EMPOWERING STUDENTS VIA BLENDED AND FLIPPED LEARNING

Today, educators all around the world are rethinking the traditional school model as they are expected to personalize learning and boost achievement. The changing paradigms in education and the expectations of the society have resulted in new learning models, one of which is blended learning. Blended learning is a shift to an online environment for at least a portion of the school day. This digital portion gives the students the opportunity to study at their own pace and get personalized instruction targeted to their needs and tailored to their unique learning styles. The videos below describe the fundamentals of blended learning:

While planning blended learning, educators should start with learning goals and decide on platform and content accordingly. Learning tools should never dictate the learning goals. Blended learning allows students to learn some of the academic content at home and gives teachers the ability to engage students in a richer, deeper, and more meaningful context in the classroom. Therefore, teachers can maximize their teaching abilities and be more creative in their ways of educating students. In the video below the founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan sketches a plan on how digital learning tools can enable teachers and students to allocate more time for real-life creative learning experiences:

SOURCE: Edutopia

SOURCE: DIGITAL LEARNING NOW!

Flipped Learning is one type of blended learning in which the classroom activities and homework elements of a course are reversed. Students watch short video lectures at home before the class session so that more time can be allocated for social interaction, discussions, active and experiential learning experience, critical thinking and problem solving activities, inquiry learning and creative projects during class time. Teachers should check understanding to group students according to their levels and assign tasks accordingly. Student advancement should be based upon competency and mastery of the material. Differentiated instruction, active learning and student engagement are the key concepts in a flipped classroom where students are expected to take full responsibility for their learning. During class time, teachers function as coaches or advisors, encouraging students in individual inquiry and collaborative effort.

In the YouTube video below, 8th grade math teacher, Katie explains why she is using the flipped classroom model:

Video lectures are either created by the teacher and posted online or selected from a website. The YouTube video below gives tips on how to do that:

Flipped Learning has its pros and cons like all the other learning models. I personally think that all learning models that are student-centered, that enhance higher order thinking skills and creativity, and help students internalize the other 21st century skills will enhance learning and will eventually contribute to their test-prep skills much more than the teach-to-the-test models.

What is a flipped Classroom

SOURCE: Visually

 

Some free resources that teachers can use for blended or flipped learning are listed in the slides below:

However, flipped learning is not about finding and using resources and tools. It is about the learning that takes place in the classroom. Teachers should be active participants in this learning model, which makes technology the tool, not the focus. Therefore, professional development on blended or flipped learning should not only focus on the use of technology, but cover key areas in learning such as differentiated instruction and inquiry-based learning. Moreover, teachers should be equipped with  effective classroom management skills as inspired and passionate classroom facilitators, creating environments where students thrive.

Flipped Classroom

SOURCE: KNEWTON

If they are implemented correctly, blended and flipped learning models may have a positive impact on education in new learning environments that work better for students and teachers. Therefore, schools should invest in training and development. They should also plan scheduling to enable teachers to collaborate, develop, and analyze student data in-school time; and give them credit and accountability for the growth of their students. Flipped learning, together  with a supportive school environment that values 21st century skills and effective leveraging of new technologies to enhance student inquiry and personalize learning, has the potential to transform education. Teachers who want more information on flipped learning, can watch the Flipping playlist by Spartan Guides below and check the EdSurge page on blended learning.


What do you think about blended learning? Have you flipped your classes? If so, please let me know about your experience.

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY INTO THE 21st CENTURY CLASSROOM – PART 2: TRANSFORMING LEARNING

After my previous post, some colleagues asked me what I think the best web tools are and which ones we are using at my school. I am going to answer this question in a future post when I write about tools and websites for English teachers. On the other hand, I think there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Schools or individual teachers should choose them by considering their learning objectives and expectations for the school year and manipulate them to serve their needs. In other words, learning should drive the technology rather than technology driving learning. Therefore, the choice of these tools may change from one school to the other depending on the learning objectives and expectations. Indeed, it isn’t really about the tools, it is about how you use them to enhance learning and  to combine the incredible powers of the human brain with the creative potential of the new technology.

The chart by Teachbytes below shows the difference between using technology just for the sake of using equipment and web tools and integrating it to serve specific purposes to transform and enhance learning.

We all know that our students are motivated if they are given the opportunity to choose and if their curiosity is triggered. Big questions that are interesting and difficult to answer, encourage students to offer theories instead of giving answers.  Moreover, they learn much better if they interact socially. If they are allowed to discover and experiment in flexible and creative environments where they are not afraid of making mistakes, they can construct their own understanding of new concepts by relating them to what they already know with the guidance and encouragement of their teachers. Otherwise, it is against the human nature to expect them to sit at their desks all day long, trying to learn what we have planned to teach them. Research has proved that if curiosity is not triggered, the human brain can’t retain or internalize information.

All this information matches with the 21st Century skills that our students have to master to be ready for the future. Therefore, inquiry, project, and challenge–based learning are the key learning approaches today. Provided that they are carefully planned and conducted, all these approaches align with the requirements of the 21st century education. Learners are faced with authentic situations to explore and solve problems. They are involved in social interaction via collaboration. Learning is structured around big or essential questions, which require higher order thinking skills. Students use their critical thinking skills to solve problems and innovative skills to come up with their own solutions.

SOURCE: Essential questions by Susan Oxnevad (Please hover your mouse and click on the interactive images).    

Luckily, technology provides us with many tools to adapt these approaches more easily and effectively in and outside the classroom. It also helps us to access information like how our students learn best and how we can make learning real, more enjoyable and engaging for all types of learners in the classroom. Consequently, it enables us to reconsider the old methodologies we have been using and discover, learn, unlearn and relearn the new pedagogies that increase learner engagement and autonomy. Many people think that transforming education in the 21st century is about using modern technology. However, it is mostly about our approach to learning.    

 
SOURCE: TEACHER FACILITATED LEARNING EXPERIENCES by Susan Oxnevad (Please hover your mouse and click on the interactive images).

As educators we already know that every child learns differently, so our job should be to give them choices to express what they know in various ways and give them the opportunity to use their imagination through innovation. Technology offers us many different tools to differentiate our instruction according to the diverse needs and interests of our learners and to personalize learning.

SOURCE: FLEXIBLE LEARNING PATHS by Susan Oxnevad (Please hover your mouse and click on the interactive images).

If the purpose of schooling is to enable the students to discover who they are and what their talents and passions are, why are students still being loaded with irrelevant information they will forget before the school year ends? Today, we need teachers who can foster curiosity and exploration and guide their students to find joy in learning and discovery through their passions and interests.  Only this type of schooling can motivate disengaged teenagers bored of traditional schooling. The graphics below illustrate how the source of information and the way we build knowledge have changed in the 21st Century:

 

SOURCE: Richard Wells http://ipad4schools.org/

With all this in mind, we should see technology not only as an aide to learning  but as an important factor to transform learning, helping us create dynamic learning environments where learners become active participants in their own learning, rather than passive recipients of knowledge. This new definition of learning shouldn’t focus on getting high marks. We should care more about our students’ cognitive needs than the results they achieve at school.  We should encourage them to create and share information instead of memorizing it so that we can instill the joy and love of learning in them. They need to know how to think critically, creatively, and to evaluate multiple viewpoints. In these new learning environments enhanced by technology, the teachers are learners, too. They don’t control the learning any more, but instead, try to empower their students to take ownership of their own learning as passionate learners. This will eventually open the doors to self-directed learning by increasing learners’ involvement and responsibility for their own learning.

SOURCE: Med Kharbach Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Of course, all these changes won’t be easy but  as we often tell our students, we should all have the confidence to take risks, learn from our mistakes, try new things, and develop a discipline of self-reflection to become the change agents in our communities.

Video for teachers on becoming a change agent by Justin Tarte.

Please share how you have personally transformed education.

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY INTO THE 21st CENTURY CLASSROOM – PART 1: WEB TOOLS

Today, there are many websites, tools, and resources that are readily available to us through the WWW. In order to introduce these applications to our students and implement them into our classrooms, we need to know where to find them and how to use them. As educators we already know that every child learns differently, so providing various means to give our students the opportunity to express what they know and to use their imagination through innovation has become part of 21st century teaching, which every teacher should practice.

The New Way of Learning infographic by the Adidas Group gives us hints about why and how we should transform learning:

Even if they aren’t familiar with technology and consequently don’t feel comfortable with it, each teacher should give it a try to transform teaching and learning as it is worth doing. As a first step you can start by talking to your colleagues who are teaching with technology. You will find out that their students are demonstrating a greater responsibility for their learning, they are more active in their classes than they used to be, both as leaders and peer tutors, contributing to problem-solving discussions, teaching each other and developing more collaborative learning skills. In fact, there are so many helpful guides and resources available on the internet that you will soon find out it is not as difficult as you have imagined.  

 

A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet is a great source for beginners to technology integration. After reading it, you may continue with Technology Integration Professional Development Guide by Edutopia.

Learning with web tools is a great opportunity for our students as they will help them tremendously in their future jobs. Even if they do not use these skills in a future job, they can use it for their own personal needs. Mobile Devices for Learning – a guide by Edutopia is a good way to start learning about web tools. After reading it, you may continue with 20 Educational Technology Tools Everybody Should Know About by Edudemic. When you feel comfortable with technology, you can visit Cybrary Man’s Web 2.0 page and A Practical Guide to the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013. You can also check my Pinterest Web Tools board for further information on Web 2.0 tools. Finally, you can find presentations, e-books, and posts on Web 2.0 tools and sites on Free Tech for Teachers by Richard Byrnes and Technology Tidbits by David Kapular.

Once you have decided to integrate technology into your classroom, there are several important points you should consider:

  • Before you start using technology, be sure that you really need to use it. After all, our main goal is not to enable our students to use technology but to develop a love of learning and self-direction so that they can ultimately become life-long learners. Therefore, we should plan lessons and activities that would get them excited about learning and encourage them to go out and learn more on their own. Otherwise, using technology for the sake of being a tech-savvy teacher will be a waste of time.  You can use the assessment sheet by Sue Lyon Jones from The EdTech Hub before you decide about whether you really need to use the tools and read the blog post about Jerry Swiatek’s tips for beginners to avoid making mistakes while integrating technology.

 

  • The technology you are using must be in line with the curriculum and your students’ learning needs and goals. Therefore, you need to find the best tool that will support your lesson and your students’ learning while you are blending technology into your lesson plans. You can visit Edshelf and Ideas to Inspire to be able to do that. You can also find great tips for using technology in Shelley Terrel’s Wiki, Technology 4 Kids. Some teachers may find it useful to watch the five-minute videos on web tools by visiting the Learn It In 5 Blog by Mark Barnes or the videos in Under Ten Minutes.

 

  • Make sure the technology you are using supports higher order thinking skills and help you develop a spirit of inquiry and problem solving. Andrew Churches from Educational Origami and Kelly Tenkely from iLearn Technology have adapted Bloom’s Taxonomy to digital technology. Their ideas will help you determine how you can use technology to enhance higher order thinking skills and create dynamic learning environments where learners take ownership of their own growth and pursue it passionately.

 

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy

Considering all the points above is important because the shift in education today is about learning, not about technology. All the tools mentioned above are the means to help us create more exciting, engaging, and ultimately, more effective learning for our students. As teachers in this complex world, we should continuously be learning, implementing, refining, and effectively integrating technology to enrich and extend the curriculum, to enhance and accelerate the types of learning that support the development of our students’ proficiency in the era of creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, leadership, and communication.

 

Digital Learning, Deeper Learning

TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING IN 21st CENTURY EDUCATION

 

 

During the last decades technology has caused a lot of changes in our lives socially, politically and economically. What about education? Has education changed right along with the demands of the society?Today, many businesses require workers that can work in small, collaborative groups, which means we should use project-based learning in the classroom that allows students to work in small groups and to apply the academic content they are learning to real life situations. They want us to educate students who can be collaborators, thinkers, and innovators. However, in many classrooms, you can still see students sitting isolated in rows, listening to their teachers lecturing at the board all day.

 

 

We all know that we need to get away from teacher-led classrooms and create classrooms that are learner centered to meet the demands of our rapidly changing world and we have a great tool to be able to do that: technology. We all agree that we have to do everything to empower our students for their future. Then, why don’t we integrate it in education since we have the means to make a change in learning so that our students can create, communicate, connect and collaborate to be contributing citizens to their future!

 

In the video below, Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D, discusses his views on the importance of technology in learning and the need to revolutionize education to give kids the skills they need to compete in an increasingly interconnected and digital world.

 

 

Teaching with technology does not mean uploading lessons on tablets and giving them to students to use. It has two other important dimensions. Bringing technology to our classrooms will help our students become digitally savvy by using the web 2.0 tools that will enhance their learning and creativity. If we give our students the opportunity to use these tools during the learning process, we will see the very many ways they will help us create students who can think critically, problem solve, and work collaboratively. Today, most jobs require the use of technology, which is another reason why teachers should give students experience working with technology through group projects and classroom assignments to be able to prepare them for the future. We should also consider the fact that we are preparing many of our students for jobs that do not exist yet.

 

The second important dimension is related to social networking, which has an incredible impact on learning. Students have the capability of learning from each other through the use of social sites, with the supervision and support of their teachers. By enabling them to connect with people around the globe, we will be opening their minds to perspectives and experiences that go far beyond the four walls of the classroom.

As a further step, we can also publish student work for a global audience and have them teach others what they have learned by presenting or sharing their work online. This will help students think about how they can give back to the broader learning community and how this can help shape their future. It will also give the students the opportunity to be assessed by a global audience. They will eventually become self-directed learners through the guidance of their skillful teachers who know when, where and how to use technology to enable this. Therefore, instead of banning the use of many technological devices in the classrooms, school administrations should encourage and train teachers to use them. Please watch the video below showing how one principal made a change in his school and went from being anti-social media to being known as ‘Mr. Twitter’ by his students.

 

 

Integrating technology in education has another important dimension from the teachers’ perspective: Networking between schools both nationally and internationally, where educators and administrators can work collaboratively and share educational resources and practices. The concept of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) has become important as teachers and administrators all around the globe can exchange ideas, and share resources with the spread of technology and social networking sites like Twitter, Pinterest, Diigo and many others. Today, educators who have never met before have become connected and Personal Learning Networks (PLN) have a significant role in professional development. They create connections and develop a network that contributes to their professional development and knowledge with people they don’t necessarily know. Connected Principals blog is a good example of 21st century collaboration among principals.

 


 

We often discuss how teachers find teaching with technology in the classroom, what is difficult and what is easy for them when confronted with tech tools. It also might be worth looking at how our students, digital natives – people very much at home with these technologies – think about education and what is important for them in the digital age. The infographic by MacMillan Education below shows how students go beyond traditional forms of education and how we can apply mobile learning into everyday teaching.

Via: Voxy Blog

 

Does this mean that technology is the only solution to the problems in education? Of course not! There is no substitute for a skillful teacher in the classroom who effectively plans instruction according to the needs of each learner to actively engage and involve them in the learning process, creating a learning environment allowing the students to communicate and collaborate with others effectively and to be innovative. Technology is a tool that needs to be coupled with effective teaching from educators to enhance the learning process for students. Therefore, we need highly skilled teachers that can creatively use technology in the classroom to create a meaningful 21st century learning environment for students.

 

 

 

I strongly believe that, if used appropriately and meaningfully and combined with effective teaching strategies, digital technology helps learning to be active, engaging, and fun. Therefore, we should all be the facilitators of these opportunities so that our students can learn in a safe and meaningful way and can become connected learners just like us. If we do that, students will not only contribute to their future, but define and lead it as well. In this amazing, rapidly changing era where we can enhance and accelerate learning by integrating technology in education, the schools that understand the importance of education technology and provide their staff and students with training and access to digital learning tools will certainly have a distinct advantage over the others who ban or disregard them.

Credits to Crissy Venosdale

 

What do you think about teaching with technology and its role in enhancing learning?
How do you manage your PLN? Please let me know.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES ON FOSTERING THINKING, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

A couple of weeks ago my friend’s son had a job interview at a multinational company and they asked him to give examples from his own life based on Arthur Clarke’s quotation above. This is a perfect example for the profile of workers the companies are looking for today. However, I don’t think there are many students around who can give satisfactory answers to this question.

In his famous TED speech, How Schools Kill Creativity, Ken Robinson says, “Creativity is as important in education as literacy; so, fostering creativity in education is not an option, it’s an absolute necessity.”  By analyzing, synthesizing and applying what they have learned, students can become effective creators or innovators, making original contributions to society.

Helen Buckley gives us the same message in her poem, The Little Boy. Unfortunately, what many children learn at schools even today are: competition, rules, control and conformity. They don’t learn much about the joy of exploration, the art of discovery, how to solve problems and how to innovate.

Effective creators are critical thinkers who are able to “think outside the box” and analyze systems to identify and solve problems. Therefore, effective student learning should always include critical and creative thinking skills. Competencies like creativity and innovation can be improved by the systematic teaching of thinking. The websites below may help you do that:

THE CRITICAL THINKING COMMUNITY provides resources on critical thinking for all levels. Please click on the Begin Here tab at the top. They also have a series of videos for students. This five- part series introduces deep concepts of critical thinking in a clear, engaging and accessible manner. They say while this video is intended for use in grades K-6, it may be useful for students of all ages. For information on the Center’s approach to critical thinking, please see Our Concept of Critical Thinking.

EDUCATIONAL WEB ADVENTURES: Eduweb’s award-winning creative portfolio offers exciting and effective learning experiences. You may try some of them with your students or these creative resources may inspire you to prepare your own web adventures for your students.

CRITICAL THINKING TOOLKIT: The University of British Colombia Learning Commons site offers valuable resources on critical thinking.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND MOBILE LEARNING: This must-see blog by Med Kharbach provides resources on everything about being a 21st century teacher. Please click on All Categories section to see all types of resources, including critical thinking and creativity.

TEACHING THINKING & CREATIVITY is the website of Robert Fisher, a teacher, researcher and writer on teaching thinking and creativity. You can find sample stories and poems that you can use to teach thinking and creativity to your students. Talking Music: Music for Thinking with Children can be quite interesting to teach.

CRITICAL & CREATIVE THINKING is a directory of critical and creative thinking educational resources on the web.

THE GATEWAY TO 21ST CENTURY SKILLS contains a variety of educational resource types from activities and lesson plans to online projects and assessment items.

Poster created by Malaysian illustrator Tang Yau Hoong.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THINKING, COLLABORATION & MOTIVATION: Indiana University’s website on creativity, creative thinking and critical thinking.

WONDERAPOLIS: is an informational site that asks and answers interesting questions about the world. Every day, a new ”Wonders of the Day” question is posted, and each is designed to get kids and families to think, talk, and find learning moments together in everyday life. Great as a lesson starter and for inquiry – based learning.

Mike Fleetham’s THINKING CLASSROOM offers high-quality resources on thinking and learning.

MYCOTED CREATIVITY & INNOVATION WEBSITE: Dedicated to improving Creativity and Innovation for solving problems worldwide, Mycoted provides a central repository for Creativity and Innovation on the Internet as a summary of tools, techniques, mind exercises, puzzles, book reviews. Please read the quotations in Part 1 🙂

Please check my Pinterest board on Fostering Creativity and Innovation in Education for additional resources.

Creativity and innovation are the keys for effective learning.  Moreover, they are two important traits that all 21st Century teachers should have. I strongly believe that, as leaders we should provide models for our colleagues and as teachers we should model for what we want to see in our students. Therefore, we should constantly come up with new ideas to reconstruct and adapt our teaching methods to the learning needs of our students in order to engage them in the learning process and to maximize each student’s learning potential.

Designed by Krissy Venosdale on Flickr

What do you do to be an effective 21st Century teacher?

How do you influence others to challenge themselves to change and grow?

I would love feedback from you and I look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

 

DE BONO’S SIX THINKING HATS

De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats is a simple but powerful method to teach students to think about problems from different perspectives, and to work collaboratively. In this process, thought is divided into six separate areas in order to develop greater clarity over each aspect. Encouraging students to try out roles makes it easier for them to understand the approaches to thinking through problems.

 Created on quozio.

This approach can be used to discuss:

In this PowerPoint Marge D uses six thinking hats as a reflection tool for students to evaluate their progress in learning.

Teachers who need more information on Six Thinking Hats can watch the video in the Skype English Blog.

Here is another resource on 6 thinking hats by Dr. Kaya Prpic from the University of Melbourne.

This PowerPoint presentation by Microsoft Partners in Learning may also be helpful.

You can find many free resources on Six Thinking Hats and any subject you want to teach at TES (Time English Supplement), one of the  world’s largest online network of teachers. It’s a free subscription site and a great place for teachers who are looking for innovative ideas and resources.

Primary Resources is another website where you can find free resources prepared by teachers on every subject. Click on Learning Styles Resources for posters on Bloom question stems and six thinking hats

If there are other resources that you would like to share on Six Thinking Hats or how you are applying this technique in your classes, please let me know.

SOURCE: Rock.Paper.Scissors Blog

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

The six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, from the lowest to the highest have become a useful guide for teachers while preparing their lesson plans and writing objectives. When students are analyzing, evaluating and creating, in other words, using the higher order thinking skills of Bloom’s Taxonomy, deep learning will occur. This will enable them to retain information, perform better on standardized tests, and most importantly, achieve the ultimate goal of becoming lifelong learners. However, this doesn’t mean that teachers should ignore the first three levels and only focus on high level thinking. Studies show that a combination of lower and higher questions is more effective than the exclusive use of one or the other. Below you can see the old and revised versions of the taxonomy.

“The graphic is a representation of the NEW verbage associated with the long familiar Bloom’s Taxonomy. Note the change from Nouns to Verbs [e.g., Application to Applying] to describe the different levels of the taxonomy. Note that the top two levels are essentially exchanged from the Old to the New version.” (Schultz, 2005) (Evaluation moved from the top to Evaluating in the second from the top, Synthesis moved from second on top to the top as Creating.) Source: http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

STUDENT FRIENDLY BLOOM’S TAXONOMY QUESTION STEMS: These question stems in Reading Sage by Sean Taylor are very helpful in teaching students high-order thinking skills. You can post them on the walls of your classroom and want your students to identify the types of questions you asked them for any reading task according to Bloom’s taxonomy. Here is an example.

As teachers we shouldn’t only focus on asking questions to our students using Bloom’s taxonomy, we should also teach them asking questions using Bloom’s question stems. Once the students get used to identifying these question types, as a further step, you can ask them to prepare questions according to the taxonomy about the text they are reading. This is a very useful activity for them to internalize high level thinking skills.

Janet Giesen’s LIST OF QUESTION STEMS ACCORDING TO BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY includes tasks for each level.

In this slide show, Michael Ball explainshow you can help students develop better thinking skills through higher level questioning to become critical learners. Some teachers claim that the taxonomy – especially the high level questions  – are too difficult to teach the young learners. Mr Ball disproves that by applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Goldilocks and the Three Bears in a very simple way.

EDUCATIONAL ORIGAMI is a blog and a wiki, about 21st Century Teaching and Learning by Andrew Churches. Andrew, who is   a member of the 21st Century Fluency team developing a framework for teaching and learning in the 21st Century, offers great resources on Bloom’s taxonomy. If you scroll down, you will also see other valuable resources on 21st century learningdigital citizenship and visible thinking in Andrew’s blog.

Bloom in Digital Peacock by Kelly Tenkely at ilearntechnology.com.

You can watch BLOOM’S TAXONOMY REVISED ACCORDING TO HOMER SIMPSON on Teacher Tube, an online community for sharing instructional videos.  In this video Homer Simpson demonstrates the six levels of cognitive thinking according to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.

 

Larry Ferlazzo has a section in his blog on Bloom: THE BEST RESOURCES FOR HELPING TEACHERS USE BLOOM’S TAXONOMY IN THE CLASSROOM, which will provide you with all the links you need. Please also see CYBRARY MAN’S BLOOM’S TAXANOMY PAGE.

How do you use Bloom’s taxonomy in your classes? Please share in the comments section below.

Credits to Keely Terkely at http://ilearntechnology.com

LEARNING TO THINK: THINKING TO LEARN

Lesley Dodd in her article, Learning to Think: Thinking to Learn, published in the Lancashire Grid for Learning gives us valuable information on how our brain works. I think everyone should read this to be able to successfully incorporate thinking skills into their lesson plans.

In her article Lesley gives examples of brain – break activities, which, I believe, especially primary teachers will find very useful.  The parts on learning styles, thinking skills, questioning techniques to develop comprehension are for everyone to read.

THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS

Source: Taolife Studio by Gaye Crispin

After reading the part on questioning techniques to develop comprehension in Lesley’s article, I prepared this worksheet part 1 and part 2 for our 6th graders, which I think you may find useful.

The art of asking questions is as important as answering them if we want our students to internalize high level thinking skills. Please note that thinking is driven by questions rather than by answers. To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate thought. Another reason why student questioning should be emphasized in education lies in the fact that questioning sparks curiosity.

Like any skill, asking questions can be taught and practiced. If we want our students to be lifelong learners, we should train them to be inquisitive explorers.

What resources are you using to teach effective questioning? Please share them with us.

THE 3 C’S OF THINKING: HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP CRITICAL, CREATIVE & COMPASSIONATE THINKING SKILLS

Created on quozio.

Last year I attended ECIS November Conference in Nice with a group of colleagues from my school. On the first day of the conference, I attended a full day workshop by Dr. Lesley Fern Snowball on Critical Thinking Skills in an Inquiry-based Classroom.  We started the workshop by discussing why we should include thinking skills in our curriculum. The ability to think critically, creatively and compassionately is of fundamental importance as:

  • A tool for an inquiry-based  curriculum 
  • An essential life skill
  • A fundamental element of global citizenship.

 

Lesley pointed out that the 3 C s have become 4 in the 21st century:

1-      CRITICAL THINKING: Thinking deeply, analyzing.

KEY QUESTION: What does this really mean?

 

2-      CREATIVE THINKING: Thinking broadly.

KEY QUESTION: What are the alternatives?

 

3-      COMPASSIONATE THINKING: Thinking considerably.

KEY QUESTION: How will this affect others?

 

4-      COLLABORATIVE THINKING: Thinking collectively.

KEY QUESTION: How do my ideas interact with those of others?

 

You can download this poster in its original size by visiting Mentoring Minds website.

During the workshop, Lesley emphasized teaching thinking skills explicitly to make learners aware of themselves as ‘thinkers’ and how they process/create knowledge by learning to learn (metacognition).  She also focused on the significance of using graphic organizers as the human brain naturally looks for connections between old and new information and processes information most efficiently in chunks. She recommended using De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats and Bloom’s Taxonomy across all grade levels to improve high level thinking skills.

In the afternoon session, we first did a jigsaw reading activity on Cinderella. Then she teamed us in groups of six and asked us to discuss whether Cinderella should leave or stay when the clock struck twelve. Each team member put on one of De Bono’s thinking hats to analyze the situation from a different perspective. You can try this activity with your primary students to help them learn how to use De Bono’s thinking hats.

Here you can see some of the handouts from the workshop Lesley kindly shared with us. Enjoy:)

FIRES IN THE MIND AND THE HOMEWORK ISSUE

When I read some chapters of the book, Fires in the Mind by Kathleen Cushman, which were shared on the Internet, I decided to write this post on the homework issue. I use the word issue, as giving homework has been a controversial issue recently. Some people are totally against it while some think that it is absolutely necessary.

Fires in the Mind is a very interesting book as it tries to answer the question: What does it take for young people to be really good at something? through the voices of students from diverse backgrounds. To put these students’ ideas into practice, the book also includes practical tips for educators. It is part of the How Youth Learn project that seeks better schooling and better outcomes for all youth. They are trying to prove how well young people can accomplish when given the opportunities and support they need and what they can contribute when their voices and ideas are taken seriously. You can watch the video, 8 Conditions for Learning on how a teenager learns with your students and have a class discussion on it. I am sure it will inspire them to reflect on how they learn best.

 

In another video, students talk about their expectations to do better at school.

 

In chapter 8, which is about homework, the students list their expectations for homework as follows:

  • Make sure we know what purpose the homework serves. Write it at the top of the assignment, so we remember it!
  • Use our homework! Look at it, answer our questions, and show us why it matters.
  • Don’t take off points for wrong answers on homework. It’s practice!
  • Cooperate with other teachers so our total homework load is reasonable.
  • Give us time to start our homework in class, so you can help if we have trouble.
  • When appropriate, assign different tasks to match what each of us needs.
  • Match homework to the time we have available. Let us know how long you expect us to spend on it, and don’t penalize us if we can’t finish.
  • Don’t give us homework every day. Having several days to do it helps us learn to manage our time.
  • Create places in school for sustained academic support: tutoring time, study halls, hours when you are always available for help. (Source: Fires in the Mind)

Source:http://pinterest.com/pin/237705686554832269/

 After listening to the students, Cushman designs “four R’s of deliberate homework”:

  • Readying themselves for new learning
  • Repetition and application of knowledge and skills
  • Reviewing material learned earlier, and
  • Revising their work. (Source: Fires in the Mind)

I think the best part in this chapter is the alternative homework the students suggested:

Source: Fires in the Mind

I personally think that students should be given reasonable amount of homework to consolidate learning and master skills. This is especially important in foreign language learning as the more students are exposed to the target language, the better they will master it. On the other hand, homework should be personally relevant to the needs of the learner. Students should be given choices according to their needs, interests and ability levels, which is much easier to do nowadays; thanks to technology.