During the presentation at the Courage To Risk Conference last Friday, as I’ve incorporated for many years, I talked about the five basic needs as defined Dr. William Glasser. Dr. Glasser, probably most noted for his book Schools Without Failure, believed that the five basic needs of fun, power, security, belonging and freedom must be addressed in our classrooms in order for learning to be optimized and students to be engaged and motivated to learn. Making sure these needs are met in the classrooms is a central pillar to Denver Academy’s educational approach.
Eric Jensen, interviewed recently on the Whole Child Podcast (1/7/10) and author of numerous books on learning and brain, has extensively researched the neurological needs that must be addressed for the brain to be primed and maximized for learning. In the interview Mr. Jensen says, “Humans learn in an integrated fashion…if the emotions are not right, the cognition is not right, if the body is not right, the cognition is not right, if the social role isn’t right, the cognition won’t be right.”
When you take a close look at all the moving parts that are in play when it comes to teaching, when you deeply examine the intricacies and complexities that are present in the various learning profiles that our students present, teaching really is rocket science. A lesson plan and an objective is just part of the equation; the other elements that Glasser and Jensen bring to the conversation are equally important.
Leading a tour around our campus today with a visiting student-teacher from a nearby college, I stopped in the Progressive High School. In a Geometry class we talked with a student who was intensely engaged in an activity that involved poster board, scissors, tape, and colored markers. Upon asking her what she was learning the student said, without any other prompt, ““You see, what we are doing here is directly feeling the lines, cutting through the paper, so we actually know what architects do and feel when they are designing, measuring angles and building models.”
Learning by doing and feeling.
Things I’ve learned in 15 years of actively collecting used poetry books.
· Buy outside of focus area if seller doesn’t know the value of the book, business is closing, unnoticed signed or mis-priced book.
· These books can be used for trade or re-selling to add value to your collection.
I recently heard Dr. Ned Hallowell, author and ADHD expert, describe the New Digital Media as a societal behavior modification experiment that none of us volunteered for. The speed of information has been steadily turned up over the last 10 years and we have in turn tried to keep up. Mail is no longer delivered once or twice a day by a mail carrier; it now arrives every single minute of the day delivered digitally to our inboxes.
Upon hearing this, my mind immediately turned to our students. If I am often overwhelmed with the speed of information (as I answer three emails, six more appear), I wonder how this seemingly relentless bombardment of information is impacting students’ attention and learning. How is this influencing their ability to prioritize and make decisions about what is important in meeting learning objectives and what just needs to be deleted?
As recent publications by the MacArthur Foundation and GoodWork Projects have stated, New Digital Media (NDM) – social networking, cell phones, video games, as well as the Internet – is not a fad. It is a game changer that is having an undeniable impact on our learning environments. So how can we harness this new and powerful force in order to have that impact support learning?
A question that rises to the top for me is how can we best utilize NDM in our classrooms?
The tools of the NDM must of course be balanced with the core reason we got into this profession in the first place: spending face-to-face time with students teaching and learning. As John Naisbitt wrote in 1982, the more “high tech” humans have, the more “high touch” humans want. In our classrooms we must balance screen time with teacher time.
I’ve heard stories of students sleeping with their cell phones under their pillows in order not to miss a status update; this balance is more critical than ever. Our classrooms can be those places where students (and teachers) disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other through lesson plans that make time to read student writing aloud, discuss books that are being read in the workshop and brainstorming ideas together on how to mindfully take the next steps that will create a balanced learning environment of high tech and high touch.
More information:
www.drhallowell.com
“Learning: Peering Backward and Looking Forward in the Digital Era.” Margaret Weigel, Carrie James and Howard Gardner. International Journal of Learning and Media, March 2009. (http://www.goodworkproject.org)
“Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project.” The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning, November 2008. (http://www.macfound.org)
Naisbitt, John. Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives. New York: Warner Books, 1982. (http://www.naisbitt.com)
The creation, even momentarily, of a figurative campfire in the classroom that the tribe of students, teachers and elders gather around is where important stories are told and retold and remembered.
OK; that might be an overstatement.
Well, it is an overstatement.
The possibilities of ITunes and digital media continue to fascinate me. I recently discovered the ITunesU feature at the Apple ITunes Store link. Schools like Harvard, Yale and others are posting entire courses of lectures to download for free called "open courses."
This past week I’ve been (virtually) attending Dr. Bloom’s Introduction to Psychology class. Over 20 hours of an engaging lecture with great anecdotes and illuminating facts; I’ve mostly been listening while working out or driving in the car. There is even a feature where you can access the visuals of the lecture on-line. Next week I’ll be auditing a course at MIT on comparative media studies.
Students in the middle and high school at Denver Academy used a variety of critical thinking tools to reflect on President Obama’s “Back To School” speech. Previous commanders-in-chief, President Reagan in 1998 and President Bush in 1991, have given similar speeches but this is clearly the first of the digital age.
In the digital landscape of a flatter classroom the immediate availability of the President’s remarks present both challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning. Without appropriate learning tools in place and an anchor to the bigger educational mission of the school, viewing the President’s speech could be seen as a waste of valuable classroom time. From my observations in classrooms this morning at Denver Academy, the lessons the teachers created around the speech were thought-provoking, promoted comprehension, enhanced critical thinking skills and supported DA’s mission statement.
Many students were marking up copies of the speech as they were listening and watching the Mr. Obama speak. On hand-outs that teachers prepared, students were practicing a during-reading comprehension technique called “Code the Text." With pens, pencils or highlighters, students mark (or code) the text using a variety of symbols. For example, what is interesting, negative or positive about the content they are reading. The students then use this information during future discussions or writing assignments.
I was most impressed by the thinking guide created by Gayle Bell, a high school teacher in Core Knowledge HS. Using the language of Dr. Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats, Gayle created a questionnaire for students to work on during and after the speech (highlights of document below). After the students completed answering the questions, Gayle led a classroom discussion using the thinking hats as prompts. The students used their responses to the questionnaire to support their contributions during the discussion. Another teacher, using the same document, structured her lesson using Think/Pair/Share; during this activity, groups of 2 or 3 students completed the questionnaire together and then participated in an all-group discussion.
With the proliferation of digital media and the daily bombardment of information, even the president has a Twitter account, teaching critical thinking skills is more critical than ever.
President Obama Speaks to American Students
In a 6 Hats Guide
Directions: Use your viewing of the speech as well as a copy of the prepared text to help you complete this guide.
White Hat – Pure Facts
List 3 points that President Obama made in his speech:
Green Hat – Creative
PMI: List one positive, one minus, and one interesting from the speech.
Positive:
Minus:
Interesting:
What would happen if every student that heard this speech did exactly what President Obama urged them to do?
Black Hat – Critical Thinking
List at least 3 pros and 3 cons (positives and negatives) of President Obama addressing American students.
Yellow Hat – Constructive Thinking
What are some possible positive outcomes of the speech?
Why are some people so excited about the speech?
Red Hat – Emotions and Hunches
OPV: Why do you think some people are so opposed to this speech?
What is your reaction to the speech? What emotions or opinions has it sparked in you?
Blue Hat – Metacognitive
What is the overall message that you are taking away from the speech?
Dear Banana, my son loves you green,Unripe and slightly tough, or he won’t eatA bite, but you taste too sour for me.Dear Banana, my wife loves you degraded,Bruised and black, but I think you’re taintedWith botulism. I taste death and danger.Dear Banana, my family, my beloved bunch, can be such strangers.
Most folks remember the film for the florid dancing scenes,John Travolta’s white suit, and the Bee Gees’ harmonies.My young students think it is a musical comedyBecause the soundtrack resonates with old school disco.But what about the rage, suicide, rape, and loss of hope?The film teaches us that Americans become heroesOnly when they faithlessly escape their ancestral homes.
How many planets do you want to destroy?Don’t worry, Daddy, this is just a big toy,And there is nothing more fun than making noise.My sons, when I was a boy, I threw dirt clodsAnd snow grenades stuffed with hidden rocks, and foughtEnemies—other Indian boys—who thought,Like me, that joyful war turned us into gods.
Who’s the drum group? Northern Cree! Those rock starIndians wear cowboy hats. Who’s that old manDancer? That’s Everybody’s Uncle! His scarsHave secret names. Damn, there are more RVsThan teepees. Damn, there are so many whiteFolks, but that ain’t wrong. We’ll let them dance,Intertribally, to every seventh song.More information about Sherman Alexie at his official website: www.fallspart.com