Friday, June 2, 2023

How To Find People Who Act As Windows, Doors and Mirrors In Your Life - The Importance of Diversity In Your Network

How do people act as windows, doors and mirrors?  I have been thinking about the people in my network as a kind of living text set that has enriched my personal and professional life , challenged my thinking, and expanded my knowledge base.   


Windows are willing to share their own experiences, customs, traditions, and points of view that are different from my own.   Taking time to see the world through their windows has helped me to develop empathy, bring a more global perspective to my own experiences, and be a more creative problem solver.  When interacting with someone who is a window, I start with a lens of curiosity.  I take time to listen… to stories, to their interests, to their music,to their ideas.  I ask questions to gather more information, to learn new words. I ask for recommendations of things to read, places to go, people to meet.   


Doors are confident in their own expertise, and are willing to challenge me to try something new.  Being willing to accept an invitation to stretch outside my comfort zone -either in thought or in action is always a learning experience, even if it isn’t always fun or successful.  When interacting with a door, I start with a learning pit mindset.  I ask questions that help me make connections between what I already know and what I hope to learn.  I am also willing to ask for help when I find myself in the pit wrestling with that new knowledge or skill.  


Mirrors are reflective and willing to ask hard questions to better help me frame my own thinking and ideas. Mirrors also share common interests and experiences with me and can help me to see my best self, especially during times when I need someone to be in my corner or help me to see opportunities to make a positive impact.  When interacting with a mirror, I welcome honest feedback, ask questions that might help me see my own blindspots, and listen to suggestions  for how I can apply my own skills to a problem.  


Who are the windows, doors, and mirrors in your life?  What steps do you take to be intentional about adding to your personal and professional network? How do we help students see the importance of having windows, doors and mirrors in their lives? How do we serve in these roles for our colleagues, students, and friends?  And…how do we use actual text sets to serve in these roles as well? 


Resources To Spark Your Thinking  - This week I am sharing resources I include in my ongoing text set
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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Why Modeling Co-Regulation Can Lower Stress As The School Year Comes To An End

Do you have enough water left in your pitcher to continue to fill the cups of others as we approach the end of this school year? I hope the answer is yes, and that you have conserved enough water to fill your own cup over the next few weeks. If not, what are the quiet spaces, the activities, the people, the music, the books that you can dip into to refill your pitcher?  The end of the school year is a time that requires the ability to model co-regulation skills. 


Everyone feels the stress that comes with end of year -- relationship shifts, as colleagues announce retirements,  administrators make moves to new buildings and districts, students graduate, younger students begin to look toward the next year, the next school, and new opportunities while finishing their projects and lessons in their current classes, and collaborative time with colleagues feels rushed or finite.  It is time to reflect on how you are feeling about the end of the year. Check in with yourself.  Then check in with your colleagues and students. 


According to Cathy Papp from the Lorain County ESC, one component of co-regulation is creating warm, responsive relationships. After spending a year learning alongside one another, in the safe environment of your classrooms, some students may be looking at a summer of adventure while others may be facing a summer of uncertainty. As a school or district, what safety nets are in place to maintain positive relationships with the students over the summer?  So many educators refer to their colleagues as their school families, and talk about the importance of the friends they work with. What can you do to maintain those friendships over the summer? Are there colleagues who may need your support?  


Another co-regulation component is to structure the environment.  How can you think about intentional end of the year routines to help students celebrate their successes and recognize their learning, while beginning to think about goals for next year? How can leading with empathy help us plan inclusive end of year activities that take into account student voice, and the impact of living with chronic trauma has had on our students, and our colleagues? What formal and informal summer learning opportunities can be put in place for students, and educators, to explore their own interests, and build expertise?


Finally, Cathy Papp shared that teaching and coaching self-regulation is important.  The end of the year is emotional. It is a good time to remind students about the self-regulation skills they learned and practiced throughout the year and identify situations at the end of the year, and through the summer, when applying those skills will help them to avoid frustration, and achieve a positive outcome. Many of the pictures/symbols/reminders of self-regulation strategies that we have posted in our classrooms and buildings are not going to be on the walls of student rooms at home (or on our walls at home either).  A good end of year activity might be having students create their own system for reminding themselves of the strategies that work for them.  As I was looking for resources to spark your thinking around this week’s topic, I found a number of resources that point to the power of positive self-talk.  It was interesting that one article included research that showed the effectiveness of self-talk in the second person - as in “You’ve got this” vs “I can do it”.  How will you talk to yourself in a positive way as you navigate the end of the school year?  You can do it, take a breath, focus on really listening to your friends and students and what they have to share with you as the year wraps up.  



Resources To Spark Your Thinking

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023

How To Take Depth of Knowledge (DOK) From Aspirational To Actionable

How many of you have used Dr. Karin Hess’s Cognitive Rigor Matrices at some point in the last few years? They are one of my go to tools when discussing rigor, DOK and how to think about designing lessons that get at the full range of DOK levels.  Depth of Knowledge becomes more actionable and less aspirational when teachers can work with the specific content area matrices that Karin has created. These tools help to create learning opportunities that lead to deeper learning.  We are in the middle of state testing season…and this is a really good time to revisit these matrices, the learning standards, your own common assessments, and the state’s released item scoring guides, to get a feel for how to  continue to create learning tasks and assessments that help students engage in deeper learning across all DOK levels..  


I had the chance at ASCD 2023 to attend  Dr. Karin Hess’s session on her new work, Assessing deeper learning.  I loved her opening quote, “In order to teach for deeper learning, you have to experience it yourself. When do we have opportunities to continue to be learners? How do professional learning plans incorporate DOK 1-3?  


Here are my key takeaways from her session:

One goal of deeper learning is the transfer of knowledge.  Near transfer is the ability to do something the way that you were taught = DOK 1, DOK 2.   Far transfer is how you can apply what you learned to anything - real world projects that have an impact = DOK 3,4.    As a student, you can think about it in this way: What am I learning? How is it impacting me? What am I going to do with it? How do I want to show you what I can do with it? What problems do I want to solve?


Assessment is actionable.  This statement fits right into my thinking on Evidence Centered Design that I have shared with you a lot!  Assessment is about uncovering thinking, identifying where students are in the learning journey and planning next steps, or providing feedback to understand themselves as learners, thinkers or strategizes, or ourselves as educators. 


Stop Random Acts Of Rigor: Hess has identified 5 teacher moves that lead to consistent, intentionally planned deep learning opportunities.

  1. Use essential questions to lead to probing questions

  2. Build schema in each content area

  3. Use strategic scaffolding for different purposes

  4. Design complex tasks - with emphasis on student voice/choice and evidenced based solutions

  5. Allow time for students to engage in metacognition and reflection throughout their learning.


Student engagement can be negatively active, negatively passive, positively passive, and positively active.  This was a different way to think about this.  Terms on this engagement line start with disruptive, avoidance, withdrawn <<--->> participate, invested, drive    How does this change the way you see students in your classroom? Students who are disruptive are actively engaged in a non-productive way.  What’s the difference in how they are experiencing the learning compared to a student who is driving the learning and is actively engaged in a very productive way? 


Finally, she suggested some engagement activities that involve the most students. The two I found most interesting were using Scrum Boards to help student teams monitor their own work and seek input from peers. And, doing gallery walks of work, converting rubrics into feedback sentence stems and look-fors.  


I appreciate Dr. Hess’s research, and her willingness to make so many of her resources freely available for educators to use.  

  

And, because I want to continue to model how to use ChatGPT in an ethical, efficient way - You can ask ChatGPT to become a DOK bot and create sample problems/tasks/activities for you.  Try using this prompt: I need you to be a DOK bot.  When I give you a standard, I need you to create a set of tasks or activities at a DOK 1, DOK 2, DOK 3 and DOK 4 level.  You can follow that up with this prompt: Create a set of lesson plans using the 5 E model based on this standard, incorporating DOK 1, DOK 2, DOK 3 and DOK 4.  And then, use this prompt: Create a reflection sheet to help students focus on their own learning at each DOK level. Make it in a chart form. Refine these prompts to meet your needs and to produce the response that will be most useful for you.



Resources To Spark Your Thinking


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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Why Don't We Ask Students What They Want And Need From School?

Over the next weeks I will be sharing my reflections on the sessions I attended at 2023 ASCD Conference held in Denver, Colorado.  I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time learning with educators from across the United States and US territories…and the chance to look at the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  In a convention center space filled with the voices of educators, and education leaders, four voices stood out for me. The session was titled What Students Want And Need From School. The panel moderator was Jordan Puch, a senior in elementary education and a student in the Call Me Mister program at South Carolina University. The other three voices were Jaden, Tyree, and Anesa, students at 3 Denver area high schools who shared their stories and perspectives. This was a powerful session.  The students spoke their truth to a room full of teachers and administrators.  There were common threads in what they shared.  First, safety needs to be less reactive and more proactive. All of the students talked about the value in consistent, accessible counselors and mental health resources, and that there aren’t enough. Tyree shared that it was important to not wait until something happens to ramp up the support in the school, and the need to support the good that is going on in schools that may be surrounded by neighborhoods with elevated crime or violence. This was particularly impactful given that Tyree is a student at East High School in Denver, the site of recent gun violence.  The second thread is visibility.  All three students and the moderator shared stories about why it is important to see positive role models who look like them.  Jaden made the statement, “Learn about me before you start to teach me content”. Anesa shared “I want to be more than seen, I want to see evidence that I have been heard”.  They all talked about how they have been impacted by micro-agressions. Jaden shared about a time when he was excited that the story they were going to be reading featured an Indian boy, just like him. Until the teacher clarified that no, this wasn’t a story about people who put dots on their forehead, it is about a Native American.  Listening to their stories, I wrote down the word “Individual - eyesd”  How, as educators, can we focus on really seeing the individuals in our classrooms, and work to build relationships with them, taking the time to learn about them and their life outside of school.  Tyree’s statement, “Be there for us, even on our bad days” emphasized the importance of building consistent, stable relationships.  


The students also gave their insights on the academic side of their experience. The most impactful statement was made by Jaden.  As a senior, he has multiple AP and upper level classes. He shared that his worst days are those that feel like class is just about knowledge packing to prepare for a test. And then he added this, “I don’t want to be packed full of knowledge while I am still learning how to learn. I don’t have enough time to reflect on what I am learning or practice or apply it.”  Wow. Think about that.  As technology, like generative AI tools, continues to become more accessible and integrated, how will it change classrooms and allow more space for students to learn how to learn, and reflect on their learning?  How can we be mindful of lessons that tip so far toward knowledge packing that they reach a point when they become ineffective?  The other common thread in their academic conversations was their awareness of whose voice is reflected in the lessons and materials, whose voice is missing, and…their ask that wef stop tiptoeing around difficult topics. They want more than a surface level lesson.  They want to see different points of view, and understand what led up to the events vs. just memorizing the dates and facts of the event.  


These students were candid. They had important stories to share around the importance of relationships, representation, and identity.  The session was only an hour long, yet they were able to share ideas and perspectives that would be useful to any district or building leadership team.  How do student voices authentically show up in the work of your own district? And, where do students see that their voice was heard and action was taken? Do they have a full seat at the table when important district culture and strategy decisions are made?  Where do students see themselves reflected in the classrooms and in the instructional materials they work with? If they aren’t, what is the plan to continue to work toward representation? What opportunities do we build into the day to allow for meta-cognition and reflection on their learning, or time to build relationships or connect to mentors?  The first theme of my ASCD experience is “Individual - eyesd” learning.   I will continue to explore this in future posts about a new set of tools being developed to help to teach, provide feedback on, and assess life skills, and the contagious power of shared optimism. 


Resources To Spark Your Thinking
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How To Use Happiness Research To Improve School Culture and Student Outcomes

All my daffodils are blooming. Seeing them reminds me that sometimes it takes a while to see the full outcome of your work.  I planted new bulbs in the fall, alongside bulbs from prior years.  When you plant bulbs, you have to hope that they are planted at the right depth - or they won’t grow. Too shallow and the squirrels will dig them up, and leave them half eaten, just to spite you.  And, along with watching for the first shoots to poke up through the leaves and snow, It is always fun to see daffodils popping up where I know I didn’t plant any at all.   To be a gardener requires some degree of optimism, a lot of patience, and some trial and error to learn what works best for the plants in your yard.  It’s that patient optimism that carries us through the winter as gardeners, knowing that there is joy in all of the steps- from picking out what to plant, doing the planting, tending the beds, watching the growth, and enjoying the blooms.  


Shawn Achor was one of the keynote speakers at the ASCD conference this year.  His research focus is happiness, and how to increase optimism through interconnectedness.  The lessons he shared are essential and relevant to educators, to students, to parents, to board members, and to district staff members.  I encourage you to look at the resources I have linked below.  The brief information I can share through my reflection this week should spark your interest in learning more.


Lesson 1: If you always process the world through the same lens, you get cognitively stuck and you can’t adapt.  Building connections to people who can walk alongside you as you approach problems, and suggest solutions or options from a different lens pushes you out of this “stuck” mindset.  Think about your classroom style - do you always teach the same thing the same way? Do you fall back on the same assessment tools, the same engagement ideas? Who can you reach out to that will push on this, give you a new perspective or add new strategies to your toolbox?  How can we give students the opportunities to push out of their own academic comfort zones? 


Lesson 2: Meaningful Work does not prevent burnout. Making statements like “ If only I had or could do _____________, then I would be happy.  All this does is postpone happiness. And, according to Achor, your brain will always continue to move the bar as it constantly works to reframe success.  Instead, happiness that is shared can lead to success.  He shared a study that demonstrated an individual looking at a steep hill saw it as almost impossible to climb. Two individuals, when looking at the hill together, saw it as less high, less intense, and climbable. The research outcome, including another brain makes your perception of overcoming a challenge more positive. Sooooo many ways to think about this in our professional lives, personal lives, and in our classrooms. 


Lesson 3: Shared Positive Mindsets fill your cup and lead to agility in thinking, improved performance, increased creativity, and increased empathy. The research is compelling. Happiness can break down the systems that are leading to depression, anxiety, and stress. All of the work around mindfulness, breathing, exercise and movement, social cohesion, and developing empathy is not “just another thing” or “time away from core academics”. Use Achor’s work to plan parent nights, board presentations, and community messaging to talk about how these living skills are necessary if students are going to be prepared to take on the world in front of them - and be innovators, analytical and critical thinkers, and be happy. 


Lesson 4: It is possible to reshape your brain to scan for positivity in the world around you. To do this, you must find NOVEL things you are grateful for for 21 days in a row. And, for good measure, spend 2 minutes a day to give sincere praise or a thank you to one person a day, at least 3 days in a row - really try for 8 days in a row. This shared gratitude will reframe the way you approach your day. And you will have a ripple effect on those around you. 


Because I have continued to explore how to work with ChatGPT, I thought about how ChatGPT might be used if you are working to see the world through a positive lens. Again, ChatGPT is not human, and can’t replace the empathy that comes along with working with colleagues. With that in mind,  I gave it this prompt: 

You are an optimistic bot.  I am going to give you a scenario and I want you to respond with 3-5 questions that will help frame my solution thinking in a positive way. 

ChatGPT: Sure, I'd be happy to help you with that! Please go ahead and give me the scenario.

Me:I have a project I have wanted to work on, but I just can’t find the time. I don’t think it will ever get done. 

ChatGPT: I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling stuck. Here are some framing questions that can help you approach the situation more optimistically:

  1. How important is this project to you? Why is it important? Consider the long-term benefits of completing this project and what impact it might have on your life or work.

  2. How can you break the project down into smaller, more manageable tasks? Consider setting achievable goals for yourself, such as working on the project for a certain amount of time each day or week. This can help make the project feel less overwhelming and more achievable.

  3. Can you delegate some of the tasks involved in the project to others? Consider whether there are other people who might be able to help you with some of the tasks involved in the project. This can help reduce your workload and free up time for other important things.

  4. Is there a specific time of day when you tend to be most productive or creative? Consider scheduling time to work on the project during this time, and use this time to focus exclusively on the project.

  5. Finally, remember that progress is progress, no matter how small. Celebrate the small wins along the way, and be kind to yourself if things don't always go according to plan. The most important thing is to keep moving forward and stay motivated.


I tried some classroom scenarios too - and ChatGPT responded with similar, appropriate questions.

  

Resources To Spark Your Thinking:
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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

How To See The Power of Post-It Notes

It’s time for spring break. By now, everyone’s brain is ready for a break too. So, for this week’s Talk-Oh-Tuesday, you will need a post-it note. Or a whole pad of post-it notes, it depends on how many ideas this week’s topic sparks for you!  Let’s start with the statement that post-it notes have power to make a day better. Maybe you have used post-its to remind you of an important task or to take your lunch.  That’s not what I am talking about here.  Post-its have just enough writing room to write one or two short sentences about what you appreciate about a colleague, a student, a family member, or a friend.  Then it can be placed on a door, a book, a monitor, a locker, a desk where it will be a little unexpected boost for their day!  A post-it can make your day too. Seeing a post-it with an affirmation can reset your mindset and help you focus on finding a creative solution, or persevering through a difficult task.  Consider putting an affirmation note someplace where you can see it when you are in need of some positive self-talk.  


Next, post-its can be used to ask the just right question or give the just right feedback when working with students.  It is so difficult to think of feedback on the fly during a class or a meeting. Instead, reflect on typical questions students ask, or common misconceptions they may have around an upcoming lesson or activity.  Then, on individual post-its, write guiding questions, or specific feedback that would help students to answer their own questions, nudge their thinking, refine their idea, or consider a new strategy. Put these pre-written post-its on a clipboard or in a notebook where they can be easily peeled off and placed on a paper or the corner of a student desk as you work with students throughout the day.  


Post-its are excellent for consensus building because their size forces people to be concise in stating their idea or opinion. Post-its are one way to be sure everyone’s voice is heard. 

 The individual post-its can then be added to a larger whiteboard or poster space.  From there, unless they are extra sticky, some tape is useful as the facilitator or group leader works with the group to find common themes, regroup the post-its, and begin to find commonalities.  Using two different colored post-its expands the discussion, helping to visually group pros and cons or problems and solutions. Post-its can also be used as a mind-mapping tool starting with the central idea or topic on a post-it, then adding related post-its to make connections on the map.  Post-its can be rearranged as the map expands and new connections are made. 


Post-it art shows are a more creative use of post-its.  Schools, non-profits, community libraries have hosted mini-art shows based on a post-it note. This would be especially creative if you integrate art and poetry, encouraging participants to create around a theme or a topic.  This results in a mosaic of diverse ideas. 


I did ask ChatGPT what creative ideas it had for post-it notes.  It came up with using post-it notes to create a shared story where everyone adds one or two sentences or actions to the story, then rearrange the notes to change the story.  ChatGPT also came up with a vision board using post-its to add goals, key words, and ideas.  Its most creative idea was to use post-its to create an escape room by writing the clues and puzzles on post-its and hiding them around the room.  


I hope all of you have some time to rest and recharge over the next few weeks as we start the last quarter of the academic year.  I will be attending the ASCD Convention in Denver this coming weekend, so be looking for new ideas and resources I will bring back to share in next week’s Talk-OH-Tuesday!  


Resources To Spark Your Thinking



A Personal Note: 
I have written quite a few Talk-OH-Tuesdays on the topic of generative AI over the past few months. As a result, I was invited to be part of a book project.  I was fortunate to be involved in editing and writing a few chapters for the book, written by over 25 US educators K-16, legal experts, and some international educators as well about generative AI.  It is now on Amazon as a Kindle eBook. The book is titled Chat(GPT): Navigating the Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Educational Theory and Practice.  There is a cost to this book, and I do not usually share resources that have a cost, but I feel that this book offers such a broad range of perspectives on the applications and the challenges of generative AI that it is worth sharing.
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