Your response should include:
- 2 concepts that strike you as important or significant and your reasons why.
- 1 concern or question about how the chapter content applies to you or in your classroom OR comment constructively on someone else's post.
Chapter 3
Please provide your responses to Chapter 3 here. Please take some time to read through everybody's responses.
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1. "individuals learn best when they are in a context that provides a moderate challenge" (p.33)
ReplyDelete2. "Children already come to us differentiated. It just makes sense that we would differentiate our instruction in response to them." (p.42)
I enjoyed this chapter. I am into the brain research and think it is only just beginning. We can't assume all students are square pegs. Figure 3.2 is great. I did laugh when I read the first sentence of the fourth Educational Practice in the What We Often Do column ~ some of us spent hours "unpacking" the standards and writing pacing guides. So, I will continue reading and thinking about 2014-15 and how to best use What We Know.
~Laura
1. We are not born “smart” or “not smart.” It takes hard work, dedication, and motivation to bring about changes. This applies to the student and the teacher. In researching for my school news article, I have seen this relatively new development discussed in several studies.
ReplyDelete2. In the section “The Struggle for Equity and Excellence,” the author states that “too many of today’s students come to school from homes where support for academic success is in short supply.” She goes on to discuss this a bit. Sometimes, since we are a private school, we may not think that many of our students do in fact come to school with baggage. I think it takes some time for the load of that baggage to lighten and for the student to get into the right frame of mind for school. Nowadays, this weighs heavily on my mind.
- I agree with you Laura about figure 3.2!
*CindyF
The new "brain research" is very interesting. The author notes that we can grow and strengthen our brains just as we grow and strengthen our muscles. Intelligence is not fixed at birth. When providing a child with a rich learning experience their ability can multiply. Students who come to school with a limited learning experience can make up the difference with rich experiences in their classrooms. (page 32) I find this so uplifting. Through this research I also learned that we all learn best with a MODERATE CHALLENGE and if the task is far too difficult, the learner feels threatened and will not persist with solving the problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with CindyF that our students come to school with a lot of baggage. I also think that teachers come to school with their own baggage. It will take a while to lighten their load in order to have academic success for all their students.
*Lana
That is so true Lana. Not only do the students come to school with a lot of baggage, but so do the teachers. We are ALL unique individuals and it is important to remember that when we are in school for seven hours a day five days a week. Good point!
DeleteAmy
Right on Laura and Cindy F!
ReplyDelete1. The Calvin and Hobbes cartoon is a powerful statement about many practices. The "fish out of water" and several other frames remind me of the "Animal School" video we have watched together. The student differences are right there before my eyes - what am I going to do about it?
2. pg 34 "for learning to continue, students must understand that hard work is required and have confidence that hard work generally leads to success." I think this is an important part of the equation - the expectation that effort is an essential responsibility for every successful student.
I feel that somehow we as a teaching community will need time to share in a meaningful way how we are adjusting and to receive knowledgeable feedback about steps forward.
~ Cindy C.
Teachers need to ensure students are appropriately challenged from their entry point. They need to help students understand and become increasingly involved in the attitudes, practices, and habits of mind that contribute to positive brain development. Vigorous learning literally changes the physiology of the brain. Neurons grow and develop when they are used actively and they atrophy when they are not used.
ReplyDeleteTeachers need to know all of their students and their learning needs so they can provide differentiated opportunities for their students.
Students who feel threatened or insecure downshift into a self-protection mode which hinders learning. I think this is occurring with some of our students who are frequently absent.
Pat
`educators must provide many opportunities for varied learners to make sense of varied information.." This chapter highlighted our need to remember that all of our students have different past experiences.
ReplyDeleteOne way to help students get new experiences and be able to connect on more levels is to make use of virtual field trips, online camera such as fish cams and panda cams at zoos and other places. Last year I gave everyone the chance to experience pumpkins by bringing them in and letting them play with them. If we want to teach a lesson we should make sure the kids have the background information needed and if not we can provide it!
Secondly, we categorize students. Even though they are constantly changing, fluid creatures. They grow and can change day to day so we need to be prepared to take that on.
Like Lana and Cindy said, students come to us with baggage, problems, are absent, etc. We need to remember not to categorize them for these problems and not put all the blame on whatever it is, whether it be "oh his parents are going through a divorce, so I cant reach him and that's why he is failing." NO. That is not the answer. If a child is in a tough spot, misses a lot of school, etc. than we need to take the extra step to ensure they are still being reached and challenged.
-Brianna
The one piece of this chapter I thought was significant was under Intelligence is Variable. The 3 conclusions are a wonderful guide for us to help us prepare to teach our students. We think, learn and create in different ways.
ReplyDeleteThe development of our potential is affected by the match between what we are asked to learn and how we are able to apply our particular abilities to the process of learning.
Learners need opportunities to discover and develop their abilities in a range of intelligence areas.(pg.31)
Moderate challenges are the best. Background knowledge is essential to learning and we are seeing more and more students who don't have the experiences that provide that knowledge, so we need to provide it.
I found the Figure3.2 to be right on in a lot of areas.
Grouping must be flexible, but we need time to assess and keep moving these students to where they need to be to make them successful. Scantron can be helpful in this area.
Chris
Overall I thought this chapter was very interesting about the science of the brain and the impact that learning has on it.
ReplyDeleteOn pg. 32 the book stated: "The brain learns best when it can make its own sense out of information rather than when information is imposed on it" This goes along with what Brianna had mentioned above about making experiences real for our students. I am constantly telling my 4th and 5th grade social studies classes I know it is hard to learn about a bunch of dead white guys but I try to make the lessons fun and engaging so that they understand how history has shaped us as a country.
The other piece that really hit home for me in this chapter was on pg. 40 when it said, "we assign the most vulnerable students to the newest or most discouraged teachers...." This resonated with me because I felt that encompassed my first year teaching in DC. I was a first year placed in a classroom that had 24 students, eight of which were classified "special-ed" I had no idea how to reach those students and you could see the frustration on their faces and mine on a daily basis. We need to take into account that these are developing human beings and they are individuals who deserve the best education despite their short comings.
Amy