AVReading Newsletter February Using More Tools

 

I take comfort in the knowledge that there is not a “cure-all” to approaching reluctant or resisting students.  It allows me a measure of grace when that one tool I use doesn’t work all the time.  Some students respond to threats that you will call home, or to being removed from the classroom or written up.  However, that tool is largely ineffective if teachers rely solely on it or other similar punitive measures.  In some cases, they seem extreme in light of the relatively small offense that the student has committed, like talking out of turn, using foul language,  leaving a mess in the back of the classroom, showing up late, being “disrespectful”, refusing to put away the phone, or simply not doing their work. Without nuance to your approach, students begin to feel as though every offense is punishable by removal or detention.  

                  Some tools can be used outside the classroom, like calling families, consulting mentors, and talking with administrators and case managers.  But there are a broad array of in-class steps that can be taken as well.  For example, establishing the culture of a classroom is important.  It involves a lot of little things like being organized or having a clean, well-decorated room.  Meet and greet students at the door.  Allow for time at the beginning of the period to play and build relationships.  Give students some agency and voice in what they do within the classroom. Create a sense of community. And make learning relevant to students.  For the most part, choices like these will create a culture within your classroom where the vast majority of your students will choose to engage instead of disrupt. 

Still, there are those who will resist or who feel as though they are outsiders.  For them, you will need even more tools within the classroom.  Here are a few that you might consider.    

Seating Charts.  I wish that I could simply allow students to sit where they wanted, but (at least at the start of the term) this is not a good choice.  Not only do seating charts allow for some social engineering, but they help me to break up toxic combinations of students.  I like that the big “mix-up” enables students to meet people they might not normally meet-- or learn to deal with students slightly different from them.  I typically mix things up every three or four weeks, and coincide the switch with a turn-over in inquiry units / projects.  I like to use the randomizer to assign the seat, and then I look over the arrangement to adjust for combinations of students that look like trouble.  To expedite a seating chart change, I post them on paper at the front of the room and direct students towards the chart as they enter the room.  Then I follow up at the start of class to help those who struggle with the chart and to be sure everyone has made it to the right spot.  

What Will It Take.   This is a technique that I got from Brian Mendler’s Discipline with Dignity.  I like to use this as a phase two intervention.  In other words, I have had a number of conversations with students about a given choice they are making, and yet I am not getting the desired change.  “What will it take,” is a conversation I have with students when things are about to reach some type of breaking point.  It is important to know that this is a conversation you have with a student individually.  This should not be something that happens in front of other students. It goes like this.  Tell the student what you have observed.  Tell them that you would like to see them make better choices.  Then ask them what it will take to bring about that change.  There will be times when they will actually have a good response.  However,  they usually will begin with “I don’t know.”  So I give them options:  will it take a quick stroll up and down the hall for five minutes, will it take a call home, or a change in the seating arrangement?  Then restate the question, “What will it take?  I need you to tell me because if you continue to make this choice, we will have to find other ways to help you do so. So what will it take?”    Of course, the student usually chooses the least painful option, but it does give them some sense of agency and it does let them know that the situation is becoming more serious.  

Ignoring the Next Thing.  Calling out a student’s bad choice is very tricky.  Through the years, I’ve learned a few important lessons about the dos and don’ts of doing so.  For starters, avoid calling out a student in a public manner.  Way too often, we use sarcasm and shame (usually out of understandable frustration) to curb bad behavior in the classroom.  But more often than not, these choices do much more harm than good.  While there are some cases where you may need to publicly call out a student to get them to stop (usually because the situation calls for immediate action), by-and-large it is necessary to have quiet or private conversations with students off to the side.  I do it quickly, and I move on.  If the behavior doesn’t change, I give it another two or three minutes and then return again and hope for a better response.  In some cases, the student will respond with something you really do not want to hear.  They might say it out of their own hurt or frustration.  In that moment, it feels as though you have to respond.  It feels as though we have to exert control over the situation and send a clear message to students that this is not acceptable.  However, I believe that you simply have to let that comment go.  If you have good relationship with the class, they know that this response of the student is not okay.  They know that you will likely circle back to that in a later  conversation.  They know that the class is in capable hands and that total anarchy will not break out.  You just have to be the bigger person in that moment.  Because if you do not, things escalate really quickly, and before you know it the situation (which probably began with a smart phone) ends with the student’s removal or a detention-- which is not what you really wanted.  Ignore that comment they make as you walk away-- at least until the end of the period.  Many times, you will meet with better long term gains.

 View the full newsletter here. 

What was the best book you read in the past year?

 Fill out the following survey to list the best book you have read in the past year.  

Today's presentation.

AVReading Newsletter January Checking Student Meaning

 

            Throughout grad school, I was a little surprised to learn that  assessing comprehension was actually much more difficult than I had ever known.  Prior to that, I thought we could ascertain a student’s level of understanding by simply asking them a few questions and having them respond in oral responses, written responses, or even in reading quizzes.  I discovered that each of these come with limitations, since we can not truly get into someone’s brain to see what it is they are thinking or understanding.  Each type of comprehension check requires a rather indirect expression of what the brain is experiencing.  In meaning making assessments that require writing, the assessment assumes that the student is capable of writing skills strong enough to confidently put words to the page expressing what it is they know or think.  This format favors those who have a gift for written expression. In those that require an oral response, the assessment assumes that the student has the vocabulary to express their thinking or even the comfort level with the assessor to speak freely.  In multiple choice questions, the assessment assumes that the questions have construct validity (they measure what they say they are going to measure) and that students actually understand the item or do not struggle with other factors like negative stereotype threat or even test anxiety.  For some students, they are just good at taking tests; they might not even be particularly knowledgeable about the content, but they can sniff out the correct answer on instinct.  

            Even with the limitations of these various forms of evaluation, we need to assess our students for understanding.  And we need to do so frequently, so that we can keep students in that “just right” place of learning known as the zone of proximal development.  Understanding the limitations of each assessment simply means that it is best to avoid overusing any one of them on a regular basis.   

            Here are a few types of engagement checks that focus on assessing a student’s understanding. 

Concept Checks.  I like to use a concept check about two or three weeks into a term.  They take about five minutes and they are a good way to both check for understanding and to refresh student memory.  I choose five key ideas from the previous weeks and list them in the first column of a sheet.  Then I have four more columns: I Don’t Know It, I Think I Know It, I Know It, and I Know It So Well I Can Teach It.  I ask each student to assess themselves for each concept and put a check mark into the box that best represents their level of understanding for each row.  After a minute or so, I tell them to take one idea they checked as “I Know It” or “I Know It So Well I Could Teach It” and talk about or teach it to the person sitting next to them.  I then call on three random students to share out an idea they know best.  

Thought Boxes.  This activity works really well for articles.  For this, I will print off an article and draw four to six boxes in the margins of the article (spaced evenly throughout).  I then tell students to read the article and to put their thinking into the boxes as they do so.  I tell them that I am looking for their understanding of the text, their ability to analyze or evaluate the text, and their ability to identify at least one author move or writer’s choice.  I typically do one thought box article activity per term, but for the first one, I usually model the process for them.  Reading through their thought boxes offers a great deal of data.  It helps me to gauge their general level of understanding, their level of investment in the activity, and their ability to look more deeply into a given text. 

Most Important.  I frequently employ the “Most Important” protocol for rich discussions.  For example, on the day I do the “Elements of Fiction” lesson / review, I will end class by having students do a whip around.  In it they give their name, the title of their book and what they feel is the most important element of fiction in their particular book and why they think that.  I also use it for whole class readings.  For example, as we read the opening chapter of Just Mercy, I told them ahead of time that I would be asking them to identify the most important detail of the chapter and that they would be expected to defend that choice.  In one history class, I saw a teacher have students come to the board to write out the most important idea of a chapter they had been assigned.  The board was filled with a variety of ideas and the ensuing discussion was an awesome way for students to “roll around in” and better understand some of the critical ideas of the text.  

 

 

Here is the full newsletter.