with difficult thinking tasks.

So the next time your children/students get frustrated, you need to get enthusiastic, and let them know this the opportunity for some deeper learning, brain growth and strengthening. Don't tell or show them how to do it, say let's brainstorm some strategies to get over this hump? What resources are available? What are your options?

                                                                                   Image Source: http://iconicontent.com/blog/money-enthusiasm

Eventually, strategizing will become their default setting, and cut you as the adult out of the process. That sounds scary, but ultimately that is our job as parents and teachers to get our children/students to be independent, problem solvers.

Resources for deeper learning...

Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Mindset: The Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

Teacher Evaluation is an Opportunity to Fuel Your Professional Curiosities and Passions.

My mindset shift around educator evaluation grew organically out of disappointment related to our ninth grade research paper. First, let me outline our research process. The ninth grade social studies teachers and I (school Librarian) co-teach the research process, and co-assess the research papers. We have done so for 10 years even through staff changes. The research assignment was created collaboratively, and we tweak it each year. I teach several lessons “How to Find and Use Databases and E-Book Resources,” “Paraphrasing: The Hardest Skill to Master in High School,” “21^st Century Search,” and to kick off research season, I do a two-day “Anti-Plagiarism” lesson. The social studies teachers reinforce these lessons in class, and students are given multiple days in the library to do research. I offer to edit any student’s rough draft if they give me at least three days before it is due. On the due date we have students peer edit with an editing sheet, and then they get two more days to make changes, and pass in the next draft for teachers to assess. After we edit, comment, and grade it, it’s returned to students and they are required to revise again for another grade.  We want them to really learn how to apply the skills we have taught, because this is the first of many research papers in their High School career.

 

Image Source: https://www.study-in.de/en/plan-your-studies/application_27435.php 

For the last three years I have been very frustrated with student’s research products. It began when several students asked me to edit their drafts, which I did, thoroughly. I commented on their history (I’m also a certified history teacher), grammar, spelling, flow, and I also corrected all internal citation and Works Cited Page errors. It’s my gift to students, I want them to learn the proper way to do research and have the best chance at getting a good grade on this  heavily weighted project. My frustration came after I did all this work to help these students and they did not make one correction, and in one case they turned-in their paper with all of my suggestions still showing. I was so upset. It felt they did not value my time to help them learn. In order to improve student papers, we added the peer-editing piece, and we stopped announcing they would have another opportunity to make changes after the teachers corrected the papers. The first drafts of their papers submitted to teachers did improve dramatically, but for the last two years the majority of students have not bothered to make the corrections or all the corrections to their final drafts, resulting in stagnated learning.

Graph created by Rachael Costello with data collected from student work

 I see this as part of a bigger and increasing problem of a lack of student perseverance and resiliency toward their learning.  We provide detailed corrections on their rough drafts, and invite students to get clarification, and yet as they pass in their final draft they say things like “I didn’t know what ‘ditto’ meant,” or I didn’t know what “It” (abbreviation for Italicize) meant.” Kids are given a metaphorical knee high wall and they cannot get over it.

Image source: http://mapio.net/pic/p-67347133/  

My exasperation led to me start thinking about how and why students learn. As the fall of 2016 arrived, requests for SMART Goals and Educator Evaluation forms, led to me to approach my evaluator (my assistant principal), about some of my out of the box thinking. I was in the middle of a two-year technology goal, but I felt like I was just going through the motions, “Just Doing Ed Eval” because it was required. I wasn’t inspired. My first evaluation meeting was to pitch the idea of using my library/classroom as a research lab. I wanted to do a Grounded Theory Research Study on how and why students learn. The first step would be to interview/survey students, then find themes from their responses, collate the themes, and do a literature review on topics for which I needed more information. I would then use the student’s data and the ideas from the literature review to create strategies that I would use in my classes to improve student learning. I explained that I expected it would take two-years, the first year would be the interviews/surveys, collating of themes, and the literature review. The second year would be the applying the strategies to improve student learning by executing experiments i.e. tweaking lessons, assessing student progress, recording success and failures along the way.  

When I stopped “Just Doing Ed Eval” because it was required, and started thinking about my classroom/library as a laboratory, and doing something I was passionate about; it changed my attitude toward the educator evaluation process. I am driving my principal and my assistant principal crazy talking about what I am learning, and how I want to apply that learning.  Our district spends a lot of time talking about student agency, choice and voice, but teachers need to be encouraged to exercise their own agency when it comes to teacher goals and evaluation.

Our educator goals should be something that is deeply personal, based in curiosity & passion, and the belief that as an individual teacher you can facilitate change if only within your classroom’s four walls.

This is the first of several posts about my professional journey.