A very successful parent of a student that I tutor told me that he always struggled in school because he never learned how to study or how to find out the important information from texts. I interviewed students from elementary, middle, and high school and discovered that they were never taught how to use or read their textbooks. Although, all textbook go over how they are formatted and useful strategies on how to use them, none of the students I interviewed remember a teacher going over how to use the information - guidelines, samples, or methods to learn.
The reading students are asked to do is amazing complex. Students read instructions, tests, novels, newspapers, websites, and books from the library. They need to recognize all sorts of usual words, make sense of many types of reading, change how fast or slow they read, use strategies, reread, and then remember everything. Who can do all that?
Students could probably use a little help to make reading and learning easier. You need to sit down with your student and look over each textbook. Read the guidelines the textbook provide and be sure your student knows where to find important information. For example, math texts have a section that has vocabulary, formulas, rules, etc. History texts have timelines, etc.
Some basic strategies that work for reading to learn that may be used for all academic subjects are listed below:
Before Reading set a purpose - everything you do in or especially out of school you should use the "Habits of the Mind" to critically read and think about information.
To set a purpose - do a quick survey before reading the assignment. This will help prepare you to read and organize information more easily. Look for the title, headings, words in bold of italic print, graphics, key points, and guiding and review questions.
Make up questions based on your survey. Try to answer your questions, as well as the review questions, while you read.
Takes notes of summarize sections while you read. Summarizing is especially helpful if a section is difficult to understand. Say your summary out loud or write it in your notes. Some students have trouble summarizing and end up rewriting everything thing they read. A good method to use to write summaries is to write down the most important word in each sentence and then the second most important word in each sentence. It's interesting to note that you will discover the most important word you write is a noun, and the second most important is a verb. You will have a list of words called a 'word bank' and from that list write a summary. I use this technique successfully with students as young as third grade and I personally use this strategy all the time. It also helps students store information in long term memory and when they need to write a research paper they won't be tempted to plagiarize (which I don't think students intent to do - they just never learned how to take notes and summarize).
Look up any words you don't understand. Sometimes tricky words make a passage difficult to read; understanding their meaning can make all the difference.
After reading, review any summaries or notes you have written. Test yourself to see if you can answer the review questions and most importantly your questions.
Read a large variety of material. The more you read, the easier and more enjoyable reading will become for you.
There is method called SQ4R that is very effective, and has been around a long, long time-that's because it works! It is similar to the method describe above.
Survey. Before you start, survey the chapter's headings, tables, charts and figures. Read the chapter summary. Conceptualize the content of what you are about to read.
Question. Turn the chapter headings and subheadings into questions. As you read the chapter, imagine which questions might likely turn up on a test.
Read. Quickly read each section of the chapter, one after the other, searching for the answers to your questions. Do new questions pop up?
Recite. At the end of each section, recite your questions. If they weren't answered, go back until they are all answered. Only then should you go on to the next section.
wRite. First write down your questions and then your answers. This process will aid you in remembering what you have read.
Review. What were the main learning points of the chapter? What is the significance of the main points and how they apply to the big picture.
Don't worry about the kind of questions you write, are they good, or whatever, the whole process will help you learn and understand and that's the point. If you are still having difficultly then it is time to get ask for help. Remember that your teachers are there to help you, they want to help you!Your teachers have no way of knowing of what is going on with you if you don't tell. them. If you don't feel comfortable asking questions during class see your teacher during her office hours.
I will write a post soon on how to write questions. I will use examples from the work of students that I'm presently tutoring.
Best,
Debra
Friday, September 27, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
The Common Core State Standards ---- The Assessment Piece
I've been researching information about the Common Core Standards and found a lot of interesting information about the assessment component. These are some of the facts I found at Fairtest.org
A new fact sheet shows that the Common Core Assessments, which are being rolled out for widespread implementation in the 2014-2015 school year, are not significantly different from the standardized exams currently administered in many states. At the same time, plans call for more high-stakes tests even with greater cost.
"Despite proponents' claims that the Common Core would lead to a new breed of assessments that focus on higher-order, critical thinking skills, the planned tests are predominantly the same-old multiple-choice questions," explained Dr. Monty Neill, Executive Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (Fair Test).
Dr. Neill continued, "Rather than ending 'No Child Left Behind' testing overkill, the Common Core will flood classrooms with even more standardized exams. Their scores will continue to be misused to make high-stakes educational decisions, including high school graduation. They will also end up costing taxpayers millions more for new tests and the computer systems required to deliver them."
The FairTest fact sheet also challenges the notion that harder tests are automatically better. It states, "If a child struggles to clear the high bar at five feet, she will not become a 'world class' jumper because someone raised the bar to six feet and yelled 'jump higher', or if her 'poor' performance is used to punish her coach." Scores recently plummeted in New York State and Kentucky where Common Core tests were initially administered.
Based on its analysis, FairTest is calling for an indefinite moratorium on the Common Core tests. "As the prestigious Gordon Commission of educational experts recently concluded, these exams are not the better assessments our schools need," Dr. Neill concluded. "Instead, a system of classroom-based performance assessments, evaluations of student work portfolios, and school quality reviews will help improve learning and teaching."
Sincerely,
Debra
A new fact sheet shows that the Common Core Assessments, which are being rolled out for widespread implementation in the 2014-2015 school year, are not significantly different from the standardized exams currently administered in many states. At the same time, plans call for more high-stakes tests even with greater cost.
"Despite proponents' claims that the Common Core would lead to a new breed of assessments that focus on higher-order, critical thinking skills, the planned tests are predominantly the same-old multiple-choice questions," explained Dr. Monty Neill, Executive Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (Fair Test).
Dr. Neill continued, "Rather than ending 'No Child Left Behind' testing overkill, the Common Core will flood classrooms with even more standardized exams. Their scores will continue to be misused to make high-stakes educational decisions, including high school graduation. They will also end up costing taxpayers millions more for new tests and the computer systems required to deliver them."
The FairTest fact sheet also challenges the notion that harder tests are automatically better. It states, "If a child struggles to clear the high bar at five feet, she will not become a 'world class' jumper because someone raised the bar to six feet and yelled 'jump higher', or if her 'poor' performance is used to punish her coach." Scores recently plummeted in New York State and Kentucky where Common Core tests were initially administered.
Based on its analysis, FairTest is calling for an indefinite moratorium on the Common Core tests. "As the prestigious Gordon Commission of educational experts recently concluded, these exams are not the better assessments our schools need," Dr. Neill concluded. "Instead, a system of classroom-based performance assessments, evaluations of student work portfolios, and school quality reviews will help improve learning and teaching."
Sincerely,
Debra
Friday, September 13, 2013
Extracurricular Activities --- The Key To Improve Student Success --- Multiple Intelliigences Honored
Choosing an Extracurricular Activity That Honors Your Students Intelligence
The school system in the United States is focused on two main intelligences, logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic. The new Common Core State Standards will allow creative teachers to incorporate Multiple Intelligences theory into the curriculum, which will in turn, reach students that have been previously excluded. But what can you do until the Common Core Standards are implemented? Enroll your student in after-school activities. For example some students are more able in the arts or sports (their strongest intelligence). The perception is that they are "extra" classes. But they're the main reason many struggling students stay focused on school.
What is Multiple Intelligences Theory?
Howard Gardener's theory of Multiple Intelligences utilizes aspects of cognitive and developmental psychology, anthropology, and sociology to explain human intellect. Although Gardener had been working towards the concept of Multiple Intelligences for many years prior, the theory was introduced in 1983, with Gardener's ground breaking book, Frames of Mind.
Gardener's research consisted of brain research and interviews with stroke victims, prodigies, and individuals with autism. Based on his findings, Gardner established eight criteria for identifying seven (he has added an eighth and ninth) separate intelligences. The eight criteria used by Gardner to identify the intelligences are listed below:
* Isolation by brain damage/neurological evidence
* The existence of prodigies, idiot savants, and exceptional individuals
* Distinguishable set of core operations
* Evolutionary history and plausibility
* Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system
* Support from experimental psychological tasks
* Support from psychometric research
For a more detailed look at these eight criteria, visit http://surfaquarium.com/MI/criteria.htm.
Originally, the theory accounted for seven separate intelligences. Subsequently, with the publishing of Gardener's Intelligence Reframed in 1999, two more intelligences were added to the list. The intelligences are Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, and Existential.
Gardner's theory challenges traditional, narrower views of intelligence. Previously accepted ideas of human intellectual capacity contend that an individual's intelligence is a fixed entity throughout her lifetime and that intelligence can be measured through an individual's logical and language abilities.This is what standardized tests focus on. According to Gardner's theory, an intelligence encompasses the ability to create and solve problems, create products or provide services that are valued within a culture or society. Listed below are the key points of Multiple Intelligences Theory:
* All human beings possess all nine intelligences in varying degrees.
* Each individual has a different profile.
* Education can be improved by assessment of the students' intelligence profiles and designing activities
accordingly.
* Each intelligence occupies a different area of the brain.
* The nine intelligences may operate in consort or independently from one another.
* These nine intelligences may define the human species.
Gardner, a Professor of Education at Harvard University, and other researchers and educators continue to work towards a more holistic approach to education through Project Zero. For more information on the projects and research in Project Zero, visit the website at http://www.pz.harvard.edu
Although the theory was not originally designed for use in a classroom application, it has been widely embraced by educators and enjoyed numerous adaptations in a variety of educational settings.Teachers have always known that students had different strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. Gardner's theory was able to articulate that and provide direction as to how to improve a student's ability in any given intelligence. The Common Core State Standards are just standards, so educators can design curriculum based on both the academic standards and Multiple Intelligences.
Choose an extracurricular activity with the Multiple Intelligences in mind. Listed below is a brief description of each intelligence.
* Verbal/Linguistic - Strengths include writing, reading, memorizing dates, thinking in words, telling stories.
* Mathematical/ Logical - Strengths include math, logic, problem-solving, reasoning, patterns.
* Visual/Spatial - Strengths include maps, reading, charts, puzzles, imagining things, visualization.
* Bodily/Kinesthetic - Strengths include athletics, dancing, crafts, using tools, acting.
* Musical - Strengths include picking up sounds, remembering melodies, rhythms, singing.
* Interpersonal - Strengths include leading, organizing, understanding people, communicating, resolving
conflicts, selling.
* Intrapersonal - Strengths include recognizing strengths and weaknesses, setting goals, understanding self.
* Naturalistic - Strengths includes understanding nature, making distinctions, identifying flora and fauna.
* Existential - Strengths include ethnics, humanity, sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about
human existence.
EXTRACURRICULAR activities help children learn more themselves, develop new skills, and contribute to their community. It is important that parents help their child focus on a "nonacademic" path to success. While not all children excel academically, after-school activities present opportunities to become world class at something.
Extracurricular activities such as dance or sports not only bolster children's health, they also foster good habits for a lifetime, and motivate students to focus on school. Here's some advice on helping your student choose an extracurricular activity:
Listen to your child. The right age to start an activity depends entirely upon your child. One size does not fit all. Even toddlers, who in an imagination stage developmentally, may gain confidence from theater programs for preschoolers.
Don't overload. Be aware of an activity's time commitment. Many sports require daily practice, plus obligations for tournaments, fundraising or celebrations. It's important to allow for downtime too.
Consider cost. Some activities are more costly than others and may require lessons, uniforms, costumes, or travel. Ask questions to avoid unexpected budget-breaking expenses. For budget-friendly options, explore community recreation centers, boys and girls clubs, houses of worship, or other groups such as 4-H, and of course talk to other parents for their ideas.
Find volunteer opportunities. The opportunities are endless, a few examples include libraries, hospitals, and food banks.
Let your student/child experiment. Give your child the freedom to explore and discover multiple joy-inducing activities. Don't insist on your child finishing an activity if it's clear, even after just two weeks, that's it's not a good match. Take seriously the child's opinion. Eventually, children will find an interest in which they can shine.
Extracurricular are so important because that is where children can find out who they are in the world. And without extracurricular activities students might not concentrate on school. Research shows that there's a link between high quality arts education and strong educational outcomes. Although there's no research on whether extracurricular activities improve student performance, any teacher or parent, can tell you that once they get a taste of success in whatever activity it spills over into other academic work.
On a final note, the arts and many other extracurricular activities give ideas life and power!
Sincerely,
Debra
The school system in the United States is focused on two main intelligences, logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic. The new Common Core State Standards will allow creative teachers to incorporate Multiple Intelligences theory into the curriculum, which will in turn, reach students that have been previously excluded. But what can you do until the Common Core Standards are implemented? Enroll your student in after-school activities. For example some students are more able in the arts or sports (their strongest intelligence). The perception is that they are "extra" classes. But they're the main reason many struggling students stay focused on school.
What is Multiple Intelligences Theory?
Howard Gardener's theory of Multiple Intelligences utilizes aspects of cognitive and developmental psychology, anthropology, and sociology to explain human intellect. Although Gardener had been working towards the concept of Multiple Intelligences for many years prior, the theory was introduced in 1983, with Gardener's ground breaking book, Frames of Mind.
Gardener's research consisted of brain research and interviews with stroke victims, prodigies, and individuals with autism. Based on his findings, Gardner established eight criteria for identifying seven (he has added an eighth and ninth) separate intelligences. The eight criteria used by Gardner to identify the intelligences are listed below:
* Isolation by brain damage/neurological evidence
* The existence of prodigies, idiot savants, and exceptional individuals
* Distinguishable set of core operations
* Evolutionary history and plausibility
* Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system
* Support from experimental psychological tasks
* Support from psychometric research
For a more detailed look at these eight criteria, visit http://surfaquarium.com/MI/criteria.htm.
Originally, the theory accounted for seven separate intelligences. Subsequently, with the publishing of Gardener's Intelligence Reframed in 1999, two more intelligences were added to the list. The intelligences are Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, and Existential.
Gardner's theory challenges traditional, narrower views of intelligence. Previously accepted ideas of human intellectual capacity contend that an individual's intelligence is a fixed entity throughout her lifetime and that intelligence can be measured through an individual's logical and language abilities.This is what standardized tests focus on. According to Gardner's theory, an intelligence encompasses the ability to create and solve problems, create products or provide services that are valued within a culture or society. Listed below are the key points of Multiple Intelligences Theory:
* All human beings possess all nine intelligences in varying degrees.
* Each individual has a different profile.
* Education can be improved by assessment of the students' intelligence profiles and designing activities
accordingly.
* Each intelligence occupies a different area of the brain.
* The nine intelligences may operate in consort or independently from one another.
* These nine intelligences may define the human species.
Gardner, a Professor of Education at Harvard University, and other researchers and educators continue to work towards a more holistic approach to education through Project Zero. For more information on the projects and research in Project Zero, visit the website at http://www.pz.harvard.edu
Although the theory was not originally designed for use in a classroom application, it has been widely embraced by educators and enjoyed numerous adaptations in a variety of educational settings.Teachers have always known that students had different strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. Gardner's theory was able to articulate that and provide direction as to how to improve a student's ability in any given intelligence. The Common Core State Standards are just standards, so educators can design curriculum based on both the academic standards and Multiple Intelligences.
Choose an extracurricular activity with the Multiple Intelligences in mind. Listed below is a brief description of each intelligence.
* Verbal/Linguistic - Strengths include writing, reading, memorizing dates, thinking in words, telling stories.
* Mathematical/ Logical - Strengths include math, logic, problem-solving, reasoning, patterns.
* Visual/Spatial - Strengths include maps, reading, charts, puzzles, imagining things, visualization.
* Bodily/Kinesthetic - Strengths include athletics, dancing, crafts, using tools, acting.
* Musical - Strengths include picking up sounds, remembering melodies, rhythms, singing.
* Interpersonal - Strengths include leading, organizing, understanding people, communicating, resolving
conflicts, selling.
* Intrapersonal - Strengths include recognizing strengths and weaknesses, setting goals, understanding self.
* Naturalistic - Strengths includes understanding nature, making distinctions, identifying flora and fauna.
* Existential - Strengths include ethnics, humanity, sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about
human existence.
EXTRACURRICULAR activities help children learn more themselves, develop new skills, and contribute to their community. It is important that parents help their child focus on a "nonacademic" path to success. While not all children excel academically, after-school activities present opportunities to become world class at something.
Extracurricular activities such as dance or sports not only bolster children's health, they also foster good habits for a lifetime, and motivate students to focus on school. Here's some advice on helping your student choose an extracurricular activity:
Listen to your child. The right age to start an activity depends entirely upon your child. One size does not fit all. Even toddlers, who in an imagination stage developmentally, may gain confidence from theater programs for preschoolers.
Don't overload. Be aware of an activity's time commitment. Many sports require daily practice, plus obligations for tournaments, fundraising or celebrations. It's important to allow for downtime too.
Consider cost. Some activities are more costly than others and may require lessons, uniforms, costumes, or travel. Ask questions to avoid unexpected budget-breaking expenses. For budget-friendly options, explore community recreation centers, boys and girls clubs, houses of worship, or other groups such as 4-H, and of course talk to other parents for their ideas.
Find volunteer opportunities. The opportunities are endless, a few examples include libraries, hospitals, and food banks.
Let your student/child experiment. Give your child the freedom to explore and discover multiple joy-inducing activities. Don't insist on your child finishing an activity if it's clear, even after just two weeks, that's it's not a good match. Take seriously the child's opinion. Eventually, children will find an interest in which they can shine.
Extracurricular are so important because that is where children can find out who they are in the world. And without extracurricular activities students might not concentrate on school. Research shows that there's a link between high quality arts education and strong educational outcomes. Although there's no research on whether extracurricular activities improve student performance, any teacher or parent, can tell you that once they get a taste of success in whatever activity it spills over into other academic work.
On a final note, the arts and many other extracurricular activities give ideas life and power!
Sincerely,
Debra
Friday, September 6, 2013
Habits Of The Mind Standards -- 5 habits that empower students
I learned about the "Habits of the Mind" from Deborah Meier, a former kindergarten teacher, founder of the Central Park East Schools, fellow at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, and she is leading various efforts to reinvent public schools across the country. She is currently principal of the Mission Hill School in Boston. I use these "habits" in every aspect of teaching and learning. The "habits" should be internalized by every student and used no matter what they are studying about both in school and especially out of it!
Habits Of The Mind Standards
Evidence - How do you know that? Facts to base claim? Proof?
Perspective - Whose point of view? Who said it and why?
Supposition - Hypothesizing - What if?
Connections - What patterns? How related?
Relevance - Who cares? Why is that important?
Knowing and learning take on importance only when we are convinced it matters, it makes a difference. Having a good mind and being well-educated don't always seem important to young people. It matters because it will help us get ahead, get into a good college, hold a well-paying job. But that's not the whole story! It will also help save the world! I know that sounds kind of corny. But it's also true.
It's important to be able to stand alone, to take personal responsibility. But it's also important to be able to work with others - to collaborate. That means not forgetting our family, our friends, and our community as we gain success in life. Young people are in a lot of conflict between their ambitions, their compassion for others and their loyalties to family and friends. That's where they need you - their parents. There is no greater wisdom on relevant issues. And you can help your child to learn to analyze and think for themselves by integrating the Habits of the Mind questions into parenting.
You can read more about the Habits of the Mind and how Deborah Meier has transformed democratic education in her book, The Power of Their Ideas.
Best,
Debra
Habits Of The Mind Standards
Evidence - How do you know that? Facts to base claim? Proof?
Perspective - Whose point of view? Who said it and why?
Supposition - Hypothesizing - What if?
Connections - What patterns? How related?
Relevance - Who cares? Why is that important?
Knowing and learning take on importance only when we are convinced it matters, it makes a difference. Having a good mind and being well-educated don't always seem important to young people. It matters because it will help us get ahead, get into a good college, hold a well-paying job. But that's not the whole story! It will also help save the world! I know that sounds kind of corny. But it's also true.
It's important to be able to stand alone, to take personal responsibility. But it's also important to be able to work with others - to collaborate. That means not forgetting our family, our friends, and our community as we gain success in life. Young people are in a lot of conflict between their ambitions, their compassion for others and their loyalties to family and friends. That's where they need you - their parents. There is no greater wisdom on relevant issues. And you can help your child to learn to analyze and think for themselves by integrating the Habits of the Mind questions into parenting.
You can read more about the Habits of the Mind and how Deborah Meier has transformed democratic education in her book, The Power of Their Ideas.
Best,
Debra
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