EL Study Guide

EL Study Guide

1. EDUCATION

1. Ask your students how they typically study for tests. How closely do their habits follow the pattern Willingham describes on p. 12 of his article (under the subheading "What Students Typically Do")? What suggestions might you make for improvement of their study habits?
2. Willingham says that most of his students tell him they were not taught study skills in school. Do you teach study skills in your classes? If so, what skills do you teach? If not, how might you incorporate study skills in your instruction?
3. Make a list of the study habits that Willingham and Roediger endorse in their articles. How might you support your students in using these strategies? For example, consider having students create flash cards for self-quizzing.
4. 
   
5. Reading Instruction That Doesn't Stick
6. In "Reading Moves: What Not To Do," Richard L. Allington discusses the problems with two common practices in elementary reading classrooms: having students read aloud and asking students low-level questions about their reading.
7. 
   
8. How often do you use these or similar practices in the classroom? Based on Allington's suggestions, how might you improve your use of these practices?
9. Questions about reading are common in all kinds of classrooms, not just reading classrooms. What kinds of questions do you ask students about their reading? Select an upcoming reading assignment and generate a list of questions you might ask students about it. Which questions lead to the kind of literate conversations Allington says are typical among adults? How might you improve your questions to promote such conversations?
10. Even though research has shown that oral reading and low-level questioning are not effective, these practices continue to be common. Why do you think teachers stick with practices that don't work? What other common instructional moves don't stand up to research?
11. 
    
12. Hitting the Learning Target
13. In "Learning Targets on Parade," Susan M. Brookhart and Connie M. Moss explain how learning targets for daily lessons build on one another, making the learning more likely to stick. This is especially true when students know what the targets are each day.
14. 
    
15. Why is it important for students to understand what they're supposed to be learning? How do you make sure students know what their target is?
16. It's common practice for teachers to write daily objectives or targets on the board. How can teachers make this practice meaningful instead of a mere act of compliance? (See also the section onObjective-Driven Lessons in "The Quest for Mastery" by Joseph F. Johnson Jr., Cynthia L. Uline, and Lynne G. Perez.)
17. For teachers: Look at an upcoming instructional unit and make a list of daily learning targets for each lesson. Note the five characteristics that Brookhart and Moss describe in their articles. Do the targets show a progression of learning from day-to-day? Do they describe learning, and not just activities? How does the creation of learning targets make you think differently about your instruction?
18. For administrators: As you visit classrooms in your school, take note of the objectives or targets teachers have listed on their boards. How closely to they seem to relate to the learning you're seeing in the classroom? How well do they match up with Brookhart and Moss's guidelines? How might you support your teachers in making them more useful?
19. 
    
20. They've Got to Move It, Move It!
21. Two articles in this issue address the value of movement for promoting learning. Wendy L. Ostroff looks at the science that connects physical activity and attentiveness in "Don't Just Sit There … Pay Attention!". And in "Move it or Lose It!," Linnea Lyding, Debby Zambo, and Cory Cooper Hansen suggest ways teachers can incorporate movement into vocabulary instruction.
22. 
    
23. How much movement happens in your classroom or school each day? How can you sneak in a little more movement for your students?
24. Select a few vocabulary words your students need to know and try creating a movement to help them remember some of those words. If it's feasible, get your students involved in creating some of these movements.

Canadian program aims to get more girls coding

In the Smithson household, every day is Girls Learning Code day. 

Take Abi Smithson, for example. At 11-years-old, the Toronto pre-teen already has a solid grasp of basic coding. While other girls her age are surfing the net, Abi can build her own website. 

“It’s fun,” she told Yahoo Canada Finance. 

Officially, those eager to participate in National Girls Learning Code Day will have to wait until Nov. 8. That’s when girls, ages eight to 13, are invited to take part in a free, six-hour introductory coding class being held simultaneously in 15 cities across Canada. More than 700 girls are expected to enroll in the program, which was launched by MasterCard Canada. 

It will be taught by Ladies Learning Code, a non-profit organization that aims to demystify computer programming, and increase women’s involvement and engagement in the tech sector. 

The University of Waterloo, another partner, will also participate by hosting a Python-language coding workshop aimed at students who are in disciplines outside of the science, technology, engineering and math, in an effort to introduce a variety of students to coding in a supportive environment. 

• Education.com Launches First-of-Its-Kind Online Learning Program For Kids
• SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Education.com, the nation's leading destination for parents and teachers seeking supplemental learning materials, today announced the launch of Brainzy, a new kind of online learning program designed to build reading and math skills in children ages 3–7. Developed using rich data gathered from the 20 million worksheets downloaded each year at Education.com, Brainzyfeatures hundreds of interactive games and activities that captivate young minds and delight parents weary of filling screen time with so-called education apps. Brainzy's comprehensive program follows a methodical, building-block path created to spark curiosity, giggles, and grins while building more than 30 critical reading and math skills.    

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

Diane Ravitch, Howard Gardner, Sir Ken Robinson, Pak Tee Ng, Pasi Sahlberg, Tony Wagner, Yong Zhao, Krista Kiuru, Peter Vesterbacka, Randi Weingarten, Jonathan Jansen, Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves, among others, have been chosen for our first Global Search for Education Top 10 List.

We asked Adam Steiner, a technology integration specialist for the Holliston Public Schools in Holliston, Massachusetts and a doctoral researcher at Boston College, to make an assessment of the over 250 interviews we’ve published and give us his view of our top ten articles.

Adam is the co-author with Elizabeth Stringer Keefe of a forthcoming book on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and technology (scheduled release date of March 2015 from Rowman & Littlefield). He joins me to discuss the Top 10 in today’s edition of The Global Search for Education.

Adam, I like your first selection – my 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch. How have The Global Search for Education articles helped you as an educator?

The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context. Given the various threads of my personal and professional life, the interviews have helped to put it all in a broader context and give it a larger meaning.

As a teacher, your 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch, in particular, represents the need for teaching to remain a respected profession. I know that my first few years of teaching were such a challenge and would have been impossible if I felt the community did not respect my work. Diane Ravitch rightly argues that a well-respected teaching profession requires higher expectations for teachers and stricter requirements for entry into the profession.

THE GLOBAL SEARCH FOR EDUCATION

THE GLOBAL SEARCH FOR EDUCATION

“No matter the platform, people will always need to know how to understand, analyze and reflect upon larger contexts and systems. That pro-active creation and larger understanding are the ways to reach the end goals of digital and web literacy.” – Leah Gilliam

The goal is to create meaningful and relevant learning experiences outside of the classroom where youth can learn by action. Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network was launched in 2007 and has since spread globally to reach millions of learners around the world. Hives are comprised of organizations such as libraries, museums, after school programs, code clubs and non-profit start-ups. Together, they engage and enable young people to explore their passions, and to develop and diversify their key 21st century skills.

In a technology driven world, what should the goals be when you set out to teach for the new media? What are the challenges and what are some of the strategies that have proved successful? I invited Leah Gilliam, the Director of Mozilla’s Hive NYC Learning Network, to share her perspectives.

“Our work is driven by the research and design principles of connected learning and a specific desire to make how and what people learn relevant.” – Leah Gilliam

Leah, what do you believe is the biggest impact that technology has had on education in the last decade?

The advent of mobile and social networks has had a groundbreaking impact on how we teach, interact and learn with technology. I love that people are carrying powerful computers in their pockets and are able to explore, share and connect–on their own time at their own pace. My real concern is that mobile technology should also be a tool for people to create and construct meaningful content as well–that’s a harder proposition but one we’re working on with Mozilla’s Webmaker platform and tools like AppMaker, a free way to build personal mobile apps.

What are your goals when you set out to teach for the new media?

My goal is always to have people think critically and respond creatively to the world and the conditions around them. No matter the platform, people will always need to know how to understand, analyze and reflect upon larger contexts and systems. That pro-active creation and larger understanding are the ways to reach the end goals of digital and web literacy. Empowering others to create and control their digital lives through and with a technology’s building blocks is of utmost importance. It’s also crucial in our work with youth and educators to empower others to share what they know and teach it to others.

 “One of the big challenges we face is helping people build their ideas and learn new things in a networked way.” – Leah Gilliam

What do you believe are the important building blocks for teaching youth how to use media in both a creative and a meaningful way?

Every user should know how to read and write with the technology around them. Not just how to use it or play it but also how to change it and make it work on a user’s own terms. At Mozilla and through Hive Learning Networks, we believe strongly that making can fuel learning. Our goal is to seed the conditions that foster the transformative moments of awareness that breed those larger “hacker” and web literacies. Our work is driven by the research and design principles of connected learning and a specific desire to make how and what people learn relevant. To that end, we design and support social, participatory and interest-driven opportunities that really stick with learners.

Mozilla’s Maker Party initiative is a great example. It is a global effort (happening right now) that brings people together to make, learn and explore in a social atmosphere. It has a specific focus on using digital media and the web as platforms for creativity. This summer alone, we’ve seen more than 455 people step up to help Mozilla teach the web by throwing more than 1220 events in over 260 cities around the world from July to September.

What are the challenges you face in training today’s educators? Are these challenges different from preparing today’s youth? Can you share one or two of the best strategies you have used to overcome the key issues?

Hive creates opportunities that enable learning through hands-on making and exploration with peers and mentors. One of the big challenges we face is helping people build their ideas and learn new things in a networked way. Computer and neural networks are often streamlined and highly efficient. In contrast, learning networks are made up of people sharing information and knowledge and then building upon what they’ve exchanged–they work very differently. Another challenge in this work is creating the opportunities for busy people to develop the ties and broker the relationships that support the exploration, problem identification and discovery that fuel invention. It takes time, space and reflection to engage in the cross-organizational and interdisciplinary partnerships that Hive Learning Networks foster. Although our work with youth takes different forms, the core principles and practices are the same: we strive for interactions that are creative, collaborative, participatory, relevant and openly networked.

We describe Hive NYC as a learning laboratory because of the work we do to create a space for people to explore, create and share together in new ways. One successful strategy we use in this laboratory approach is planning and play-testing new tools and practices that help community members sharpen their ability to identify problems and challenges.

How we work and learn as a team is inspired by open-source technology. It’s predicated on the idea that creating solutions that are interoperable and accessible to others makes them stronger and more robust. Across Mozilla/Hive, we use open collaborative documents and try to formulate questions and prompts that get people working and thinking together in a deeper way.

INFO FOR EDUCATION

INFO FOR EDUCATION

What should the role of federal government be in K- 12 education?  How much more funding should be given to education reform and in what major areas should it be spent?

The federal government has certain roles that have been consistent since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965:

First, to equalize spending for the neediest districts, especially those that enroll children who are poor.

Second, to protect the civil rights of children.

Third, to provide accurate and timely information about the condition and progress of education, including support for the no-stakes National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Fourth, to fund the education of children with disabilities.

Fifth, to aid low-income students who enroll in college.

The basic mission of the U.S. Department of Education is to support equality of educational opportunity.

It is not the role of the Department of Education to foist its own unproven preferences — like evaluating teachers by student test scores or charter schools or merit pay — on states and districts.

  “I would like to see higher standards for entry into schools of education. I would wish that every teacher has a four-year degree in a content area, and a fifth year of study of education.” — Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on improving the teaching profession, including recruitment, teacher training, compensation, and assignment to low-income schools?

I would like to see higher standards for entry into schools of education. I would wish that every teacher has a four-year degree in a content area, so they are knowledgeable in the subjects they will teach, and a fifth year of study of education, including cognitive science, adolescent psychology, assessment, cultural diversity, the sociology of the family and the community, and the history, politics, and economics of education. No one should be allowed to teach who does not have a year of study that includes practice teaching and research. I would also disallow education degrees earned online. Teachers should be paid more for taking on additional responsibilities; they should not have their pay or evaluation tied to test scores of students.

Teaching should be a prestigious career. Those who enter teaching should be well-prepared and expect to make a career in education.

  “The US lags far behind the rest of the world in establishing high-quality early childhood education.”  – Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on school choice, including charter schools and their expansion, private schools, vouchers, and investment in inadequately staffed and facilitated low-income schools?

I oppose school choice outside the public school system. I oppose private management of public schools. I oppose for-profit schools. I fear that in time we will see the re-emergence of a dual system of schools in our cities, with charters for the able and public schools serving the rejects from charter schools. I see district after district where charters drain funding and top students away from the public schools. It makes no sense. I oppose vouchers. I believe that it is a public duty to provide a good public school with adequate resources and a rich curriculum in every neighborhood. Every school should have the staff and resources it needs to provide a full curriculum, after-school activities and appropriate services for students.

What would be your strategy to address the domestic and international achievement gaps, including your position on early childhood education, standardized testing, on-line modular education, and teacher/principal accountability?

I think we should stress early childhood education. The US lags far behind the rest of the world in establishing high-quality early childhood education. I think we should minimize the use of standardized testing, use it only for diagnostic purposes, not for accountability, not for rewards or punishments or school closings. Standardized tests reflect gaps, they don’t close them. The online schools have very poor results and do nothing to improve achievement. The best way to improve achievement is to improve the standard of living of our poorest children while improving the curriculum at all schools and the professional supports for teachers. One important reform would be to make sure that every child has a regular medical check-up, that every school has access to a health clinic and/or a school nurse. In the schools that serve the neediest children, class sizes should be reduced to no more than 20.

  “Every school should have a full and balanced curriculum, with a rich arts program, history, civics, geography, mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literature.” — Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on curriculum reform, including the role of the arts, the treatment of ethics, and the adoption of blended online learning?

I believe that every school should have a full and balanced curriculum, with a rich arts program, history, civics, geography, mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literature. Every school should have a library with a full range of resources, including computers and the Internet.

I would ban for-profit schooling.

What would be your position on how to make college affordable for more qualified low income students?

The federal government should increase subsidies for college for low-income and middle-income students. Education is a basic human right and it should not be denied because of inability to pay. Young people should not be buried in debt when they finish college. We can’t expect to increase college enrollment rates if young people cannot afford to go.  I also think the government should be extremely vigilant in policing for-profit colleges, where the attrition rates are extremely high and young people drop out with heavy debt and no education.

EDUCATION

EDUCATION

believe that it is a public duty to provide a good public school with adequate resources and a rich curriculum in every neighborhood.” — Diane Ravitch

Making education a focus during the 2012 election debates is our ongoing goal in The Global Search for Education series.  Today I am honored to share the perspectives of Diane Ravitch as we continue the discussion of the issues that we believe will be a priority for the next President of the United States.

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a distinguished historian of American education. She is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. She served as Assistant Secretary of Education for Research and Improvement in the administration of President George H.W. Bush and was appointed to two terms on the National Assessment Governing Board by the Clinton administration.  Ravitch is the author or editor of over 20 books on education, including the national bestseller, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education(Basic Books).