Model | Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle

Archive for the 'Model' Category

Making the learning stick

When I was putting the insulation on my windows, I had two different products. One had the instruction of waiting fifteen minutes before I removed the backing to the two sided tape. The other did not have that instruction. The fifteen minute wait tape was far superior to the other.

I wonder how much time we give our students to stick to their new learning before we ask them to use it. Fisher and Fry suggest in Better Learning Through Structured Teaching that when we give our initial modeling of the new learning, we do not ask students to actively participate but, instead they are to think about this new learning. If they do not firmly understand the modeling before we ask them to practice it, then there is a high likely hood that they will do it incorrectly. Their first steps of doing it wrong will be cemented into their brains. Instead, we can model the learning for them and go over an exemplar of it. We can let them think about the new learning and then scaffold them through it.

Let’s organizing our teaching so that we allow students plenty of time to think about the new learning before they are asked to do it. Let’s let them get firmly stuck to the new learning before they use it.

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Exemplar Collecting and Using For High Quality Learning

Published October 18, 2008 Accountability , Achievement , Assess , Assessment , assessment for learning , collaboration , Content , Curriculum , Education , Empowerment , Engagement , Evaluate , Example , Exemplar , Learn , Learner , Model , Proficiency , Proficient , Quality , Success Leave a Comment
Tags: Accountability, Achievement, collaboration, Education, Evidence, excellent, Exemplar, exemplary, Formative, Formative assessment, learning, Model, Quality, sample, School, Success, Team

At one of the colleges I teach at, I had to submit material for a course review. I was pleased to receive not only a perfect 3/3 but also to be asked to send some of my material in as exemplary work. However, I became even more interested when I found out that this college that has at least six different campuses is collecting exemplars. My question becomes “When are they going to share these exemplars with the faculty so that we can improve by seeing the excellent work that our colleagues are doing?”

I would suggest that we all collect exemplars at our schools and use them to improve our teaching and our students’ learning. Have each teacher submit his/her best student paper, project, etc. For example, each English 9th grade teacher can submit one excellent student paper for the major types of writing. The teachers can physically put them in a cabinet or even better they can put them onto an English Wiki so that teachers at any given time can access these exemplars. These instructors can discuss with each other what makes each exemplary. They can all come to the same idea about what exemplary work is. Furthermore,They can use these exemplar papers to raise the learning level of their students. The instructors will have many exemplars for their students so that the students can realize that the high quality can be shown in many diverse ways.

Get your team to start collecting and using exemplars now!

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

High Quality Student Work Early in the Semester

Published October 2, 2008 Accountability , Achievement , Assess , Assessment , assessment for learning , celebrate , Content , Model , monitor , Rubric , scaffold , Structure , Student , student learning , Success , Teacher Leave a Comment
Tags: Achievement, expectation, Formative, formative feedback, Learn, Model, monitor, Quality, Rubric, scaffold, Speech, Standard, Structure, Student, Success

My students have given their first speech in my college oral presentation course. I analyzed their entering speaking skills and adjusted the curriculum. We have gone over the speech rubric, analyzed three speeches using the rubric, analyzed the text of one speech, and created a template that incorporates good presentation. They organized their ideas with a graphic organizer. We spent time going over techniques for relieving nerves. They did a practice speech to a partner who gave feedback. As my students gave their first speeches, I was in shock. Wonderful Shock. Their speeches were actually at the same high level as the final speeches of my students from last semester even though this semester’s students are only in the third week of class. I had raised the bar for these students, they understood the high expectations and they had the tools to help them reach that high.

I congratulated the class on a superior job in presenting. I look forward to hearing their other speeches as they shine even more.

How do you structure your class so that your students soar in their learning? What do you do so that this year’s students do drastically better than last year’s?

If you are interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Making a Think-Aloud: A Challenging Task

Published March 29, 2008 21st Century Skills , Assess , Assessment , assessment for learning , Formative , Formative assessment , Model , Think , Think aloud , write , Writing 1 Comment
Tags: Class, Digital, Education, ELA, English, Formative, Formative assessment, Learn, Model, Modeling, Think aloud, write, Writing, YouTube

I’ve spend several hours this morning working on a think-aloud about writing a contrast paper that I will, hopefully, record tomorrow and post to YouTube. I have found that as I went to create charts to represent my thinking about how to write a contrast paper, I had to insert more details. I would have to stop myself and say, “What am I thinking now?” I had to add details one by one to represent how a student would think. What are three main differences? The first is … The second is… Also, as a teacher, I had to think of where the students were likely to make mistakes and to emphasize those points. For example, often writing students write down evidence without thinking of how it provides a contrast to the evidence already existing for a certain category.

It is a challenging exercise to do a think-aloud in which I, as a teacher, have to think through each mental step a student needs to make. I now realize that, in the past, I made some mental leaps in my instruction and I now understand why numerous students did not leap with me.

Have you created a think-aloud?

Greater Learning Through Same Model and Technology

Published March 26, 2008 Academic , Accountability , Achievement , Assess , Assessment , assessment for learning , Curriculum , ELA , English , Formative , Formative assessment , Model , scaffold , technology 2 Comments
Tags: Department, Education, ELA, English, Improve, Learn, learning, Model, Podcast, Power Point, scaffold, Teacher, technology

I talked to a student who had been in the same English classes with several friends from 9th through 12 grade. Each year they had a different teacher and each year that teacher taught them “their” way of writing. When the students got to 12th grade, they just said to the teacher, “Tell us how you want us to write.” She taught them her “official” way of writing. These students are living proof that constantly changing what we expect of students results in less than proficient writers.

How can we expect students to improve in their writing if we constantly change how they should write? They will only improve when we build on one consistent model. They same is true for all subjects.

Do you get together with your department (K-12) to talk over what you expect of students and what model the students will follow? Do various teachers produce Power Points, emovies or podcasts to demonstrate that consistent model? Do other teachers help develop scaffolded handouts or Power Points that guide students through the model?

Modeling Think Alouds with Emovie

Published March 18, 2008 21st Century Skills , Assess , Assessment , assessment for learning , Model , TeacherTube , Think , Think aloud , YouTube Leave a Comment
Tags: Class, Education, Mental processing, Model, Modeling, Strategy, Student, Subject area, Teacher, TeacherTube, Think aloud, YouTube

How do we model the thinking for students so that they learn how to think in our subject area? We can do think-alouds in which we think aloud “When I.., I..” or “What if ….” .However, if we do an in-class think-aloud then our students have nothing to refer to do as they work at home. What if we do an emovie of our think-aloud where they hear and see our thinking? We can show how we complete a graphic organizer or draw a model of something. We could put the think-aloud up on Youtube, Teachertube, or our district server. Students can view our think-aloud so that they can develop the same thinking process. They will begin to think in a scientific fashion, a language arts fashion, a mathematical fashion, etc.

Do conferences and professional development model good learning with technology?

Published November 21, 2007 Accountability , Computer , Conference , Learn , learning , Model , professional development , Student , technology , technology integration Leave a Comment

We know the importance of using exemplars in learning. They show students the high quality expected of them in their learning.

How many professional development and conference sessions show exemplars of student technology-infused academic learning? When we see stellar exemplars, we raise up to that level. How many professional development and conference sessions model technology in the same way that they want the teachers and students to use it? Or do conference sessions and professional development talk about technology and talk about the learn?

I am fascinated that many technology in education conferences and much professional development in schools focus on technology without concentrating on the student academic learning. Students usually do not realize the high level of learning expected of them unless we clearly show it to them. The same is true for teachers. Does each session start with exemplars of student academic learning? Does each session show how teachers and students help the students to arrive at that high level through technology? Or do the sessions focus on the mechanics of the technology? What are these sessions really modeling?

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Modeling- Telling or Showing

Published September 20, 2007 21st Century Skills , Academic , Accountability , Achievement , Assignment , Learn , learning , Model , Wiki Leave a Comment

I have my students doing a WIKI to better understand the concepts in the class. I explained what they were to do it and how to do it. When I looked at their first WIKI standards-based assignment, I discovered that they had not done it as I wanted. I realized that my error was in my not showing them what I wanted. Spoken words can easily be envisioned in many ways. However, when students see the actual model then they “see” how to do it. I made up a model and showed them how to format it. The students did the next assignment to a much higher quality due to the modeling. I knew that they were learning the information in a comprehensive and in-depth manner due to the modeling.

How do you model the end goal that you want for the students?

Professional Development: Purpose, Modeling, Hands-On, Final Product

Published December 10, 2006 Model , professional development , Student , Teacher , technology integration , Workshop Leave a Comment

I had an opportunity to attend an all day professional development workshop recently.

I wonder if the presenter and the audience had the same real purpose? If people came to learn about A, how much do they really have to learn about the subparts of B, C, D, E, and F? What are the most critical and most used aspects of the subparts in creating A? I am certain that people can produce a good product without knowing all the intricacies of each subpart. If the presenter is very excited about B, C, D, E, and F, then the people may learn a great deal about B, C, D, E, and F but learn very little about the actual A.

How many “new” features can people absorb in a session?

I believe that we have to model what we want people to learn. If a presenter shows the end product at the beginning, then people have an understanding of what their end product will look like. The learners can ask questions that will lead them to producing the end product.

Presenters need to understand the difference between a demonstration and a hands-on workshop. When a presenter does a demonstration, the people watch. During a hands-on the presenter has to slowly guide the people so they every one can produce something. Is it successful if one person does something and all the others do not? I think not.

How similar is the product the presenter produces to the product that the people would produce for their classes? What problems might classroom teachers encounter as they implement this technology? What successful classroom examples of this technology does the presenter demonstrate?

Do the people feel comfortable in using the technology in their classroom to help students to learn better?

Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle