Allowing Students to Choose Their Own Path

As we are deep into our second year of OTES at Lancaster High School, one of the areas I find increasingly difficult for secondary teachers is to consistently differentiate.  We all understand the importance and we all know the value in meeting students where they are and taking them where they need to go.  However, with rosters of 150 plus students this becomes challenging and overwhelming to sustain with regularity.

That being said, I have seen teachers successfully differentiating by using student choice.  At the high school level (and likely all levels) engagement has become the golden egg.  If we can engage them, we can teach them!  I hear it all the time and in every teacher meeting I attend.  In my opinion, Readiness + Interest = Engagement.  With this in mind, I have seen several of our teachers using modified versions of Learning Menus and Choice Boards to successfully differentiate and engage students.

Chris DiTammoso does an excellent job of creating a variety of  opportunities for students to demonstrate learning through the use of folders in Schoology.  This may be a bit over simplified but generally speaking this is how it works.  Mr. D has the students complete a formative assessment.  Once completed the students are immediately given their score.  With this score, they are directed to a corresponding folder in Schoology.  Mr. D has created these folders based on varying levels of mastery and with a variety of learning styles in mind.  Lower performing students are directed to a folder that contains activities that will review, practice, or remediate skills and concepts from the unit.  Higher performing students are directed to a folder that contains activities that will refine, extend or strengthen understanding of the topics.  Each folder contains different types of activities.  Some require the students to chart, retell, write, summarize, create or even illustrate.  The beauty is that the students get to choose and the activities all allow the student to demonstrate mastery of the learning targets.  Often this allows disengaged students to make connections and others get a chance to see the learning target from a new perspective.

When students choose based on an interest, we often see them demonstrate more grit and they are more willing to persevere.  The secret is to find the sweet spot between what is challenging and also interesting.  It may seem terrifying as a teacher to have this many types of assignments to grade and to have quality control over a vast variety of products.  I'd say it is a problem worth having!  If you have been in my office you may have seen a diagram that I keep posted that shows this visually.  Student Choice is a great way to differentiate and also Engage students!

"Choice Boards"

I recently experienced this idea of student choice from a parent perspective.  Scott Naypauer, 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Thomas Ewing, had given my daughter an assignment.  The requirement was to choose 3 "mini-projects" from a large list of possibilities.  The list was controlled by Mr. Naypauer, but included models, posters, diaries, written responses and many more options.  To be honest, as a parent I looked at the list and was hoping Riley would choose the "easiest" or those that required no trips to the store!  Instead, I could see her carefully reading each one and she selected three not based on their difficulty level or amount of time required, but instead based on which ones she thought were going to be the most fun and those that obviously fit her learning style.  She researched, planned, created and designed three projects that were all extremely well done and most importantly fun for her.  There were no pep talks to keep busy. Actually, the exact opposite!  We had to ask her to stop working.  The level of commitment and interest was through the roof.  The engagement was there because she had chosen the projects.  The fact is that she may have been the only student in the class to choose that combination of projects.  All students were given the opportunity to select their own way to demonstrate their mastery of the learning and they chose their own path!

Tips for Creating Learning Menus / Choice Boards / Personal Learning Products

1.  Have a clear learning criteria (align with your targets)

2.  Limit the options to what you feel is a manageable number

3.  Caring makes all the difference!  Select choices that are meaningful and interesting to the students.  If you find this to be difficult...just ask the students for ideas!


Here is a link to some great ideas for creating and using Learning Menus in the classroom!

Learning Menus Video

The Power of Students' Questions

  

Initially, the intention of this post was to inform and share teachers’ questioning techniques and examples of teachers using questioning to get students to think critically.  However, as I walked around the building and observed our teachers and students, I found myself surprisingly impressed with the questions our STUDENTS were asking.  I was in several classrooms where the students seemed to be invited to challenge the teacher.  Not in a negative way at all, but instead in a way that led to high levels of engagement and amazing conversations.  This was evidence that sometimes the questions are as valuable the answers.

The students in our classrooms today have more knowledge than ever and because of technology their collective knowledge is more evident and accessible.  Those of us that have young children or have been in primary classrooms know that children are bursting with questions.  So what happens in high school that makes some of them stop asking?  Are they no longer curious? Research also shows that high school students today are even less comfortable asking questions than just a few years ago.  In 2010, 69% of HS students agreed that they felt comfortable asking questions in class. In 2014, that number had fallen to only 63%.  For some teachers, I think it is important for us to switch our questioning strategies around.  To promote deep learning, remember that students’ questions matter most.  There is a valuable place for teacher questioning, but sometimes teachers ask questions that students can answer without much original thought.   It is important to remember that our current high school students have never lived without Google!  It is a way of life to them.  Our questions don't always make them think critically.

Why don’t students ask questions?

If the first troops that hit the beach get mowed down, no one will follow!  Be careful how you respond to the first troops!  For many of our students, high school is risky! Some students don’t want to be seen as dumb.  Others don’t want to seem too interested or excited about school.  Sometimes even our strong students don’t know how to ask good questions.  It often takes time and practice for students to hone their own questioning skills.

What do our students' questions tell us?

The purpose of teacher questioning is to guide instruction, diagnose confusions and determine understanding.  Student questions can have the same purpose.  Students questions…

• Provide formative assessment data that helps adjust instruction.

• Increases curiosity, self-motivation and engagement.

• Isolate student confusion and force students to articulate those confusions.

What do our teachers have to say?

Ideas from our staff on how they encourage student questioning:

Ashlin Henderson - English Department

We teach reading strategies called "Notice and Note." The students have to look for "signposts" that will help them analyze a text. When they find these signposts, they have to answer an "anchor question" that will lead them to analyze. One of the signposts is Tough Questions. The anchor question is, "What does this question make me wonder about?" Most of the time they come up with their own questions, usually about foreshadowing, like, "what will happen to this character," or "what will happen next in the story?" Instead of me asking them those questions, they formulate them with this reading strategy.

Jeff Wells - Science Department

For my STEM Physical Science, I am attempting a flipped-classroom model where I post lecture videos on Schoology.  Below each video, I've placed a Google form where students can send me questions as they watch the lecture (see image below).  I then can answer those questions for the entire class the next school day.

Allyson Strong - Intervention Specialist

I pretend to be the "forgetful teacher" from the previous day/lesson.  I have the students in my English Skills and Co-Teaching practice asking me the same questions.  I find that the students do remember my reading comprehension questions from the day before.  However, they end up making up questions on their own, which is exactly what I wanted them to do!

After reading a story, I have students pretend to ask the hero (protagonist) or antagonist in the story a question.  I have students write questions down on a post it note while they read, or draw it out on a Screen Chomp (cartoon).

Thanks for reading and sharing.  Next month, we will focus on student self-assessment.  I already have some great ideas from Marvin, Fish and Kinniard.  Let me know if you have ideas you want to share on student self-assessment.  Keep doing what you do to FIP our school and make this a great place!

This month's post features an article written by LHS Staff Member, Ashlin Henderson.  The article was originally featured in AdLIT  (Adolescent Literacy in Perspective, Feb 2015).  It is very exciting to see the impact Ashlin is having on her students and also the teaching profession.  As I always say, our greatest resources are the great people in our own building.  Thanks Ashlin!

When Teaching Reading Goes Digital

by Ashlin E. Henderson

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Introduction

When I first started teaching English at Lancaster High School in 2008, all the technology I had was a chalkboard, an overhead projector, and a desktop computer I shared with another teacher. At the time, I had no idea where we would be in just five years. Now every student and teacher has an iPad, and I cannot imagine teaching like I did six years ago. As an English teacher and avid reader, of course I love reading from a physical book, but most students today don't feel that way. Digital texts make learning so much more interactive for students; I think they feel more a part of the story.

eTech Grant and the TPACK Model

In 2011, three other English teachers and I wrote a grant to receive money for technology in our classrooms through eTech Ohio. The Transforming Teaching and Learning Grant allowed all four of us the use of class sets of iPads, which in turn led to 1:1 iPads at our school two years later. eTech was extremely instrumental in our launch of technology because it gave us multiple professional development opportunities about how to incorporate technology. I would definitely not be as successful if it wasn't for the professional development offered.

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, or TPACK, model is one of the first things we learned about through our professional development. At first, we were concerned that we had not picked the technology for our school before we started researching how to use technology in the classroom. What we did not understand at the time is that it's not about what technology you have; it's about using the technology after you use the content standards to plan your lessons. We discovered that you need to start with the standards and then work toward incorporating technology. Teachers of every grade level and subject can use the TPACK model when designing lessons.

If you are not familiar with the TPACK model, it is "a framework that identifies the knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology" (Koehler, 2011). The model essentially combines three types of knowledge a teacher has: content, pedagogy, and technology. Teachers have to use all three for a lesson to be effective. Of course, all teachers, whether using technology or not, think about their content and how they're going to teach it. Now that students need twenty-first-century skills, teachers need to also bring in technology. The best way to use the TPACK model is to first come up with the content standards that you want to teach. Then you think about how you want to convey the information. Lastly, you choose the technology, and in my case, apps or web 2.0 tools, that allows your students to show they understand the content.

Planning Lessons

When I first started planning lessons on the iPad, I found that the easiest thing to do was an obvious one—use the online textbook that had been included as an option with the textbooks we had bought in 2008 (even though we didn't have iPads then!). Since our textbook had an online feature, we were able to access it with the iPad, and so students didn't have to bring their books to class anymore.

You would not believe the increased engagement of my students! They actuallywanted to read because they were so excited about the new technology. Little did they know (it seemed) that we were doing the exact same thing we were doing before the iPad. Eventually the newness did wear off some, but I'm still finding that the students are more engaged than they would be otherwise. Students can actually interact with the text: They can tap a word, and it gives them the definition; they can have the text read to them with Siri or the textbook recordings; they can go to the Internet and look up something unfamiliar that is discussed in a story. These are all very effective tools for struggling readers.

I can remember one struggling reader in my class who would look up the definition of any unknown word he came across while we were reading. I was amazed because he was usually off-task. He was actually interested in the story and wanted to understand it better. Without the iPad, there is no way he would look up those words in a print dictionary. "Giving [struggling readers] the opportunity to use an iPad-based intervention can motivate learners to persevere and achieve" (Gajowski, 2014). This student wanted to do well, and it seemed to me that the iPad was his motivation.

As I became more comfortable with the iPads, I started using many apps and web 2.0 tools outside the textbook to engage the students even more.

Before Reading

All English teachers want to get their students excited about what they are about to read. One strategy that I see used in many classrooms—and one that I have used—is an anticipation guide with themes from the story. Before the iPads, I would give the students the guide on paper or would read the statements aloud while students raised their hands. Now I use the website polleverywhere.com. I input the statement, and the website lets the students vote on whether they agree or disagree with it. I have the website up on my projector so the students can actually see when other students vote. Not only does this engage the students; it also allows everyone to participate, and it gives everyone the opportunity to tell the truth since responses are anonymous.

Figure 1. You can use the website polleverywhere.com as an anticipation guide.

Another before-reading strategy is historical context. When we read To Kill a Mockingbird, the students need to understand what was happening in the setting and the time it was written. I have used multiple tools, depending on the class and time restraints. I have had students do research on a specific topic and then present their findings to the class via a Keynote presentation. My favorite tool, and students really enjoy it too, is the QR code. This does take some extra planning on the teacher's end, but it is engaging for the students. I create a web quest with QR codes that have links to websites. The students will then answer questions or do activities on the website. I have had them watch videos, summarize an article, and even draw a picture. Students learn more than they frequently would from doing this because they have to participate, and I have found that they want to because it's fun!

During Reading

There are numerous strategies I have used during reading. Summarizing, discussions, and formative assessments are the norms in any English classroom. I found that formative assessments are so much easier with the iPad. I can have the students use any whiteboard app to answer a question as we are reading, and then I can quickly see if students understand a concept by just having them raise their "board." I have also used an app called Socrative; teachers upload questions, and when the students finish the quiz, it puts the answers in a spreadsheet. Not only does this save time grading, but it lets me see quickly who does and does not understand a concept, thus allowing me to give immediate feedback.

Figure 2. Image used with permission of fodey.com

Through my research, I have found many fun and effective summarizing tools. Fodey.com is a website where students can type out a short summary, and it generates a newspaper clipping that looks similar to the one in Figure 2.

Twitter is also a tool that can be used in the classroom. It limits users to 140 characters, so students have to really think about what the most important information or events are. Marzano (2010) believes that it is important for students to "clarify what's important." By limiting students to just a few sentences or words, they have to really analyze the text to get the most pertinent information. Comic strip apps are also a way to summarize through pictures and are another Marzano strategy of "encouraging graphic representations" (Marzano, 2010). Visual learners and students who struggle with writing benefit from this strategy.

After Reading

One of my favorite apps for assessment is Songify (and I have also used AutoRap). You just speak into the app, and it auto-tunes your voice, creating a song. I had students write a song from a character's point of view. At first, students were hesitant of this lesson, but then they saw how enjoyable it was. Another one of my favorite lessons was a podcast for Romeo and Juliet. Students had to write a podcast or radio show about the setting and characters from one scene from the play. They could be creative, but they were also showing me what they learned. I have used both of these as summative assessments of reading comprehension and characterization.

Conclusion

What I have shared are just a few of the tools and apps I have used in my classroom. We need to think outside the text to really engage our students. As we plan lessons with a digital text, we have to keep in mind the TPACK model so we aren't teaching the technology (which can very easily happen!). The standards are the place to start, but reading digitally makes it more engaging for the students and actually for the teacher too! In our technologically changing world, we have to prepare students for the future. They may not be using iPads when they get out into the workforce, but it's guaranteed that they will have some kind of technology. It is our responsibility as teachers to prepare students for their future, and today they must be digitally literate to succeed.

References

Gajowski, C. (2014, April). "The iPad and Student Engagement: Is There a Connection?" Scientific Learning Corporation, retrieved fromhttp://www.scilearn.com/blog/ipads-in-schools-student-engagement-intervention.php.

Koehler, Matthew J. (2011, May 13). "What Is TPACK?" TPACK.org, accessed July 11, 2014, at http://www.matt-koehler.com/tpack/what-is-tpack/.

Marzano, Robert J. (2010, March). "The Art and Science of Teaching/ Summarizing to Comprehend." Educational Leadership, vol. 67, no. 6,http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar10/vol67/num06/Summarizing-to-Comprehend.aspx.

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Ashlin Henderson has been teaching ninth grade English for six years at Lancaster High School and has been a leader in implementing technology at LHS. She is a member of her school's Literacy Team and a cofounder and advisor of the Student Book Club. Ashlin has presented at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference and was on the Perspectives on Digital Learning in Ohio panel discussion on WOSU for Digital Learning Day 2014. Ashlin would like to thank Matthew Gillispie and Colleen Myers for their help and collaboration.

New Year's Resolutions Can Be Mid-Year Solutions

It is nice this time of year to hit the reset button.  Even if you don't make a New Year's Resolution, you still can enjoy two weeks away from the building and have the opportunity to reconnect with family, relax and gear up for the second semester.  As educators, we actually have the luxury of doing this twice a year.  For most of us, the feeling on the last day of school is much like New Year's Eve.  Additionally, the return to school in August is often  filled with new goals, plans, fresh ideas and resolutions.

With this in mind, let's use this New Year 2015, as an opportunity to head into the second half of the school year with a full head of steam and a fresh approach.  This week is filled with lists of the "Best of 2014" and "Tips for Successful Resolutions".  Instead, I have included a List of Mid Year Solutions.  These are some suggestions for things you can stop doing or start doing in the New Year.  Hopefully, you reflect, reset and continue to have a productive and satisfying school year. Happy New Year!

1.  Show and Tell
Sharing best practices has been a strength in our building for many years.  I say over and over again that our most valuable resources are our people.  Be willing to share.  Stop worrying about what other people think.  Be proud of what you do and share it with others.  It makes us ALL better when you do.

2.  Start Small and Dream Big
Even small changes can have a huge impact.  Maybe it is as simple as putting your plans on-line, starting a classroom Twitter account, or using a new feature in Schoology or Google.  Be thoughtful about your changes and try to make decisions that will not only increase your effectiveness but also your efficiency.

3.  Stop Waiting
If you have an idea or lesson you have been wanting to try, stop waiting!  Take a chance.  Time is hard to find.  If not now, when?  Give it a shot and find the time to try something new.

4.  Stop Being a Stranger
Use your TBTs!  I know we have put some increased emphasis on these meetings and tighter agendas.  Show up, share, bring data, but most importantly make these meetings work for you.  Use the time to connect with your team and be a part of something great.

5.  Stop Standing in Your Own Way
Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. We get caught up in the way we have always done things.  We get lost in our pile of papers and emails.  Set yourself up for success.

6.  Stop Thinking You Have to Get It Right the First Time!
We learn just as much from our failures as from our successes.  If you have been wanting to try a new technology tool, a flipped lesson, or some flexible grouping then go for it.  If it flops, tweak it and try again next time.

7.  Don't Be Afraid of Conflict
In many of the TBTs, I see opportunities for good discussion that often passes by because we avoid conflict.  Don't be afraid to speak up.  A professional discussion (even in discourse) will lead to making us better.  Don't be afraid to have difficult conversations.

8.  Stop Placing Blame
In many cases, we don't control what others do (students, parents, teachers or administration) but we do control how we react.  Be a positive person and put your effort into making things better for you and your students.  Placing blame on others only prevents us from focusing on the possible solutions.

9.  Remember Why you Got In This Business!
With upcoming testing, scheduling, and the inevitable winter weather, it is easy to get in a rut.  Stay focused on the positive, reflect on why you chose to be an educator.  Write a positive referral on a student, find the small successes even on bad days and tomorrow will seem a lot more manageable.

10.  Have a Great New Year and a Rewarding Rest of the School Year!  

Formative Assessment - Time Well Spent!

The last thing we want to hear these days is the word assessment.  With PARCC and OGT assessments looming it is understandable that many teachers and administrators have reached their tipping point.  However, formative assessment should continue to be given the time and emphasis it deserves.  Statewide Assessments and summative assessments are often characterized as assessment "of learning".  The value of formative assessment is that it is used "for learning."

Formative assessment delivers information during the instructional process, before the summative assessment.  Both the teacher and the student use formative assessment results to make decisions about what actions to take to promote further learning.  It is an ongoing, dynamic process that involves far more than just frequent testing.

As you make your way through the classrooms at LHS, you will see plenty of examples of good formative instructional practices.  As I asked the other administrators where they have seen some good examples, one resounding response was Mrs. McKinney and Mrs. Smith.  For those of you that don't know, Jennilee McKinney and Becky Smith use a target check process to assess student understanding, guide instruction and assign/design interventions.  This has become a formal process and a way of doing business in their classroom.  They plan around learning targets, assess the targets, and then assign remediation and intervention specific to each learning target.  This is done on a daily and weekly basis.  It is safe to say, Jennilee and Becky are the Queens of Formative Assessment!

Target Check

Extra Practice for Learning Target (with a pass to Math Lab)

One of the greatest benefits to formative assessment is the students' ability to gauge their own understanding and receive feedback.  Corey Conn often does an entrance and exit ticket for a unit.  This allows him to gauge the level of student understanding before he begins a unit.  At the conclusion of the topic/target/unit, the students complete the same "exit ticket" and it creates an opportunity for both Corey and the students to see how far they have come.  Good job Corey - we'll keep buying the post-its if you keep using them!

Before and After Post-its (Pre/Post Unit on Amendments)

If you are looking for a change up to how you informally assess students or structure your question/answer sessions, Laura Julien uses Screen Chomp.  The students can use their iPad as a whiteboard and can respond to her questions.  It is quick and easy and can be done in a review situation or as a way to gather daily feedback on the day's learning target.

The benefits to formative assessment are obvious. Research supports it, but more importantly the practices of our own teachers support it.  It helps students and teachers in the following ways:

1)  Formative Assessment establishes where learners are in their learning.

2)  Formative Assessment establishes where they are going.

3)  Formative Assessment establishes how to get there.

These are only a few examples.  Take the time to use formative assessment and share your knowledge, data and questions with your TBT.  Some of our best resources are the teachers next door.  Thanks for all you do.

Increasing student learning by creating Engaging Work!

Have you ever seen one of our students performing outside your classroom?  Has their aptitude, ability and effort ever surprised you?  It happens to me all the time.  Often I see students that struggle behaviorally or academically but excel in our Career Tech programs.  Obviously, it isn't hard to figure out why.  They are interested, find value in the work and are engaged in the work.

 So what do we do in the classroom to increase engagement?  What does engagement look like?  Too often we view compliance as engagement.  Kids working and sitting quietly in their seats does not always mean they are engaged.  In fact, many times the opposite is true.  Also, be careful not to mistake entertained students with engaged students.  In order for our students to be engaged, we as teachers, need to provide them with engaging work.  Mr. Conrad and I recently attended a conference by Phil Schlechty.  He believes there are four components that are always present when a student is engaged:

1.  The engaged student is attentive.
2.  The engaged student is committed.  He or she voluntarily puts in time and resources on a task.
3.  The engaged student is persistent. He or she sticks with the task even when it is difficult.
4.  The engaged student finds meaning and value in the tasks that make up the work.

I visited Jeri Hartley and Megan Kovach's classroom today.  As I sat in the room and observed, many of these ideas began to run through my head.  They have created an environment in which the focus wasn't on the teacher.  The focus has been placed on the work.  Isn't that where the focus should be?  On the work!  Which should lead to increased learning!

Mrs. Hartley and Ms. Kovach today were using games to review and formatively assess student understanding.  They did a target check and gathered informal data throughout the lesson.  At one point, I heard a student say, "I like doing it this way, it is fun!"  Mrs. Hartley's replied, "We could sit and get it on a worksheet, but I like doing it this way too!"  The students weren't in straight rows, doing a worksheet and being compliant (which is okay sometimes).  Instead, they were having fun, working diligently and enjoying the learning environment the teachers had created.  It was obvious, Jeri and Megan have been working on the work and their students are reaping the benefits.

Engaging activities should not be reserved for only our higher level courses and students.  In fact, I think most of us would agree that some of our lower performing students may need it the most.  Great job ladies!  Keep up the good work!  We have many teachers in this building doing extraordinary things with kids.  I truly believe that if we capture their hearts their minds will follow.  Continue to build rapport and make LHS a great place for student achievement.

Building Rapport to Engage and Motivate Students

How does a teacher maintain positive relationships with students while still keeping classroom management a priority?  It takes a delicate attention to maintaining each student's respect toward the teacher.

Throughout our building we watch our effective teachers use rapport to uphold respect in their classroom and refocus their students.  For some, it is intuitive to use verbal cues, non-verbal cues, and proximity. Others have to work at it, but they make the effort and it shows.  Each strategy they employ is respectful, non-confrontational and allows students to maintain their dignity.

Nearly every day I see Kory Swartz sitting in the hallway eating his lunch with a student by his side.  This isn't something he has to do.  I am not sure how it is arranged and I don't ask, but I am sure it goes a long way in motivating the student and I am sure the next day class goes a little better for both Kory and the student.  I am sure it could easily be called a lunch detention, but it is not and should not.  Take a look around and see what goes on in our halls that maybe you have been missing.  Keep it up Kory.

Students recognize when we take a genuine interest in them and their success.  Often times we may be the only ones that offer assistance or offer a helping hand.  The relationships we build with students are different.  They are working relationships that take on varying roles in our lives and theirs.  Even with the students that don't want to be in class or we may not have a lot in common with, we can still find common ground and keep the lines of communication open about our class and subject area.  Often times, the communication opens up and relationships begin to build when we offer our time and give them respect to meet them where they are.  I popped in Math Lab today and saw Faith Spires working with two students.  These are not her kids, but she was passionately working with them and they were tackling their assignments together.  This may have been the first time they have been to Math Lab, but I am sure they won't see it as a bad thing if they have to go back.  Thanks for the personal touch Faith.  Our students are in good hands.

We have several new teachers and as we went through the interview process our new science teachers (Greg Leasure and Mont Goss) came shining through to me because of their genuine desire to work with kids.  They both emphasized the need for rapport with their students.  I happened to catch Mr. Goss today discussing glucose with his students.  He is very comfortable in his own skin and not afraid to be silly.  His excitement and passion is evident.  Putting yourself out there and eliminating some of the natural barriers between students and teachers is a great way to build relationships in the classroom.  It has nothing to do with losing respect.  Instead it has everything to do with mutual respect.  Show them you will work with them and students often will follow.  Great Job Mr. Goss.

The relationships and rapport we have with our students at LHS is what makes this building great.  Do what you can to be the reason a student comes to school.

Thanks