Scientific Writing Scaffolds

As a department we've been working on different writing scaffolds. We use Constructing Meaning as a school which I think is mostly good. We've tried all kinds of different writing frames with varying degrees of success. Most of these come from Constructing Meaning. I'm going to take you in chronological order.

This was one of our first attempts.

It was our sixth graders' first or second try at extended science writing. The ease of entry here was very high. The downside is obviously that it is mostly fill in the blank. Except for the last frame there wasn't a lot of room to move. Also the writing itself is pretty clumsy.

We pulled two main lessons from this.

1. Start with a graphic organizer or build the template together. The tool made the writing process too invisible which is almost always a bad thing. The counterpoint to that argument is that we got the writing done first and then we could go back and deconstruct the setup. As a first attempt for the students, this might have been the way to go.

2. The academic support words were also too invisible. Constructing Meaning calls this the "mortar." We want students to gain flexibility with the mortar so they can use it on their own.

Next attempts:

This is just the first page but the back is similar. In this one we kept the headings on the side to highlight the purpose. We also pulled out the academic support words and gave them choices. This is probably our most used format. We've also been integrating in rebuttals so that's been very nice.

Below is an even more generalized example. The topic sentence is removed. The only things that change here are the word bank and perhaps some of the support words. I don't know what the topic was but the bio people can probably take a good guess.

We go back and forth about word banks. We've been happiest with "you can use all, some, or none of the words but if you're using all or none you're probably doing something wrong."

Most recently we gave all of our sixth graders a prompt from the textbook about whether or not the government should provide flood insurance. This came as part of a literacy unit we did where they read multiple articles with opposing viewpoints. The other sixth grade teacher and I approached it differently. Hers:

On my end, all they got was a graphic organizer. Below is the bottom portion. The rest was two more sets of the argument/counterargument/reasoning triangles. They provided an argument and counterargument and for the reasoning they wrote about which side was more convincing.

I put the claim at the bottom because I wanted them to go through each argument first before deciding on a claim. The numbers correspond to the sentence order in their final paper. I also provided about two dozen different sentence starters they could choose from (if needed). For example, "An argument in support of government provided flood insurance is_____. Others might respond that________. ___________ is more convincing because_______________."

Their claims I limited to "The government should/should not provide flood insurance." They could include a qualifying statement though such as, "The government should provide flood insurance but only if...."

I was very happy with the results here. It balanced structure and freedom pretty nicely. For this assignment we also engaged in a class debate first and students were able to gather arguments/counterarguments from the debate. In their papers, I asked them to cite other students as sources of arguments or counterarguments.

If there's anything I've gained from the last couple of years where I've focused on writing it's that speaking comes first. I can't stress that enough. Most of the tools above work just as well for speaking.

Shuffle Quiz

We're in the midst of CST prep. I am bored. CST review is this weird game of picking out specific skills/topics not because they're important so much as they can be quickly recalled and practiced back to fluency.

Right now I'm leaning heavily on shuffle quizzes for my skills practice.

The basic idea is the students get a set of problems and work on them together. At spaced intervals a group member raises his/her hand and I come over. I take their papers and shuffle them up. Whoever gets their paper pulled gets asked the questions for the group. I ask the questions at the bottom and sign off when they can move on.

The only thing I did differently in these examples is that instead of everyone working the same problem, each member in a group of four was assigned a specific problem. (seat 1 did problem 1, seat 2 problem 2, etc). They split the big whiteboard into quarters and worked the problems. They took turns explaining and checking and then call me over. If this answers aren't correct I let them know and come back later. When they are working different problems I usually just ask for one problem to be explained but it's never their own.

Some use notes:

1. These questions are pretty plain vanilla to emulate the glory of the CST but I've used this strategy for more interesting questions. The more difficult the problem, the more students are assigned. When I went to see Complex Instruction at Mission HS, the teachers used this strategy for nearly all of the group work. 
2. It's a bit of an art to balance how many consecutive problems students should try before I need to be called over. Too many problems and students go too long without checking in. Too few and I can't sit with any one group long enough and other groups are just waiting around. For reference, my typical class is 8 groups of 4. For the density/Archimedes one the pacing ended up a bit quick but just barely. Next year I'd probably eliminate the first checkpoint because the first two sets are straight plug and chug but keep the last check point. For the graphing practice it was about right. 
3. Since this is review, I tried to cluster them into similar problem types.
4. This year I used A/B/C/Redo but in previous years I've done a sign off with no score or plus/check/minus. I don't have a preference. Generally I just tell them I'll come back later if a student clearly isn't prepared. 
5. I've signed each paper and also just signed the one and had students staple them all together. Again, no preference. 

Here are some sample pics:

Notes: Graph A is the top right from this angle, Graph B is the top left, and Graph C is the bottom right. For the FBD scenario, we watched the clip on youtube earlier.


I don't know why speed-time graphs are so much more difficult for my students. I assume it's because I present position-time graphs first and they get locked in. Or maybe it's just easier to visualize changing position than changing speed. If you have any insights I'd love to hear them.

Transitions

I'll be moving on next year. "Philosophical differences" came up in our conversations and I think that's a fair assessment.

Our district requires every teacher to use Explicit Direct Instruction to some degree. Math teachers currently introduce every new concept using it. The rest of us are on a slower timetable and need to integrate various parts into our teaching. I let my principal know I thought EDI was destructive to student learning and that we moved past the pedagogy of poverty twenty years ago.

I made it clear I never intended to implement EDI. The administration made it clear it wasn't optional.

Although the timing is inconvenient, I hadn't planned on staying long term and they deserve a chance to find someone who is more aligned with their goals.

The application for my position closes on April 5 (edit: We hired someone and I've heard good things. That always makes things easier.) and if you live in or around the Silicon Valley I recommend applying. It's a good school and a great community. This week alone I saw the best middle school musical (Seussical the Musical) I've ever seen, we had a talent show that was standing room only, and our boys soccer team finished undefeated.

I live in the district and although my kids are supposed to go to the other, more high-performing school, I would definitely transfer them to mine. We have a great teaching staff and our science department is top notch.

As for me, I'm not sure yet. My original plan was to start grad school applications (and rejections) this year and then leave my school when MOST COVETED SCHOOL WHICH I DON'T WANT TO JINX BY TALKING ABOUT finally accepts my pleas bribes tears top notch application. Now I don't know how comfortable I feel about starting at a new school with full intention of leaving as soon as MCSWIDWTJBTA winks and nods in my general direction.

If you have any grand ideas let me know. If you are thinking of applying and want to ask something privately my email is over on the right side.



PS - If you're a higher education professor who is currently researching science teacher noticing and interactions and how those relate to student achievement and identity I know someone with free time next year who'd love to help you dig in.

The idea is the easy part

.......and access is not a goal.


The idea is the easy part......
Audrey Watters and John Spencer both have articles up talking about the problems with TED. There is a lot there and worth a read. They hit on similar criticisms. Audrey says, "You are not supposed to interrogate a TED Talk." and John wrote, "TED Talks become a sort of Secular Scripture offering a script to fix humanity." Some of the TED ideas are bad. Some are good. That's expected.

I have a different issue. My problem isn't with TED. I happen to like quite a few talks. TED is simply mirroring our values.¹

My problem is that we place too much value on the idea and not enough on the work.

Sugata Mitra has an idea. He wants to open a School in the Cloud.  Fine. Everyone has ideas. My question isn't about his idea it's about his willingness to put the work in to make it happen and keep it happening.

You've got an idea? So do a million other people. Let's stop celebrating ideas. Celebrate those standing waste deep in the muck with dirt in their nails and sweat on their face.


....and access is not a goal.

Bill Gates and Will.I.Am want everyone to have the opportunity to code.² Ok. California wanted every 8th grader to take Algebra. They said provide access and achievement will follow. Those of us in California can tell you how that went.

Providing access is the absolute minimum that we can possibly do and still feel like we've accomplished something.


(edit: I should link this for a scholarly view on access)







1: Or at least the type of values that someone who would watch a TED talk has.
1.5: I avoided ranting about Alfie Kohn. Be proud.
2: I'm not a fan of the idea itself, but I'm talking specifically about access and opportunity as goals. Also not a fan of the School in the Cloud. Mostly seems like 'access' but with the computer. It's like opening a school with an infinite number of textbooks available and some of them talk and have moving pictures and most are focused on cats.  

Three Quotes on Identity and the Achievement Gap

I'm pushing the limits of Fair Use but I wanted to post these for my own future reference.

Dr. Camika Royal on Asa Hilliard quoted in Please Stop Using the Phrase 'Achievement Gap'

One of Hilliard's most salient arguments is the notion that the so-called achievement gap between whites, blacks, and Latinos holds white wealthy students' performance as the standard of excellence without interrogating whether or not their performance is worthy of comparison. Instead of asking if how they performed is excellent, the inter-racially comparative nature of the "achievement gap" suggests that blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, special education students, and those receiving free and reduced-priced lunch should do whatever white students are doing.

Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez (originally from East San Jose!) in A "Gap-Gazing Fetish" in Mathematics Education. Problematizing Research on the Achievement Gap, p. 359.

...the (achievement gap) lens sends an unintended message that marginalized students are not worth studying in their own right—that a comparison group is necessary. Such a framing further engrains whiteness and middle-to-upper income as a norm, positioning certain students and their cultures as deviant.

Andrew Solomon in Far from the Tree


Background: Vertical identities are those identities inherited to some degree from parents. They may be genetic but also shared cultural norms. Horizontal identities are formed when someone has a trait foreign to his or her parents and must "acquire identity from a peer group." The book is about parents and children but I think you can also apply this to school relationships as well.

Most deaf children are born to hearing parents, and those parents frequently prioritize functioning in the hearing world, expending enormous energy on oral speech and lipreading. Doing so, they can neglect other areas of their children's education. While some deaf people are good at lipreading and produce comprehensible speech, many do not have that skill, and years go by as they sit endlessly with audiologists and speech pathologists instead of learning history and mathematics and philosophy. Many stumble upon Deaf identity in adolescence, and it comes as a great liberation. They move into a world that validates Sign as a language and discover themselves. Some hearing parents accept this powerful new development; others struggle against it." (pages 2-3)

Vertical identities are usually respected as identities; horizontal ones are often treated as flaws.(page 4)

Wondering how my teachers could have done this, I thought that someone whose core being is deemed a sickness and an illegality may struggle to parse the distinction between that and a much greater crime. Treating an identity as an illness invites real illness to make a braver stand. (page 13)

Three quick thoughts:

I used to think that our fixation on the "achievement gap" was a form of microaggression (see this post, this vid and this tumblr) but I've been underestimating the impact.

How much of our time is spent trying to 'fix' a student when what we're really trying to do is make a student more like us?

And with a nod to Dr. Gutierrez, I will give endless blog love to the first person who, in a staff meeting about the 'achievement gap', raises his/her hand and asks, "Yes. What are we planning to do to catch our White students up to our Asian ones?"



_________
Thanks to Bryan and Raymond for the Gutierrez articles and for the Hangout and Grace for recommending the Solomon book.

What Gets Left Behind

It's been a year since I moved from an urban school in East San Jose to a suburban school in Mountain View. The advantages my new students have are absurd. Teacher stability. Safety. The sheer volume of resources we have available to students.¹ Parent involvement. Being one of two public middle schools in the city instead of one of 30 or 40. My new students get to interact with a wonderfully diverse student population. One thing I like to brag about is how my school population so closely mirrors California as a whole.

www.greatschools.org

All that is great. My current students get a very different experience in school than my former ones. I often wonder about what I could have done differently at my old school to at least partially replicate some of the advantages that my current students have. Could I have been more active in engaging parents? Tried to gather more community resources? Actively recruited teachers to my school? There are plenty of things I could have done differently and there are a few problems that I still can't even approach.

But you know what really makes the difference? The problem that I can't solve no matter how well I teach?

A year ago I'd tell my students, "If you want to succeed, you need to leave." Now I tell my students, "If you want to succeed, you need to stay."

I want to make it clear. I love the Eastside. Love it. I love the community. I love my students. I love the fierce sense of pride we all felt about being from the Eastside. But the hard truth was always that in order to get a quality higher education and then a decent paying career, you had to leave the neighborhood. You had to leave your friends. You had to leave your family. You have to leave you.

Sometimes in our race to get our children ahead, we don't stop to think about what we're asking them to leave behind.



Edit: The Science Goddess is thinking about similar issues.


1: We have art, band, choir, a library, a librarian, a school nurse, two computer labs, an iPad cart, a gym, after school tutoring with teachers, before school tutoring with community members, Read 180, English 3D, ST Math, Khan Academy, Destination Imagination, Lego Robotics, PAL boxing, speech and debate, field trips, two different student counseling services, a chess club, a counseling service for teachers, parent workshops, drama, and I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I don't know about all of which are no cost or low cost and all of which did not exist or only existed in a mostly theoretical sense at my old school. On the other hand, my old school had a police officer on duty. So there's that. 

Miss A

I'm always a bit surprised that more teachers haven't heard of Miss A. It's one of those things that keeps me going when times get rough. If you haven't, you should read this speech [pdf] by Dan Fallon for the overview. Read it again whenever you start feeling like what you do doesn't matter.

Ben was good enough to send me the original 1978 Harvard Education Review article. The lead author was a former student of hers and also wrote this response to a newspaper letter after she passed away.

(Miss A's real name was Iole Appugliese—Miss Apple Daisy to her students. There's a little more biographical information in A Tribute to the Great Montrealers.)


PS - If any of your libraries happen to have a copy of a Canadian Reader's Digest from September 1976 there's an article called Miss Apple Daisy about her that I haven't read. I'd ask you to send it to me but that would likely require you to pilfer some microfiche.