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. 

The Lone Wolf Syndrome

As a librarian one of the highest barriers to overcome is what I like to call the "Lone Wolf Syndrome." Teachers are lone wolves, they are responsible for the planning, executing,  and assessing all the lessons for their students. Effective teachers feel great pressure to cover the curriculum because students may not see this content again and/or need the material as a platform for future learning. This pressure can give teachers tunnel vision, and make them feel very much alone in this huge endeavor.  Even in districts where teachers are encouraged to collaborate, ultimately they are still responsible to their students and their curriculum.

As a librarian one the greatest obstacles is getting teachers to let me support them and their students. Recently, students came to the library with a list in their hand asking about specific books. I had to ask the student to lend me the handout to copy and then on the fly pull books for the assignment. I inevitably remember the best book for that student after the student has chosen another book and left the library.

This isn't the first time, it happens once or twice a year. I find it odd because I am no wallflower librarian.  Here are my strategies for overcoming this Lone Wolf epidemic...

For each incident, I reach out to the teacher and ask for the assignment and offer to pull the books for a display or cart to take to their classrooms.

Second, I place a reminder on next year's calendar to inquire about this assignment in advance,

Periodically, I send school wide email to staff advertising various services offered by the library including specifically my assistance and collaboration.

At the beginning of the year, I do out reach to specific departments who assign a lot of independent reading (English and Social Studies) to remind them to send me their reading assignments.

At staff meetings, I also try  to showcase my collaboration as a model of the services our library offers.

With staff regularly changing, and new lone wolves joining the pack each year it's a challenge. 

What strategies do you employ to fight the "Lone Wolf Syndrome?"

Choices, Choices

Have you ever been to a restaurant where they let you build your own meal? After weeks of agonizing about how to end our digital citizenship unit, a trip to Friendly's inspired an idea. On the table was a pad with options for build your own burger. Although, I didn't want a burger, I really wanted to fill out the burger order form. When you love your curriculum and the technology, sometimes it’s hard to make a decision about what to cut. I knew I wanted to do a project but I kept vacillating between topics, audience, and mediums for the project.  A few days prior, our Superintendent had mentioned incorporating student choice into our curriculum. On Sunday morning while contemplating an end-of- unit-project, I was thinking Aaaahhhhh! I can’t decide what should be the focus of this project; I should just let the kids decide. A perfect storm of recent experiences and necessity, and the Build-Your-Own-Project was born.  

Like me wanting to complete the build-your-own-burger order form, my students were drawn to the idea of building their own project. I have never seen students get so excited about a project.

Is it Rigorous?

One of my district's goals is to increase the rigor and relevance of our curriculum. Last year our superintendent began educational rounds (like doctors do in hospitals) with a focus on rigor and relevance. At first it was just administrators making rounds, but not long after teachers were invited along. The group would visit various classes for approximately one period observing what students were doing, then meet for another period to complete a chart based what again we saw students doing. We were told, it didn’t matter what the teachers were doing, focus on the student’s activity and we were allowed to ask the students to explain what they were doing. For each class, we had to place a post-it in the quadrant that we believed the students were working.

   

 So, this rigor and relevance conversation has been ongoing for over a year. As we begin using the new teacher evaluation tool this year, many teachers are making it a goal to increase the rigor in their classes and the discussion about what is rigorous continues.

People always think rigor means hard. Calculus and physics by most people's standards are challenging subjects, but if you enter a classroom and the teacher is giving direct instruction what are the students doing, they are listening, watching, and maybe taking notes. Listening and watching is not very rigorous. A teacher can't say my subject is hard therefore my class is rigorous. So if rigor is not a challenging subject, what is rigor?

Rigor is about designing tasks that force learners to think about a strategy, to test that idea, to reassess the strategy, and to try again with a new strategy in a rinse and repeat fashion until they are successful.   I like a Hansel-and-Gretel-follow-the-bread-crumbs metaphor for rigor rather than the Wizard-of-Oz- yellow-brick-road metaphor. On the yellow brick road, one can enjoy a stroll through the country side while making their way to their destination, the answer. If the route to the answer is following breadcrumbs of information, this is much more challenging. Sometimes the crumbs of information are smaller than other crumbs, sometimes there are large gaps, maybe even a river, between bread crumbs, and sometimes what you think is a breadcrumb is a small pebble. A task like this requires strategizing, analysis, planning, applying prior knowledge, determining what's missing, experimenting, perseverance, and maybe even creating a river-traversing-system.

                                         photo source: http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2012/03/50_very_awesome.shtml

Often people also think rigor is assigning a lot of work, which is rigorous as a time management activity because the learner must plan and strategize how they will get all the work done in a limited amount of time, but a heavy workload is not content related rigor. In fact, the learner may think less deeply about the content activity because completion in a specified time frame is the goal, not learning. Creating a rigorous learning activity, requires the teacher to plan backwards and maybe share the the expected end-result, then start dropping the breadcrumbs that will get the learners to strategize a route to the answer. 

Recently, after a lesson about digital reputation, specifically who owns one's image once online, I challenged students to get themselves untagged from a class photo that I placed on a wiki (I had not introduced wiki’s yet). I gave them a bread crumb in the form of a blog post about how to get oneself untagged from an unflattering photo online. The blog post, however, was more a treasure map than a road map. Only one student was able to untagged themselves, and two others were close. It appeared all students waited until the minute, not giving themselves enough “trial and error” time, and many didn't bother to read, or they misread the “breadcrumb” blog.  What I learned was that I needed to add a few more breadcrumbs and closer together. Next time, I will prep the students with the Hansel and Gretel bread crumbs analogy to start. I think informing students that this is a challenging activity will encourage a more serious attitude.  I would also set a “questions for the teacher” deadline about half way through the time frame to force strategizing earlier in the process.