tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50531510039773776652024-03-14T00:30:53.744-07:00Always FormativeAssessment is a conversation.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-74082638516208534592014-03-24T12:00:00.000-07:002014-04-02T23:16:19.326-07:00Our Differences Become DeficitsI hear this at least once a week.<br />
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"She tries really hard but just doesn't have family support."<br />
"Our XYZ students struggle because so many come from broken homes."<br />
"There's not much you can do when he doesn't have a father at home."<br />
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When I was growing up I had many Uncles and Aunties. This Uncle was my dad's friend and this Auntie was really my mom's cousin and I'm not really sure how we knew that Auntie. Some of them were brothers and sisters of my parents. Some were cousins. Some were my parents' friends who were adults. All of them were family.<br />
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In the United States, when we think of family, we think of a father, a mother, and 2.5 kids.<br />
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When we look at our students, we see a missing father and think this kid doesn't have a family. We think a house with aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents is a sign of poverty. We look down on a mom with eight children and pity her assumed lack of education. We discount the woman who has taken care of all of the neighborhood kids.<br />
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Shift your lens for a moment. Imagine we valued an expanded view of family. The old woman who brings over food. The household full of noise and life and love. The neighbor who picks up all of the kids from school. Everyone becomes family. Now who has the deficit? The girl in this household who lacks a father but has the entire community? Or the boy with one sister, two parents, and doesn't know his neighbors?<br />
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We assign deficit to our students. There will always be a gap when we allow the ideal to be constructed using dominant norms.<br />
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Yes. The systems that imprison and deport the parents of our students need to be dismantled. I agree. But we make the problem worse.<br />
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That perceived deficit ends up having real-world consequences. We assume our student is misbehaving because he doesn't have a mother so we ignore it. We never call home because there's no father to call. We accept low scores because his mom has to work and isn't around to help.<br />
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We do nothing. We lower our expectations. We don't teach. Our students don't learn. A gap is created. It's not because your student doesn't have a father. It's because we missed the family he does have. To us, it just didn't look like family. <br />
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This doesn't stop with just schools and teachers. Invoking <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1049471?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103837212123">Patricia Hill-Collins</a>, we can look at how transfer of wealth, loans, and taxation operate on an ideal of family that is centered on the dominant norm. We can look at our country built around freeways and the conveyances that fit a 2-partner, 2.5-child family so nicely. We can look at who can be a dependent on our health care and can visit us in prisons and hospitals. Even now, folks are becoming less comfortable with deporting a mother but are still fine with deporting the aunt who is the primary wage-earner in the household. Benefits accrue over time for those who fit the dominant norm of family, the system perpetuates itself, and gaps get wider. These systems stretch across our society yet are completely invisible.<br />
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We make the mistake of thinking we see deficits when we're really seeing differences. It is our obligation as teachers to de-center ourselves and see the strengths that are already in our students and our communities. Until this happens, we are part of the problem.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-24369083977203498472013-09-07T10:00:00.000-07:002013-09-30T21:53:04.734-07:00Between Silence and SilencingQuick. Who is the foremost voice on the lives of the working poor?<br />
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Did you say <a href="http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/">Barbara Ehrenreich</a>? I did. Truthfully, I couldn't come up with any other names.<br />
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This is a problem.<br />
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I appreciate the work of Barbara Ehrenreich. I do. Nobody has done more to bring the experiences of the working poor into the public discourse.<br />
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This is also a problem.<br />
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It is a problem that the voice <i>for</i> the working poor is not a voice <i>of</i> the working poor.<br />
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To say nothing allows our status quo to continue. By staying silent, the powerful maintain and benefit from the legacies of inequality. <br />
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But it is easy to pass from silence into silencing. Privilege amplifies voice. When those in power speak, it drowns out the voices of the marginalized.<br />
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We read Dr. Ehrenreich. We listen to <a href="http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2013/08/30/from-miley-to-macklemore-the-privilege-spectrum/">Macklemore</a>. We stop <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/">Kony.</a> We celebrate <a href="http://chiefelk.tumblr.com/post/49527456060/an-open-letter-to-eve-ensler">V-Day.</a> <br />
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The space between silence and silencing is difficult to navigate. It can't be done without intention. It is the smallest transition from speaking <i>with</i> to speaking <i>for</i>.<br />
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Dr. Ehrenreich should be writing books. Macklemore is entitled to make any music he wants.<br />
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However, along with acknowledging the role of our own privilege in making our voice heard, we need to use that privilege as a megaphone for the voices of the marginalized. Dr. Ehrenreich is in a position where she could publish an anthology written by the working poor. She could publicize or financially support <a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/">Poor Magazine</a> and the <a href="http://www.poornewsnetwork.com/">Poor News Network</a>. It wouldn't take any effort for Macklemore to acknowledge <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/05/queer_hip_hop.html">other rappers</a> that have confronted LGBT issues in hip-hop.<br />
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I recently watched the film <a href="http://crackingthecodes.org/">Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity</a> and it includes a scence where <a href="http://joydegruy.com/">Dr. Joy DeGruy </a>tells about a trip to the grocery store with her sister-in-law. The clip is on youtube.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wf9QBnPK6Yg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I like this scene as an illustration of using privilege to amplify Dr. Joy DeGruy's voice. It is obvious that silence would have been the wrong tactic. Without the power of a privileged voice, it is quite likely the checker would have gotten more and more defensive. Her manager may have taken the checker's side. We see this all the time in school when a student may complain about a teacher and we close ranks around the teacher. Even if the situation was resolved, the checker may have gone home talking about the "angry Black woman" at the store.<br />
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On the other hand, the sister-in-law could have taken over. She could have re-centered the conversation around herself and away from Dr. DeGruy. She could have made the incident about her own favorite issue rather than the specific treatment of the checker towards Dr. DeGruy. The sister-in-law didn't attempt to put words in Dr. DeGruy's mouth or explicate the feelings of Dr. DeGruy. Her sister-in-law simply backed up Dr. DeGruy's statements and used her power to make sure Dr. DeGruy was heard.<br />
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It is a thin line. Sometimes I am too silent. Sometimes I'm too loud. When I'm silent it's because I don't notice or because I'm <a href="http://www.sou.edu/wrc/Trans%20of%20Silence.PDF">afraid to be noticed</a>.<br />
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When I'm too loud it's because my own internalized hierarchies take over.<br />
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In many areas of my life I have power. I am a cis male. I am straight. I speak fluent English. I am educated and have never had to worry about when I will eat next.<br />
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The hardest thing to do isn't to turn up the volume so much that others are forced to listen. It is easy for me to be heard. The hardest thing to do is step aside and let others be heard in the space that I've been occupying. <br />
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1: I use "working poor" because that's the term used on Dr. Ehrenreich's website.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-467242640512675082013-07-28T12:00:00.000-07:002013-07-28T13:13:19.518-07:00Supporting Teachers of Color<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0947c115-1e6a-669b-5936-503aea2648a8" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>This is cross-posted at <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/2013/07/supporting-teachers-of-color.html">Educating Grace</a>. </i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">First, this post was co-written with </span><a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Grace</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and heavily influenced by a post by </span><a href="https://medium.com/ladybits-on-medium/53aaf639fc0c" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Isis</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and one by </span><a href="http://thefeministgriote.com/how-to-be-a-good-queer-trans-ally/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Feminist Griote</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Second, we're writing about race in this post. To echo Feminist Griote, we're not trying to play Oppression Olympics. We're not here to argue who has it worse. We understand that different oppressions intersect and reinforce each other. However, we're using race as a center and, specifically, race in the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Third, when we talk about racism, we don't usually mean, "Someone called me a name." What we're talking about is the broader internalized, structural, and institutional racism that permeates our schools like the smell of the cafeteria. And like that smell, it is its omnipresence that normalizes it. In most of the United States, we are less likely to be talking about overt racism as we are </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Persistence/dp/1442202181" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">color-blind racism</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Thus while it is important for all of us to address our own individual biases, it is our participation in a system of racist oppression that ultimately does the most damage.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The following are some Do's and Don’ts for supporting teachers of color.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't ask us to justify ourselves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. To put a twist on the popular Hari Kondabolu </span><a href="http://reclaimingthenativetag.tumblr.com/post/55651329394/telling-people-of-color-theyre-obsessed-with" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">quote</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, asking a teacher of color for evidence of racism is like asking a drowning person for evidence of water. Start with the assumption that racism exists. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do acknowledge our experiences.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> We are not looking for approval and we are not looking for acceptance. What we do want is for you realize that we live in different realities. We have very different lived experiences and part of your acknowledgment is knowing that you can never </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> understand. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Don't expect us to educate you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. We appreciate you asking. We really do. There are two things. First is from point 1. It often feels like we're not educating but rather defending. Two, it just gets tiring. It is like that kid in class who asks the most basic questions day in and day out and saying, "Look on the board" gets old.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do educate yourself.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> We want you to be part of the conversation, but we need to get past the introductions. None of us will ever know everything. Education will be a constant. Do some basic googling. Read </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Teaching_to_Transgress.html?id=_8bBQgAACAAJ" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">bell hooks</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Some </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_formation_theory" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Omi and Winant</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Learn about </span><a href="http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/ele3600/mcintosh.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">privilege</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.cgu.edu/PDFFiles/ses/TEIP/Tara%20J.%20Yosso%20culturalwealth.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">cultural wealth</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125859207" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">stereotype threat</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Start noticing the daily </span><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201010/racial-microaggressions-in-everyday-life" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">microaggressions </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and </span><a href="http://rci.rutgers.edu/~wocfac/WOC/resources/challenging_racial_battle_fatigue.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">racial battle fatigue</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> that we experience. Learn to check yourself anytime you want to mention the </span><a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2013/02/three-quotes-on-identity-and.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">achievement gap</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or use </span><a href="http://rorotoko.com/interview/20111007_perry_imani_on_more_beautiful_terrible_embrace_transcendence_race/?page=3" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">exceptionals</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://people.virginia.edu/~cat3y/EDIS_882/February%2012_files/Love_Majority_Gap.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">majoritarian storytelling</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or the </span><a href="http://www.unco.edu/cebs/diversity/pdfs/duncan_note%20to%20educators_%20hope%20required%20when%20growing%20roses%20in%20concrete.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myth of hope</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Once you get the basics down, we'll be happy to sit and have a conversation. This goes double for anything related to our specific race or ethnicity. Don't, for example, turn to us during Chinese New Year and ask what year it is. Seriously. </span><a href="http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+year+is+2013+in+the+chinese+zodiac%3F" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Google</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. And please stop asking us </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">where we're from</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. One of the main tenets of White privilege is that you don't have to think about racism or race. As an ally, it is your duty to start.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't make it about you.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> If there's one thing that's going to cause teachers of color to throw up their hands and walk away, it's re-centering the conversation. It is not time to talk about your own experiences with racism. Or how your grandmother said shocking things. Or how your own experience as an INSERT HERE makes you qualified to understand what we go through every day. We know that you're probably trying to connect our experiences with your own. But the consequence of this is often derailing the conversation and re-centering it on yourself. It can also feel defensive and lead us back to needing to justify ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do seek out uncomfortable spaces. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We need allies. Your voice is important but while racism is an issue for all of us, our experiences are uniquely our own. Challenge yourself by sharing in our discomfort. Until you've felt a sliver of our daily pain, we can't know that you aren't paying us lip service and then retreating to the blissful ignorance of color-blindness once our backs are turned. Only by sharing in our discomfort can we be sure that you are invested in creating a more just and equitable world. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't co-opt. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Provide support, but we don't need you to solve our problems. We need you to solve </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">your</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> problems. You do you. We might have something we want to try. Let us try it. But don't jump in and offer "help" and suggestions. If you've reached point 2 and you've educated yourself, you know that your lived experiences in this world are completely different from ours. We will take the steps we think we need to take. At times, we may ask for some help, in which case, come in and then step back again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do the work on your end</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and we'll work ours. Racism needs to be fought from the side of the empowered and the side of the oppressed. Interrogate your privilege and then make every day a battle to fight it. Be prepared to be an ally, especially when you enter a space without any teachers of color. Call it out when you see it and help educate others in the White community. Closely examine the racial dynamics at play in your school. Whenever any systems in school re-create our social hierarchies, begin with the the assumption of racism and work from there</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't enter our safe space</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. There are times when we just need a place to talk to each other. At the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teachersofcolor" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Institute</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Jason reported actually feeling a physical change in his well-being. Sometimes we need that. We need to not worry about being judged because every one of us has held our tongues because we don't want to be the Angry Minority.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do see yourself as having an important role. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are times when we need a safe place but if we're going to fight racism it will take all of us. There will be more times than not when we are working together. We may often be traveling different paths, but we are both heading towards the same destination.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't assume we have allies because there are other teachers of color on campus.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> So many teachers we talk to speak of feeling isolated even at schools with a high concentration of teachers of color. Conversations about race are difficult within communities of color as well and we aren't all in the same place when it comes to critical consciousness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do help create a safe environment. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A campus racial climate survey might be a good way to get things rolling. Gather some data about participation (PTA, AP, remediation, extracurriculars) and talk about the results. Simply letting others know that you notice racism is a start. Being able to start a conversation about racism without worrying about being accused of being racist is part of your privilege. Use it for something positive. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please continue this conversation in the comments. Which one of these most resonated with you? What will you do next? What have you seen other allies do that you’ve found supportive? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you would like to comment anonymously, email Jason (jybuell - gmail) and he will add the comment himself. </span></div>
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-84416869610387252512013-06-22T22:25:00.002-07:002013-06-22T23:26:47.328-07:00Community versus ConformityThis week I spent three days at the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/teachersofcolor">FB page</a>). I'm still trying to process everything and decide what I can share.<br />
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The first session I attended was taught by the amazing Artnelson Concordia at Balboa High School in San Francisco. One of the things I learned about was his use of the unity clap and isang bagsak.<br />
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The UFW originated when the mostly Latin@ NFWA merged with the mostly Filipin@ AWOC. Meetings would start with unity clap to help bridge the language differences. Artnelson begins each of his classes with the unity clap.<br />
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Slides used with Artnelson's permission:<br />
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Isang bagsak literally means "one down." Someone shouts isang bagsak and everyone claps once simultaneously. Dalawang bagsak gets two claps. This started with the non-violent revolution in the Philippines to overthrow the Marcos regime and the idea is that if one falls, all of us fall.<br />
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Now compare Art's class to this Teaching Channel video on attention getters. If you click through the video is embedded, otherwise here's a direct <a href="https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/attention-getting-signals-practice">link</a>.<br />
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<script src="https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/attention-getting-signals-practice/embed?format=js" type="text/javascript"></script>
Listen to the words Nick Romagnolo uses. He talks about catching kids to see who is listening and of "programming" them.<br />
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If I walked into Art's class and the Nick's class these two practices would look identical. In both cases students are clapping and the end result is student attention. Despite that, these two practices could not be more different.<br />
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Related: In <a href="http://christopherdanielson.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/skills-practice-nctmdenver/">Skills Practice</a>, Christopher Danielson contrasted two videos of math teaching. A lot of the defense of the EDI video were comments about how the strategies themselves were good. My question is not about the strategies themselves but the intention of those strategies. Are they intended to honor the thinking of students? To create community? Or are they intended to ensure duplication?Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-2161203434495418922013-06-04T11:28:00.000-07:002013-06-04T20:35:52.643-07:00End of Year Letter - 2013This is one of those posts bloggers do to remind themselves of changes to make for next year. Nothing to see here. Move along.<br />
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At the end of the year one of the things I do is go to Target and buy 100s of Thank You cards. I think the pack I bought this year was $2.99 for 50. I ask students to write a thank you to a person at the school. It is usually a teacher but can be anyone. Our "student advisor" (AKA the huge guy that yanks kids out of class) gets a lot of cards as do the people that run the afterschool program. My only rule is that it can't be to me. Some kids do only one. I think this year one student wrote five. Then I drop them in mailboxes. It's a nice thing, especially for the 6th grade teachers who assume they have been forgotten.<br />
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I showed my students the Neil Tyson "Most Astounding Fact" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU">video</a> as the introduction and mentioned that this is where my introduction came from. Since I asked them to write Thank Yous yesterday I also included a thank you. Then I just gave them the letter. Like <a href="http://samjshah.com/2013/05/30/senior-letter-2013/">Sam</a>, ideally I'd like students to keep it in their yearbook and randomly stumble on it every few years.<br />
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I tried to keep it to one page because I'm not entirely sure 8th graders will read even that much.<br />
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I over-edited and the transitions are ugly. I also took out the more personal stuff in favor of broader stuff. I think that was a mistake. I should have definitely left in, "Future classes will look up at the ceiling, see the smoke stains, and know that we were here."</div>
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<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/145609319/End-of-Year-Letter-2013" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View End of Year Letter 2013 on Scribd">End of Year Letter 2013</a> by <a href="http://www.scribd.com/jasonbuell" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View jasonbuell's profile on Scribd">jasonbuell</a></div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.772922022279349" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_95499" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/145609319/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2d9507p87pdjarq197fc&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe>Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-44114780944093049672013-05-07T22:40:00.001-07:002013-05-07T22:43:32.592-07:00Scientific Writing ScaffoldsAs a department we've been working on different writing scaffolds. We use <a href="http://cm.elachieve.org/">Constructing Meaning</a> 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.<br />
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This was one of our first attempts. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXd-dAphl9a-ck80pOFlfQIOjxAFcJL1x9_C_YyVVDE3LY27WblClAI7QEOptiNUNcEUD3mJHWRrS20VLPJ0wM1OGkXmcv74SONQyXIdhroAsa7RoS-zCKXDFdHh0M8XYwAM84YovgOn4/s1600/earthquake.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXd-dAphl9a-ck80pOFlfQIOjxAFcJL1x9_C_YyVVDE3LY27WblClAI7QEOptiNUNcEUD3mJHWRrS20VLPJ0wM1OGkXmcv74SONQyXIdhroAsa7RoS-zCKXDFdHh0M8XYwAM84YovgOn4/s1600/earthquake.png" /></a></div>
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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.<br />
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We pulled two main lessons from this.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Next attempts:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-IBl3nGfwXqXVvLYTfBoJ0LYzyn5QDwm6_IeGZuKGEIwUwIBM5Y4yBXcXMTFmBw2xGw4exZCETy0GlLEdYoS9QiEWpjAgDERfcSjHxfxGPVT5YoA8zDEsOUzfzebb9BffZFUT66fkiQs/s1600/muscle+cramps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-IBl3nGfwXqXVvLYTfBoJ0LYzyn5QDwm6_IeGZuKGEIwUwIBM5Y4yBXcXMTFmBw2xGw4exZCETy0GlLEdYoS9QiEWpjAgDERfcSjHxfxGPVT5YoA8zDEsOUzfzebb9BffZFUT66fkiQs/s640/muscle+cramps.png" width="518" /></a></div>
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9e2NjZJ__Vb0aXG-eF3XjSg0tkwgNJhOTv-06omeZ6WSTwMEaT_FnHcTFOfcPnHHe79ZWD-OCXtTmTeq2OtZZi5_NSRkBx0J2NyN8zoLGJsQUjg4bycMDupj647j6M9jkNZSvz5ZpP8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-07+at+9.21.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9e2NjZJ__Vb0aXG-eF3XjSg0tkwgNJhOTv-06omeZ6WSTwMEaT_FnHcTFOfcPnHHe79ZWD-OCXtTmTeq2OtZZi5_NSRkBx0J2NyN8zoLGJsQUjg4bycMDupj647j6M9jkNZSvz5ZpP8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-07+at+9.21.49+PM.png" /></a></div>
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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."</div>
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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:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3k7s8v59H5IH-oTAut9FB7_Krh7cIa8eZ1zz4STWkSCXMgQj0LnMcvXoTzM7qlgfJza-KGeCYOaI4fr405P1tSbvFF8zxDynui6v5NrtjQCOdjnPN7VGV9oMfG4q49nACK6vJJePf9pQ/s1600/flood+insurance.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3k7s8v59H5IH-oTAut9FB7_Krh7cIa8eZ1zz4STWkSCXMgQj0LnMcvXoTzM7qlgfJza-KGeCYOaI4fr405P1tSbvFF8zxDynui6v5NrtjQCOdjnPN7VGV9oMfG4q49nACK6vJJePf9pQ/s1600/flood+insurance.png" /></a></div>
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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.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_0OsQZHtN1iD-XqWXCnNAvPFOzcmXNxlce8otmpqGK8Db1_iHQPI4-mw8N84rnPAbA6dGR2Gm-9NO7Mpj9jO_bCAauxBk3x4s5I9xg6_23dlXdA4T21kukTjiOUIlLbx7kCNThwRzg/s1600/disaster+relief.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_0OsQZHtN1iD-XqWXCnNAvPFOzcmXNxlce8otmpqGK8Db1_iHQPI4-mw8N84rnPAbA6dGR2Gm-9NO7Mpj9jO_bCAauxBk3x4s5I9xg6_23dlXdA4T21kukTjiOUIlLbx7kCNThwRzg/s400/disaster+relief.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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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_______________."<br />
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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...."<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-92214938374490424942013-04-25T22:23:00.000-07:002013-04-25T22:23:23.359-07:00Shuffle QuizWe're in the midst of <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2011/08/information-about-california-standards.html">CST</a> 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.<br />
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Right now I'm leaning heavily on shuffle quizzes for my skills practice.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Some use notes:<br />
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<ol>
<li>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. </li>
<li>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. </li>
<li>Since this is review, I tried to cluster them into similar problem types.</li>
<li>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. </li>
<li>I've signed each paper and also just signed the one and had students staple them all together. Again, no preference. </li>
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Here are some sample pics:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYvhhBje2Ng1nXhfMYEbWYcqcHaBVV5IykhhuLomJxKBDDN6m6zwWef2ToCcI5M0kdqgSm28WCqd07u6gcJJASt5KyjhDUrpTj34krQEbTooZ5wWJq4roXMrmGXMrC9a7n3DA1sWkmpY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-25+at+10.10.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYvhhBje2Ng1nXhfMYEbWYcqcHaBVV5IykhhuLomJxKBDDN6m6zwWef2ToCcI5M0kdqgSm28WCqd07u6gcJJASt5KyjhDUrpTj34krQEbTooZ5wWJq4roXMrmGXMrC9a7n3DA1sWkmpY/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-04-25+at+10.10.17+PM.png" width="450" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6dilzYHrnBuYvFMDdT0Nz4a4GMfh3RGIONcvF9hwMXmkRvZqMD5Fi5Q90-j_vgK2_wA0uEkM0iIgmi6M9nDyJs6fx8IW70WRHFcWbbaPjCnHSw82oDQvCCXtiI4sVChshhA2nWKD0Ek/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-25+at+9.43.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6dilzYHrnBuYvFMDdT0Nz4a4GMfh3RGIONcvF9hwMXmkRvZqMD5Fi5Q90-j_vgK2_wA0uEkM0iIgmi6M9nDyJs6fx8IW70WRHFcWbbaPjCnHSw82oDQvCCXtiI4sVChshhA2nWKD0Ek/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-04-25+at+9.43.34+PM.png" width="586" /></a></div>
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-81466330540665174812013-03-04T00:01:00.001-08:002013-03-04T20:42:18.675-08:00The idea is the easy part.......and access is not a goal.<br />
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<b>The idea is the easy part......</b><br />
<a href="http://hackeducation.com/2013/03/03/hacking-your-education-stephens-hole-in-the-wall-mitra/">Audrey Watters</a> and <a href="http://www.educationrethink.com/2013/03/the-problem-with-ted-talks.html">John Spencer</a> both have articles up talking about the problems with <a href="http://www.ted.com/">TED</a>. 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.<br />
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I have a different issue. My problem isn't with TED. I happen to like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPeKdXhGcZQ">quite</a> <a href="http://youtu.be/3GkY-ZXnx4w">a</a> <a href="http://youtu.be/BlvKWEvKSi8">few</a> <a href="http://youtu.be/1yqmbJc3xWA">talks</a>. TED is simply mirroring our values.<sup>1</sup><br />
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My problem is that we place too much value on <i>the idea</i> and not enough on <i>the work</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ted.com/pages/prizewinner_sugata_mitra">Sugata Mitra</a> has an idea. He wants to open a <a href="http://youtu.be/ka9wDpNx2ag">School in the Cloud</a>. 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 <i>keep it happening</i>.<br />
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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.<br />
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<b>....and access is not a goal.</b><br />
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Bill Gates and Will.I.Am want everyone to have the opportunity to <a href="http://www.code.org/">code</a>.<sup>2</sup> 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.<br />
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Providing access is the absolute minimum that we can possibly do and still feel like we've accomplished something.<br />
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(edit: I should <a href="http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Journals_and_Books/JRME/articles/JRME_Special_Equity_Issue/jrme2010-08-5a.pdf">link this</a> for a scholarly view on access)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1: Or at least the type of values that someone who would watch a TED talk has.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1.5: I avoided ranting about Alfie Kohn. Be proud.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2: I'm <a href="https://twitter.com/jybuell/status/306642190183055360">not a fan</a> of the <a href="https://twitter.com/jybuell/status/306650009095516160">idea</a> 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. </span><br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-46822489349450749092013-02-25T09:00:00.000-08:002013-02-25T10:50:09.668-08:00Three Quotes on Identity and the Achievement GapI'm pushing the limits of Fair Use but I wanted to post these for my own future reference.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/drcamikaroyal">Dr. Camika Royal</a> on <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=osSClCyy2lYC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=Asa+Hilliard+no+mystery&source=bl&ots=zTQ0v1uk8e&sig=WqYMcBdO2yDeLDxnfZLa9VgYkqk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7dCaUMmwEu30iwKi_4CgAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA">Asa Hilliard</a> quoted in <a href="http://www.good.is/posts/please-stop-using-the-phrase-achievement-gap">Please Stop Using the Phrase 'Achievement Gap'</a><br />
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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.
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<a href="http://education.illinois.edu/people/rg1">Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez</a> (originally from East San Jose!) in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40539302?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101860164787">A "Gap-Gazing Fetish" in Mathematics Education. Problematizing Research on the Achievement Gap</a>, p. 359.<br />
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...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.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://andrewsolomon.com/">Andrew Solomon</a> in <a href="http://andrewsolomon.com/books/far-from-the-tree/">Far from the Tree</a><br />
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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.<br />
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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)</blockquote>
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<b>Vertical identities are usually respected as identities; horizontal ones are often treated as flaws.</b>(page 4)</blockquote>
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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)</blockquote>
Three quick thoughts:<br />
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I used to think that our fixation on the "achievement gap" was a form of microaggression (see <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201010/racial-microaggressions-in-everyday-life">this post</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/BJL2P0JsAS4">this vid</a> and <a href="http://microaggressions.tumblr.com/">this tumblr</a>) but I've been underestimating the impact.<br />
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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?<br />
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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?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
_________<br />
Thanks to <a href="http://doingmathematics.com/">Bryan</a> and <a href="http://blog.mathed.net/">Raymond</a> for the Gutierrez articles and for the <a href="https://plus.google.com/events/cplr753ra043v22md0vbjrnveik">Hangout </a>and <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/">Grace</a> for recommending the Solomon book.<br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-61633130788053104922013-02-12T09:53:00.000-08:002013-02-13T11:03:17.251-08:00Miss AI'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 <a href="http://learningmatters.tv/pdfs/fallon2001.pdf">speech</a> [pdf] by Dan Fallon for the overview. Read it again whenever you start feeling like what you do doesn't matter.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/willyb">Ben</a> was good enough to send me the original <a href="http://www.hepg.org/her/abstract/881">1978 Harvard Education Review</a> article. The lead author was a former student of hers and also wrote this <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19731220&id=hxMyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6aEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3825,857305">response</a> to a newspaper letter after she passed away.<br />
<br />
(Miss A's real name was Iole Appugliese—Miss Apple Daisy to her students. There's a little more biographical information in <a href="http://greatmontrealers.ccmm.qc.ca/en/82/">A Tribute to the Great Montrealers</a>.)<br />
<br />
<br />
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.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-51561826173416015642013-02-10T14:29:00.001-08:002013-05-08T21:25:55.694-07:00Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice <br />
<i>Update 5/7/13: I'm in. If you're going I'll see you there.</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
San Jose State is hosting the <b>Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice</b>. It's $150 and there's a brief application process that includes a few extended response questions. I've applied but I won't know for a few months if I'm in. Here's the body of the email I received (Thanks Kari):<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Keynotes Confirmed:</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Dr. Tara Yosso, Chicana/o Studies, UCSB</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, Asian American Studies and Educational Leadership, SFSU</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
In California, students of color comprise over 70% of the public school population, but teachers of color make up less than 30% of the teaching force. With barriers such as limited resources, testing pressures and culturally-disconnected mandated curriculum, teachers of color with a commitment to racial justice face many challenges in realizing their vision, and can feel isolated in their work. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
June 19-21, 2013, San José State University is hosting the third annual Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice, a three-day conference to support the development, success and retention of teachers of color struggling to achieve racial justice in schools. It is intended as a community building, professional development space for teachers of color to explore the racial climate of their schools, receive training to navigate these realities, and strategize how to create racially transformative classrooms and schools. We are also accepting applications from school administrators of color and teacher educators of color who are interested in building alongside teachers. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The cost for attending the Institute is $150, which includes breakfast, lunch and materials for all three days (a limited number of scholarships are available for those who are not receiving district funding). Applications should be submitted by April 1, 2013 and we will notify applicants by early May. If you are interested in attending this Institute, please complete the application through the following link: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Instituteforteachersofcolor" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">www.surveymonkey.com/s/<wbr></wbr>Instituteforteachersofcolor</a></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
We are looking for teachers, school administrators and teacher educators of color who:<br />
• Are committed to racial justice.<br />
• Work at schools serving a significant population of students of color.<br />
• Want to build a like-minded community.<br />
• Have specific needs that can be met by the Institute. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
We are also hoping to achieve racial and gender balance among participants to represent the diversity of teachers, school administrators, and teacher educators of color. Please submit any inquiries to Dr. Rita Kohli at rita.kohli-REMOVE-ME-@-sjsu.edu.</blockquote>
I altered the email address at the end for the scrapers. Take out any dashes and the REMOVE ME.<br />
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<br />
If this is too far for you, I've also heard good things about:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fmfp.org/">Free Minds, Free People</a> on July 11-14 in Chicago<br />
<a href="http://www.nycore.org/conference/">New York Collective of Radical Educators</a> on March 16 in NYC<br />
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Some brief googling also led me to:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nwtsj.org/">Northwest Conference on Teaching of Social Justice</a> October in Seattle<br />
<a href="http://www.equitysocialjustice.org/">Conference on Equity and Social Justice</a> on March 2 in New Paltz, New York<br />
<a href="http://education.csuci.edu/justice-conference/">Conference for Social Justice in Education</a> on April 20 in the Channel Islands, CA.<br />
<br />
I haven't heard anything about those though. <br />
<br />
<br />
If there are any other conferences you'd recommend on social justice leave it in the comments.<br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-18242923416541174322013-01-30T23:10:00.001-08:002013-01-30T23:10:29.899-08:00Reasoning in ContextFirst off, the best writer on inquiry might be an electronics teacher at a technical school in the far reaches of Canada. If you haven't checked <a href="http://shiftingphases.com/2013/01/30/breakthrough-questioning-scientific-discourse-community/">her blog</a> yet (despite my multiple recommendations), do so now and thank me later.<br />
<br />
I wanted to get down some things I've been thinking about with argument and specifically with <b>Reasoning</b> in the <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/p/claim-evidence-reasoning.html">Claim Evidence Reasoning</a> format that I use. It's pretty fuzzy still.<br />
<br />
In an earlier <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/05/claim-evidence-reasoning-argumentation.html">post</a> I cited Berland and Reiser's three reasons for making a scientific explanation:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Sensemaking</li>
<li>Articulating</li>
<li>Persuading</li>
</ol>
<div>
This year I've been reflecting on the changes I need to make to how my class approaches a written or verbal explanation depending on which of these three purposes is our focus.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/cer-more-on-reasoning.html">Reasoning</a> <a href="http://shiftingphases.com/2013/01/26/causal-thinking-different-in-biology-vs-physics/">is</a> <a href="http://www.education.msu.edu/projects/leaps/proceedings/Gotwals.pdf">hard</a>. There's no getting around that. I think I've been making it harder on my students though because I've been using "reasoning" as an umbrella term for "the part that requires a lot of thinking." <a href="http://teachbrianteach.wordpress.com/">Brian</a>, as always, was ahead of me here when <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/cer-more-on-reasoning.html?showComment=1334231942791#c5151425873318927422">he commented</a> on the distinction between argument and explanation.<br />
<br />
What I've been learning is that I need to be more explicit (<i>ongoing theme alert!</i>) and identify for my students <b>what reasoning means in context.</b><i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Examples:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
When we're engaged in a launch activity and students are using evidence to construct a claim, they're primarily focused on sensemaking. In this case, when I ask them for their reasoning, I'm really asking them to explicitly connect their evidence and claim in a consistent manner. I would expect my students to explain the patterns in their data and what those patterns might mean.<br />
<br />
In a written prompt or lab practicum, I'm asking students to articulate their content knowledge. This is a test of what you've learned so far. In this case, when I say reasoning what I really expect is for my students to link scientific principals from class to whatever is on the page in front of them.<br />
<br />
In whole class discussion and whiteboarding roundtables, we're engaged in persuading. Depending on the context, I would expect some combination of the above. But I would also expect you to directly address the opposing viewpoint and explain why your claim is better in some way.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's also important for middle schoolers, and probably all ages, to understand that these different types of reasoning wouldn't just differ in content, but <b>also in language</b>. Google around and you can find lists of words that would appear in <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=persuasive+writing+signal+words">persuasive writing</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=expository+writing+signal+words">expository writing</a>. I use a lot of sentence frames and starters, but it's also a good self-check for students to go back and look for certain key words. I've got a couple of examples I'll put up in future posts.<br />
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Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-35552909764123150572013-01-27T08:22:00.000-08:002013-01-27T08:22:11.218-08:00Groups, Individuals, and Individuals with GroupsHere's something I copied off a classroom wall at Mission HS.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwrq9DKZ_DRjN7uJKHnD6AmRhtKf_AMJg7yeEi5q69JgPemFwRr2GjezrgBvxljhz095TpRXKz0K_MVyXsDzl9-QxFvIVhld9xbOVeXl_ZDo13hdg_SAuvIAqLgKATiSwCtSiBo8zXfY/s1600/Group+norms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwrq9DKZ_DRjN7uJKHnD6AmRhtKf_AMJg7yeEi5q69JgPemFwRr2GjezrgBvxljhz095TpRXKz0K_MVyXsDzl9-QxFvIVhld9xbOVeXl_ZDo13hdg_SAuvIAqLgKATiSwCtSiBo8zXfY/s400/Group+norms.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Imagine it a lot prettier with stick figure examples.<br />
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I don't differentiate between these three very well (at all) with my students. The always insightful <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/">Grace</a> also pointed out to me that it helps the teacher differentiate the three types of activities. Often a teacher calls something "group work" but what it really is just students working in parallel. It's one of those "no duh" moments I always have when I walk into someone else's classroom.<br />
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<br />
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_________<br />
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Addendum: Something I forgot to mention in my last post. Mission HS is experimenting with Geometry for every 9th grader regardless of whether or not they even took Algebra in 8th grade. During the class they emphasize the algebra components within geometry, mainly working with the coordinate plane, graphs, and solving equations. As sophomores, students then go back to either taking Algebra or Advanced Algebra.<br />
<br />
They had a whole bunch of interesting reasons. They felt students could use a fresh start and didn't need their math history to haunt them into high school. Geometry itself is so different that perhaps students who hadn't had success in math would find something in geometry. Their freshman courses were heavily skewed along racial lines. The standard math sequence is screwy anyway since you'd be better off doing Advanced Algebra (Alg II) immediately after Algebra instead of having a year off with Geometry.<br />
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I'm curious to follow up next year. Last year I <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/02/creating-balance-complex-instruction.html">wrote</a> about how inspiring the group of math teachers are and nothing I saw changes my opinion. I really don't know if Geometry for all ninth graders is a good idea. Someone in California politics thought Algebra for every 8th grader was a good idea. But they're willing to stick their necks out and experiment and do what they believe is the right thing.<br />
<br />
PS - Mission is the school featured in the article <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/08/mission-high-false-low-performing-school">Everything You've Heard About Failing Schools is Wrong</a>.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-37283077264105580862013-01-25T21:52:00.001-08:002013-02-25T10:49:54.108-08:00Creating Balance: ReflectionsThis is the second year I've gone to the <a href="http://creatingbalanceconference.org/">Creating Balance</a> conference. I've been kicking around a couple of longer reflections but wanted to do something quick while it was still fresh.<br />
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First off, this happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmICPrRxp7fsE8EnP4WFpJ1Ho2WlZwMfp_k2Uh1_7drb7Fj6Ygv8KfVUln17n0in7ksbHlVST7s7iT0zzSFxv3daIFnT8AT53d_NGjahTjttZfyJmUMc9irNwWz_1GALG60kS63pTcJs/s1600/dinnerwithfriends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmICPrRxp7fsE8EnP4WFpJ1Ho2WlZwMfp_k2Uh1_7drb7Fj6Ygv8KfVUln17n0in7ksbHlVST7s7iT0zzSFxv3daIFnT8AT53d_NGjahTjttZfyJmUMc9irNwWz_1GALG60kS63pTcJs/s320/dinnerwithfriends.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That's <a href="https://twitter.com/blaw0013">Brian Lawler</a>, me, <a href="https://twitter.com/woutgeo">Avery Pickford</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/btwnthenumbers">Bree Murray</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/graceachen">Grace Chen</a> at <a href="http://tacolicioussf.com/">Tacolicious</a>. Earlier in the day, I had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_taco">Korean tacos</a> and Grace and <a href="http://twitter.com/cheesemonkeysf">Elizabeth</a> had french fries smothered in Korean short ribs. Great people. Great food. Anything else is just a bonus right? It's a strange time to live in where you can go to any conference in any place and know people.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Complex Instruction:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/02/creating-balance-complex-instruction.html">Last time</a> I went through a Complex Instruction strand. One of the things I mentioned is I still saw certain students take over and lead the group. This time one of the teachers at Mission pointed out that what we're seeing is just a snapshot. Sure it might look like one person is dominating the group. But last week it was a different person. He said you need to be intentional about designing different tasks for different strengths. The lesson I saw was about calculating the surface area for three-dimensional shapes and very clearly certain kids took the lead. He said last week they used GeoGebra to explore (something) and I might have seen a different set of kids leading.<br />
<br />
If there's something that I need to keep coming back to with CI, it's that we need to actively work to redefine what it means to be smart in mathematics (and science and everything else).<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Parent Outreach:</b><br />
I've previously <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/01/status-change.html">written</a> about previewing content ahead of time instead of waiting to remediate in order to address status issues in class. I sat in a workshop with two people from the <a href="http://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/math-project">UCLA Mathematics Project</a> who did the same thing but with academic-focused parent nights. The teacher, Brett Davis, would lead a workshop (Wed/Thur night, same content each night) previewing the math his students would be learning for the next 6 weeks or so. He would start with an engaging launch activity and do some of the math with the parents and add a bit of vocabulary. From a practical standpoint, this was mostly stuff he'd be doing anyway so there wasn't much additional planning involved, unlike with the more common Family Math Nights where the focus isn't as academic.<br />
<br />
Brett made it clear he wasn't expecting parents to become experts in the math but his goal was to change their relationship with math and to open up lines of communication from parent to student and parent to teacher.<br />
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<br />
<b><a href="http://education.illinois.edu/people/rg1">Rochelle Gutierrez</a></b><br />
<br />
Dr. Gutierrez was the keynote. I want to blow this out into a full post at some point but I'm hoping <a href="http://www.doingmathematics.com/">Bryan Meyer</a> will take care of that first (edit: <a href="http://www.doingmathematics.com/2/post/2013/01/nepantla-living-in-tension.html">He did</a>.). If you have access, the latest <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/jresematheduc.44.issue-1">JRME</a> is all on equity. Until then, three terms Dr. Gutierrez brought up. She called teachers "identity workers." She also introduced me to the term "<i>nepantla</i>" which is Nahuatl and represents something like "the space between" ("the and and or and both and neither"). Finally, she distinguished <i>knowing of</i> your students/communities from <i>knowing with</i> your students/communities. She used the term <i>conocimiento</i> which in Spanish translates to "knowledge" but, if I'm understanding this correctly, has a communal connotation. I'll need a waterfall, a tree, and lifetime supply of incense to work out the implications for all of this.<br />
<br />
She also mentioned she teaches her future teachers about "creative insubordination" and how to Play the Game, Change the Game. If you know me, you know I'm more insubordinate than creative so she's one I'm going to need to keep following.<br />
<br />
I found her article <a href="http://rcme.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Gutierrez_Embracing%20Nepantla.pdf">Embracing Nepantla</a> through a google search.<br />
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<b>The B</b><b>r(y)(i)ans</b><br />
<br />
Brian Lawler and Bryan Meyer led a session. Bryan has blogged the <a href="http://www.doingmathematics.com/2/post/2012/12/teaching-experiments-degrees-of-student-inquiry.html">main focus</a> so I won't recap but it was mainly on the tensions involved in launching a problem. This is something I definitely struggle with. How do I respect the ideas and motivations of my students without leaving any science on the table?<br />
<br />
I enjoyed the dynamic between the two of them and want a professor to adopt me.<br />
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Lawler casually mentioned his pre-service teachers write a PBL lesson that they have veteran teachers implement in their own classrooms and then get feedback. I want more information about this.<br />
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<br />
Elizabeth wrote about a <a href="http://cheesemonkeysf.blogspot.com/2013/01/reflection-on-wallowing-after-two-faces.html">session</a> I shared with her and Brian Lawler.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Random Presentation Feedback</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
If there's one piece of advice I kept leaving on feedback forms it was "Know your audience." I'm at a conference on social justice and mathematics. I think there's a certain amount of savvy you can expect from this group and we don't need to spend the first 45 minutes discussing why creating mathematical identities are important. And in such a focused conference, you'd want to up the level on a Day Two presentation.<br />
<br />
Your final slide should show your contact information.<br />
<br />
I was on Twitter the other day blasting the Jigsaw strategy. <a href="http://twitter.com/delta_dc">David Coffey</a> rightly pointed out that it had good uses. I agree but I think if the ultimate goal of the jigsaw is "summary," you're probably doing it wrong. There's a big difference between splitting up 4 articles and having you summarize them and splitting up 4 articles and having you analyze a scenario based on how you think your author would respond.<br />
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I don't think I'm a fan of audience participation in the beginning of a workshop ("discuss at your table and share....."). It feels a bit false and flat. I know the presenter is not doing anything with our input because the slide deck is already created and I've got the handouts.<br />
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As a teacher, I can gather input from my students in the beginning and use it to help influence the next few weeks. In a one-shot 90 minute session, the presenter is coming in and driving the bus. The presenter should respond or clarify and listen to anything the audience has to add, but they are not changing course entirely.<br />
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Also, and I know I'm guilty of this with my students, I think I'm sometimes being tricked into offering a "wrong" answer so the presenter can use that as a launching point. I'd much rather respond to something the presenter said towards the middle or end of a workshop.<br />
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<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-65497895907997716932012-12-16T14:54:00.000-08:002012-12-16T14:54:36.718-08:00Guided Reciprocal Peer QuestioningOne of my focuses for the year has been to develop better scientific discourse between students. My teacher-student interactions have progressed beyond Initiation-Response-Evaluation but I don't think my students have high quality conversations and I've been working on structuring more conversations.<sup>1</sup><br />
<br />
There are two areas I've been concentrating on - questioning and rebuttals. The first method I've been using is called <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/~jcnesbit/EDUC220/ThinkPaper/King2002.pdf">Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning</a> from Alison King. I've tried it a few times and have tinkered a bit as I've gone. The basic routine is:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Learn about something. </li>
<li>Provide generic question frames.</li>
<li>Students generate questions individually.</li>
<li>Students discuss the questions in their groups. </li>
<li>Share out.</li>
</ol>
<br />
I really like the question frames. This example is from a <a href="http://www.unc.edu/nrc/lac/tips_docs/Adzima--King_article.pdf">different article</a> and lists the type of thinking the question is designed to promote.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WUg40BIQ-tRoyFGH7xlI9lt5lVIoBxqosufRJbdVY9IXvwCqGCE59aD6sh5Wo4iQr2azyzab5EHBJEKc6vgfZsi96iovV-tdQfsmu7MtNZs3wXY3JgdrZ_LQpXzfSLVUk_Zx1seMhrY/s1600/www.unc.edu_nrc_lac_tips_docs_Adzima--King_article.pdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WUg40BIQ-tRoyFGH7xlI9lt5lVIoBxqosufRJbdVY9IXvwCqGCE59aD6sh5Wo4iQr2azyzab5EHBJEKc6vgfZsi96iovV-tdQfsmu7MtNZs3wXY3JgdrZ_LQpXzfSLVUk_Zx1seMhrY/s640/www.unc.edu_nrc_lac_tips_docs_Adzima--King_article.pdf.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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For my last unit (about construction in earthquake zones) my students got a list of fifteen of the question frames. They used the frames to write two questions each using two different frames. I give them a chance to read the frames over first and ask questions about any of the frames that are unclear. They take turns asking and answering the questions in their groups. I had them record the best answer which I defined as the consensus of the group rather than the best individual answer.<br />
<br />
I didn't want to overly structure the discussion by forcing turn taking but I also didn't want "everyone turn and wait for the 4.0 student to answer." This time I had students keep track using tally marks at the bottom of their sheet whenever a group member made a "positive contribution." It didn't have to be correct but it had to be something that moved the conversation forward. I tried to emphasize the goal being equity and the questioner had a responsibility to directly include another student in the conversation if he/she noticed that student had contributed little. I had mixed results. I noticed a few of the quieter kids brought into the conversation. I also noticed my achievers racing to "win" the discussion points. I'll continue to play with this part.<br />
<br />
I picked a random group member to share out a Deeper Understanding and a Further Investigation. As I get better at this, I hope to turn the Further Investigation questions into individual research projects.<br />
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Overall I like the process. There were some good breakthroughs in the discussions and I like the practice of having students generate questions. In the future I might try requiring group members to all select different frames. From what I've read, the original method was intended to be used after every lecture so it became part of the routine. I haven't made it a regular part of the routine but I've been happy with their progress. The best thing I've seen so far is that in the beginning, my students would write questions that they could answer themselves. They treated it like they were testing their group members. I've seen a gradual shift to actual discussion where students are asking things they're genuinely confused or curious about.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1: I do think this is largely part of the <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/2012/12/school-visits-part-3-exeter.html">culture of a school</a>. Students are usually taught to look to the teacher for answers.</span>Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-75157667564111309422012-09-09T00:13:00.000-07:002012-09-09T00:13:43.214-07:00Three Weeks InIt's been so long since I've posted I now qualify for the <a href="http://samjshah.com/math-blogging-initiation/">blogging initiation</a>. I'm writing just to get in the habit again so lower your expectations appropriately. It's a new school year and there are many changes.<br />
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1. I'm teaching 6th grade for the first time. I have three classes of 8th and three of 6th. Slightly fewer kids than last year (from 194 to 186). They are tiny and fun but earth science is still a huge struggle for me. I'm constantly banging my head figuring out how to actually run experiments in class and not just "build a model" activities. I have that new teacher shine again where I can't think ahead more than a few days in advance so even if I can figure out something I likely don't have the materials available. The previous teachers, while very capable, were more traditional "hands-on" types. All you need to know is I have an entire shelf full of Model Magic.<br />
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2. SBAR is both dead and alive. I have a new principal and AP and didn't get to talk to them before school started. Like many of you out there I hybridized what I could. I've got four categories now. Content Knowledge (50%), Inquiry (23%), Argument (20%), and Pillars (7%). Content Knowledge is described as my "Show me what you know" category. For most kids this is quizzes. This is basically standards-based. Inquiry is labs and lab design. This is assignment-based. On the plus side, I can still make the grade based on inquiry standards, but it won't be designed as a few basic standards the students are improving on as the year goes. Argument are mostly <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/p/claim-evidence-reasoning.html">CER and ADI</a> types of things. It's the same as Inquiry though where it will be assignment-based but I can grade on the standard.<sup>1</sup> Pillars is the school non-academic/character building/thing that goes on a poster on all of our doors category and is as tiny a percentage as I felt I could reasonably make it. I don't like it myself but I don't have a problem with people including non-academic categories in their grading (as long as it's explicit). I just spend zero time teaching those kinds of things beyond lip service and what's required and don't feel like it's fair for me to grade students on anything I'm not explicitly teaching in class. The good news about SBAR is the high schools we feed into switched over and so I think it's only a matter of time before it trickles down to us.<br />
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3. Shout out to prediction graphs. I've been pretty religious about getting students to make <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/cer-more-on-reasoning.html">model-based predictions</a> before doing an experiment. But it has mainly been in the form of sentence frames. My early introductions are spoon fed. "If the production model is correct, then the mass of the alka seltzer and water will <b>increase/decrease/stay the same</b>." I now have students include prediction graphs on their <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/claim-evidence-reasoning.html">whiteboards</a> in the graph section and I can't even believe the difference. Visually matching the prediction graph to the graph of the actual result is so much more powerful. I've had far less instances of students ignoring their evidence in favor of their own preconceptions.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1: I don't know if the distinction made sense since it's almost midnight. Think of them as exact opposites. With standards-based I have Standard 1 and apply Assignment 1, 2, 3, 4 to it. With assignment-based I have Assignment 1 and apply Standard 1, 2, 3, 4 to that assignment. Assignment-based is what Pearson seems to think standards-based is because my PowerSchool says it's "standards-based" but it definitely is not. If anyone from Pearson is reading this, I should be creating standards and adding assignments to it, not the other way around.</span>Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-2300040506926037002012-07-18T23:08:00.001-07:002012-07-18T23:08:38.417-07:00BreadcrumbsQuestion: When a student encounters a novel problem, whose voice does she hear in her head?<br />
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Possible sources of discussion: This post by <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-sense-of-understanding.html">Grace</a> and comment by <a href="http://educating-grace.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-sense-of-understanding.html?showComment=1315914669033#c6721586527924494152">Brian</a>. This teaching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStzJjLXdxM">video</a> and <a href="http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/2009/09/let-the-games-begin/#ixzz204mxzyl7">article</a> sent to me by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mpershan">@mpershan</a>. Google <a href="http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=5734">giving my district two million dollars</a> for <a href="http://www.dataworks-ed.com/video/corestandards">Explicit Direct Instruction</a>. <a href="http://emdffi.blogspot.com/2012/07/choice-words-chapters-three-and-four.html" style="background-color: white;">Chapter 4</a><span style="background-color: white;"> in the book <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jenorr">Jenny</a> and I are reading. Khan Academy.</span>Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-69111716933996374172012-07-10T15:21:00.000-07:002012-07-11T22:30:02.917-07:00More to Share<b>1.</b> I've got two posts for my paid gig at ASCD up:<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The first is about defining specific criteria for what argument in the class would look like:</span><br />
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<a href="http://inservice.ascd.org/annual-conference/defining-your-own-best-practices/">Defining Your Own Best Practices</a><br />
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I liked this session more than I thought I would. Pete Hall had a good mindset about the term "best practices" as something informed by research but defined at the local level. I also liked his thoughts about defining them in "meticulous detail." I don't know how many staff meetings I've sat through where we talk about "formative assessment" and everyone has a different idea of what that looks like.<br />
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The second is a routine for using metaphors in the classroom:<br />
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<a href="http://inservice.ascd.org/annual-conference/linking-prior-knowledge-and-new-content-with-metaphors/">Linking Prior Knowledge with New Content with Metaphors</a><br />
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I like Rick Wormeli's books. They're worth reading. However I found this presentation to be too broad and I didn't like his presentation style (think genie in Aladdin). There were a lot of good ideas but I would definitely recommend his books over going to see him live.<br />
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<b>2.</b> Jenny Orr, who blogs at <a href="http://emdffi.blogspot.com/">Elementary, My Dear, Or Far From It</a>, is one of my very favorite elementary teacher bloggers. We're both reading the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peter-H.-Johnston/e/B001HCS3EU/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1341954680&sr=8-2-ent">Peter H. Johnston</a> books this summer. We're going to read and discuss the books on her blog. Please please please join us. The first book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Choice-Words-Peter-H-Johnston/dp/1571103899/ref=la_B001HCS3EU_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341954685&sr=1-2">Choice Words</a>. We're doing the first two chapters this Saturday and then the next 3 each week until we're done.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We're going to read </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Minds-Using-Language-Change/dp/1571108165/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b" style="background-color: white;">Opening Minds</a> after that. So again, join us! Both books are quick reads and well worth your Amazon gift card dollars.<br />
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<b>3</b>. <a href="http://mathmistakes.posterous.com/">Math Mistakes</a> is a nice project from <a href="https://twitter.com/mpershan">@mpershan</a>. From the site:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Teachers need to be able to quickly look at mathematical work and identify the assumptions behind the work, and what actions to take in response to the work. That's hard. But practice can help us get better at this.</blockquote>
I love this idea. Go contribute.<br />
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(Yet another update: The very wonderful <a href="http://kellyoshea.wordpress.com/">Kelly O'Shea</a> has started <a href="http://physicsmistakes.wordpress.com/">Physics Mistakes</a>.)<br />
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<b>4.</b> <a href="http://mathmunch.wordpress.com/">Math Munch</a> is a weekly collection of fun math related things from around the web.<br />
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<b>5</b>. Finally, just to remind you that I actually do teach science, the sublime XKCD has started <a href="http://what-if.xkcd.com/">What If?</a> which answers such wonderful questions as, "<a href="http://what-if.xkcd.com/1/">What would happen if you hit at baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?</a>"<br />
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[updated]<br />
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<b>6. </b>I forgot to include the whole reason I started this post. <a href="http://lookslikescience.tumblr.com/">This Is What A Scientist Looks Like</a> is "a project developed to challenge the the stereotypical perception of a scientist." This is the beauty of living in a connected world.<br />
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[updated again]<br />
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7. <a href="http://statteacher.blogspot.com/2012/07/made-4-math-monday-2.html">#Made4Math</a> is a blog meme going around where teachers make different stuff to use for their class, like <a href="http://myweb20journey.blogspot.com/2012/07/made4math-monday-week-2.html">storage containers out of pringle cans</a>. It's the exact opposite of anything I'd ever do but I'm impressed and maybe a little jealous.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-49179379469917483782012-06-18T23:20:00.004-07:002012-06-21T23:38:00.154-07:00Life in the Gray<a href="http://bowmandickson.com/2012/06/18/call-for-advice-for-new-teachers/">Bowman</a> asked the blogosphere to write letters to new teachers. <a href="http://abrandnewline.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/advice-from-a-new-teacher/">Sophie Germain</a> wrote one already. (Edit: Here's the <a href="http://drawingonmath.blogspot.com/p/matheme.html">collection</a>) I wrote a post last year with <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2011/08/classroom-management-stuff-for-new.html">practical tips</a>. Here's my advice.<br />
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Dear Noobs,<br />
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This is what you need to know:<br />
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Despite what teacher movies, books you've read, your credential program, your master teacher, your new principal, your BTSA coach, and the blogosphere would have you believe; there is no black and white in teaching. <b>Teaching is one huge gray area</b>. </blockquote>
I had to bold that. We make it seem like it's a noble profession full of clear choices and goals. You want every kid to succeed and feel safe. You have high expectations. You set big goals. You put your students first. NCLB bad. Diane Ravitch good. Worksheets and grades and rewards and punishments are tools of the lazy and the incompetent. You will never, ever give up on anyone.<br />
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That's all bullshit.<br />
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Look. I know. You're brand new and you just watched Waiting for Superman or Race to Nowhere or read The Schools Our Children Deserve or watched Sal Khan's TED talk and you are PUMPED. You are going to be an amazing teacher. Your kids will gasp with joy and be lost in wonder and LEARN LEARN LEARN. More importantly, you're not going to be <i>that</i> teacher. The one next door that goes home at 3 and gives out the same worksheets as he did 10 years ago.<br />
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Sorry. I know this won't mean much to you right now, but it doesn't work that way. In teaching, there is no clear path. There is no choice that is always right or always wrong.<br />
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There will be a time when your students are hurt by your high expectations and your big goals. Especially when you're new. You just won't have developed the skills yet to help your students meet all of your goals. It's true. There will be a time when you have actually damaged a kid because you set a high goal for them that you just weren't good enough to help them reach.<br />
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There will be a time when you can't keep your kids safe. You hear about a fight that's going to happen at lunch. You should report it right? What if a lunch time fight is something that can be managed? What if it happens, gets broken up, and everything is fine after? What if avoiding a lunch time fight means they'll now fight after school? Only this time they will bring others. And weapons. And nobody is around to stop the fight when one kid is on the ground and ten others are kicking him.<br />
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There will be many, many times when you shouldn't put your students first. Go home. Go to sleep. Get a massage. Take a day off. Spend time with your family. Play a video. Ask <i>that teacher next door</i> for a worksheet. Often, what's good for you is good for them. You should do what's good for you. Sometimes what's good for you isn't good for them. Sometimes you should still do it.<br />
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There will be a time when <i>that teacher next door </i>has the perfect piece of advice for your current problem but you blow him off because he's <i>that teacher next door.</i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">There will be a time when embarrassing a kid in front of his peers is the best thing you could have ever done for him.</span><br />
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There will be a time when you <i>just. don't. care.</i> about a topic you're teaching.<br />
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There will be a time when you use stickers and candy and points and extra credit and it will work wonderfully.<br />
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There will be a time when you need to kick a kid out. You've got 33 others. Don't make them suffer for the one.<br />
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There will be a time when you give up on a kid. You hate it every time but you've got 193 other students that haven't given up and you can only do so much.<br />
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There will be a time when you have a student that you love like your own but you need to recommend to the school board that this student be expelled. Because no matter what he means to you, he is a danger to the rest of the students.<br />
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There will be a time when you look a student right in the eye and lie to her.<br />
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You can't worry about always making the right choice or always making the wrong choice. <span style="background-color: white;">At best we can deal in probabilities. Often what we think are our best and worst choices were the result of nothing more than chance.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Sometimes you make the choice that you can live with. Sometimes you make the choice that you can't. </span><br />
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Teaching is a human endeavor. It's messy and complicated and the best job in the world. There is no black and white in teaching. Only gray.<br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-51246690011157102212012-06-07T08:37:00.002-07:002013-01-25T23:00:01.517-08:00Burden of ProofBrian Frank has a <a href="http://teachbrianteach.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/sbg-focuses-our-attention-the-role-of-evidence/">post</a> where he talks about standards-based grading and evidence.
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">In a grading system where you take away points, evidence of misunderstanding and lack of evidence for understanding are both punishable offenses. Standards-based grading, however, focuses our attention to confirming evidence of understanding.</span></blockquote>
I've had some recent posts stating that <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/search/label/argument">Argument</a> is one of the pillars of science education. Here's where we get back to alignment. As Brian points out, one of the tenets of SBG is that the burden of proof rests with the students. Again to quote Brian:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The students isn’t punished for not labeling things the way you want them to; they simply can’t be given credit for understanding things for which they have provided no evidence. Maybe they will show that evidence later by labeling forces the way you want; or maybe they will show you evidence of understanding in a different way.</span></blockquote>
If we believe that one of the fundamental goals of science education, and indeed all education, is to teach students how to argue, then your grading system should align with that value.<br />
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I left a comment on Brian's blog with a link to this paper called <a href="http://homepages.wmich.edu/~chenders/Publications/2012PetcovicResSciEduc.pdf">Faculty Grading of Quantitative Problems: A Mismatch Between Values and Practice.</a> This is by no means a rigorous academic paper but it has some points that are worth sharing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">If students are graded in a way that places the burden of proof on the instructor (as 47% of the earth science and chemistry faculty did), they will likely receive more points if they do not expose much of their reasoning and allow the instructor to instead project his/her understanding onto the solution. On the other hand, if they are graded in a way that places the burden of proof on the student to either demonstrate his/her understanding or produce a scientific argument, they will receive very few points unless they show their reasoning. Most instructors tell students that they want to see reasoning in problem solutions, however students quickly learn about an instructor’s real orientation towards grading by comparing their graded assignments with those of their classmates, or by comparing their own grades from one assignment to the next.</span></blockquote>
I love this idea of burden of proof. If we place the burden on the teacher, we need to interpret what the student means and students are encouraged to leave out reasoning because that might end up deducting points. I'm reminded of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI">Scott McCloud's</a> concept of <a href="http://scottmccloud.com/2-print/1-uc/index.html">closure in comics</a>. We end up filling in the blanks between panels.<sup>1</sup><br />
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If we place the burden on the student, the answer is simple. Why do you need to label forces in this way? I don't know if you know it until you show me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1: I'm talking reasoning and argument here. Don't even get me started on the massive equity issues students confront when we fill in the blanks.</span><br />
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I've also got another post up at <a href="http://inservice.ascd.org/uncategorized/teaching-students-to-use-thinking-skills-independently/">ASCD Inservice</a>. This one is based on a Robyn Jackson seminar and is a small modification I'm making on <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2010/09/compare-and-contrast-with-set.html">teaching compare and contrast</a>. It's on increasing rigor and if I'm going to stay on topic I'd say students will need to understand and negotiate with what constitutes acceptable proof of understanding. That is, if all I do is give students pre-written tests, I've placed a ceiling on what my students understand of proof. (Full disclosure: I get paid for these posts)Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-22888396008365063572012-05-31T21:38:00.001-07:002012-07-10T15:21:22.763-07:00Sharing is Caring<b>Three things to share:</b><br />
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1. <a href="http://needaredstamp.wordpress.com/">Twitter Math Camp</a> is July 19-22 in St. Louis. It's exactly what it sounds like. Some math teachers on twitter decided to get together, work on some math problems, and teach each other all sorts of stuff. It's free, small, and low key. Think edcamp rather than NCTM.<br />
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2. <a href="http://math52.com/">Math52</a> is a Kickstarter from Mathalicious. If you pledge $52 you get an entire year's membership to <a href="http://www.mathalicious.com/">Mathalicious</a>.<br />
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3. Frank Noschese has a TEDxNYED talk up called <a href="http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/my-tedxnyed-session-learning-science-by-doing-science">Learning Science by Doing Science</a>.<br />
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<b>One request:</b><br />
1. My schedule for next year is half 8th grade physical science (what I have always have taught) and half 6th grade (ack!) earth science (double ack!).<br />
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The <a href="http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/sciencestnd.pdf">California standards for sixth grade</a> (page 27) are all earth and no space. I'm not too worried about the day to day (unless of course you have a killer lesson/unit you're dying to share) but more about the approach. I'm not sure how to lay this whole thing out so it flows together. My natural inclination is to build everything around the concepts of systems and cycles but really I don't know. In the pre-blogotwittersphere era I would have needed to teach the whole year to figure out how to fit everything together. I'm hoping to shortcut that process using all of you. If it helps, this is a non-tested subject so I have much more freedom to emphasize/de-emphasize certain parts of the curriculum.<br />
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<ul>
<li>What do I build the course around? What do I keep coming back to? </li>
<li>I'd appreciate any recommendations for resources, curriculums you like, textbooks (gasp!) that do it right, etc? Anything and everything is welcome. </li>
<li>If you teach this subject/grade level, what are the sticking points? Big misconceptions? </li>
<li>If you teach HS earth, what is something, content-wise, that you wish students had a better understanding of?</li>
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Thanks for the help. </div>
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<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-56276535974199850392012-05-23T17:16:00.000-07:002012-05-23T17:16:12.090-07:00The Purposeful ClassroomI'm writing a series about the different sessions at the ASCD virtual conference. My notes on last year's conference are <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/search/label/ASCD11">here</a>.<br />
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Full disclosure: ASCD is paying me for the posts but I paid for the conference myself. I'm coming out ahead in this transaction but the lifetime flow of money is still in their favor.<br />
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The <a href="http://inservice.ascd.org/annual-conference/how-to-focus-students-on-a-lessons-purpose/">first post</a> is on Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey's Purposeful Classroom. Fun times. If you're a regular reader you will appreciate how difficult it was for me to keep my word count down.<br />
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<i>Additional notes:</i><br />
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Fisher says they made a shift from "objectives" to "purpose"in order to include the idea of relevance. He says that relevance can be in three areas. Learning that has use outside of the classroom walls. Learning that gives a student opportunities to learn about oneself as a learner. Learning that is necessary for citizens in a democratic society. It's an interesting lens. I haven't thought about relevance enough to decide what I'd add, subtract, or modify from that list.<br />
<br />Fisher also commented on the <a href="http://mathhombre.blogspot.com/2011/08/gradual-release-of-responsibility.html">Gradual Release of Responsibility</a> model. He said the number one clarification he'd like to make is that GRR isn't meant to be a step-by-step recipe. You don't have to do it in exact order, just that the phases of GRR should all occur during a lesson. He doesn't make it clear in the talk but a lesson in this case doesn't necessarily mean one class period. This is an incredibly important point and was lost on the people who lead the GRR training the first time I heard about it.<br />
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Another important point was the difference between independent practice at home and in the classroom. He said that we give homework too early in the learning cycle. Students aren't ready to immediately apply homework.<br />
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They also shared two rubrics I thought were interesting starting points. A <a href="http://www.fisherandfrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/modeling-and-purpose-rubric.doc">modeling and purpose rubric</a> and a rubric showing <a href="http://www.fisherandfrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/indicators-of-success_purpose.doc">indicators of success at establishing purpose</a>.<br />
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Last: I've heard criticism of writers like Fisher and Frey for not being "transformational" enough. I get that. They're not. I classify them as "Better Now" types. They want to help teachers to improve what we're doing right now as opposed to razing the whole school system and starting over. Both types of writers have their place but I spend much more time reading and learning from the Better Nows. It's fun to think about what my ideal school would look like but I'm far more concerned with helping the kids that are in front of me each day.<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-33933375947848340942012-05-17T08:19:00.003-07:002012-05-17T08:35:42.567-07:00Argumentation part 2<br />
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continued from <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/05/claim-evidence-reasoning-argumentation.html">part 1</a><br />
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<b>Three suggestions:</b><br />
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1. I stole whiteboard round robins from <a href="http://adi.lsi.fsu.edu/">Argument-Driven Inquiry</a> (there are some good resources <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/nsela2011/argument-driven-inquiry">here</a>. Try the first link under Papers for an overview). Instead of doing whole class discussion around group results, I have kids set up their whiteboards. One person stays behind while the rest of the group rotates from table to table to hear what each group found out. The roaming kids have a paper where they record some of the basic details from the other groups and it asks them to evaluate and respond to what they hear. Sorry. I wanted to post an example but I seriously can't find a single one. I don't know why. I know in the past I've asked them to comment on whether this confirms or contradicts their own findings, the quality of the experimental design, and suggestions for what might make their argument more convincing. We struggle with evaluating the quality of the argument. It's an ongoing thing.<br />
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After returning to their tables they are given the chance to revise their claim or reasoning and if I'm really on it that week, they can design a follow-up. The ADI folks suggest a presider to summarize the findings of the class. I've never tried that.<br />
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In hindsight, I think it would be kind of awesome to have students cite other groups in their write-ups just like in a scientific paper. "According to Lopez, Lee, and Silva........."or maybe just have them cite and end note. Or include a section in their CER papers for rebuttals where they specifically attempt to rebut a different group. Hmmm. Something for me to try next year.<br />
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2. ADI also has a nice double-blind peer review suggestion. I do standard peer review but haven't added the double-blind aspect. I think that could be interesting. There's a long template <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxuc2VsYTIwMTF8Z3g6M2UxMGQ5MGZiNGI5NTA1ZQ">here</a> and on page 5 <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxuc2VsYTIwMTF8Z3g6MTY3MjJlYTRiYTM2ZDQxYg">here</a> (both links from <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/nsela2011/argument-driven-inquiry">here</a>). I think those are a bit unwieldy for MS or even HS kids. For their chemistry final I had my students attempt to explain the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzIcsST8bP4">candle and flask demo</a>. For peer review we used this:<br />
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I tailored it based on what my students specifically have trouble with. It was helpful but not amazing. Next year I'd add something more specifically aimed at persuasiveness (see? We're good with inquiry and content knowledge. Bad with argument). Also, like any peer review, if everyone was weak at something we didn't add a lot of value by peer reviewing. We have a lot of trouble with logical consistency. For example, saying that the heat made the air spread but then later arguing that the water was cold so that's why it spread into the flask. I think having students flow chart their arguments might help but this is something I struggle with. Any suggestions would be great.<br />
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3. <a href="http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/06_AdditionalResources/ritchhartLifeinMindful.pdf">Conditional language</a> is critical. Once I, as the teacher and scientific authority, tell the students that matter <i>is</i> conserved in a chemical reaction their brains shut down. It sounds dumb and too New Age-y for me and I don't have any hard evidence to back this up. All I know is the longer I stick with "might be" and "could" or even "probably" I can see my students still working hard to convince me that they're correct. (The downside is I had a frustrated student blow up at me this year because we "never settle anything" and so he's "not sure what's right and what's wrong." There's a balance I'm still working to find.)<br />
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<a href="http://teachbrianteach.wordpress.com/">Brian</a> left a <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/cer-more-on-reasoning.html?showComment=1334231942791#c5151425873318927422">comment</a> pointing to another <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.20438/abstract;jsessionid=619A1A90114191EC487095040F925AD5.d03t04">paper</a> arguing that we need to make a clear distinction between argument and explanation. I agree to the point where we need to understand that giving opportunities to explain is not the same as giving opportunities to argue. I'm less sure how important it is to teach to students the semantic difference. To clarify, I'm sure it's important, I'm just not sure what it's <i>more important than</i> and what I would then cut out.<br />
<br />Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-48851933589312625872012-05-17T08:19:00.001-07:002012-05-17T08:20:14.343-07:00Claim Evidence Reasoning - ArgumentationTheoretical in part 1. Practical in <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/05/argumentation-part-2.html">part 2</a>.<br />
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In <i><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.20286/abstract">Making sense of argumentation and explanation</a></i> by Berland and Reiser, the authors argue that scientific explanations have three purposes: 1. sensemaking, 2. articulating, 3. persuading.<br />
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They summarize these nicely as constructing arguments, presenting arguments, and debating arguments.<br />
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I like these. A lot. The authors don't treat these three purposes as separate domains but argue that each of these serve to strengthen the other.<br />
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Other than being really interesting, why is this relevant? From page 31:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">We suggest that viewing student work in terms of these three instructional goals can clarify students' successes and challenges in constructing and defining scientific explanations and consequently inform the design of supports for this practice......we suggest that each aspect of the practice may require different types of support for students.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This has very broad implications about everything from assessment to scaffolds to how to structure the entire class. The authors studied the CER framework and decided it was good for purpose 1 and 2 but not so much for 3. My personal experience backs that up. From the abstract:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Through this analysis, we find that students consistently use evidence to make sense of phenomenon and articulate those understandings but they do not consistently attend to the third goal of persuading others of their understandings. Examining the third goal more closely reveals that persuading others of an understanding requires social interactions that are often inhibited by traditional classroom interactions.</span></span></blockquote>
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If someone were to ask me what the three legged stool of science education is, as of May 2012 at least, I'd say content knowledge, inquiry, and argument. You can't have a complete science education without all three.<br />
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In science education, argument is our weakest area. I know for me, it wasn't even something I thought about until last year.<br />
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This is my way of qualifying any suggestions I have. I'm still new at this. I don't have a lot to offer.<br />
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What I can tell you is that if you want students to engage in argumentation, you need to give them something to argue about. Sounds obvious right? But if I explain a topic, then we do a confirmation lab, and then I expect students to engage in argument about that topic, I'm setting myself up for all sorts of disappointment. I haven't given them anything to argue about. I've just given them an opportunity to show me how well they've memorized what I've said.<br />
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I've got three other suggestions which I'll break into the next post.Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5053151003977377665.post-71775160927103602632012-04-11T18:45:00.001-07:002012-09-03T22:31:22.443-07:00Claim Evidence Reasoning - More on Reasoning<a href="http://shiftingphases.com/">Mylene</a> <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2012/04/claim-evidence-reasoning.html?showComment=1333843353865#c2434465273644582125">asked</a> about helping with the reasoning part of Claim, Evidence, Reasoning. (Mylene - get on twitter already. We could just talk about it.) Here's the relevant snip:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">One thing I'm really struggling with is the concept of "logic" or a conclusion following from its premises. It's hard for my students to understand what I mean by this and it's hard for me to explain in other terms. So far, it appears that their definition of "logical" is something along the lines of "familiar" or "what I was expecting." Any suggestions? How do you handle reasoning that is preposterous or that makes leaps of faith?</span></blockquote>
This is definitely the hard part. I don't have any magic bullets, but I can tell you where I am right now.<br />
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<b>1. </b>Faulty reasoning is most often due to a lack of content knowledge. At the beginning and middle of a unit, this is expected. Honing reasoning as we go is one of our primary goals.<br />
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If things aren't going well though, my best advice would be to narrow the question. Broader questions are usually more complex. I started conservation of mass with, "What happens to atoms in a chemical reaction?" (Actually, the question was about why ice melts when you heat it but paper burns) and kids were flying all over the place. They generated their own claim and designed their own experiments and it was a disaster. There was no real way to differentiate through experiment most of their claims (atoms are being fused together, atoms are exploding, atoms turn into heat). I rebooted with whether atoms are destroyed or not in a chemical reaction and it worked much better. We all did a similar experiment and students were able to make a well-reasoned argument that atoms weren't destroyed.<br />
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The counterpoint is that I start other topics, like <a href="http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2011/09/cycle.html">kinetic molecular theory</a>, very broadly. I can't say for sure why some topics need to be narrower but it is some combination of how much background knowledge students come in with, how well our classroom experimentation can differentiate between competing claims, and how much time I'm willing to devote to testing competing ideas.<br />
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<b>2. </b>There are mechanical issues. For MS kids, sentence frames and starters go a long way. Be sure to fade them as you go. Another teacher at my school has a lot of success with sentence starters in group discourse. He posts them at his tables. Instead of CER, some teachers like C-ER-ER-ER where you give a reason after each piece of evidence.<br />
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<b>3. </b>Ask students to explain ahead of time what different results would mean with regard to the claim. Before they could start the experiment to test if atoms are destroyed or not, my students needed to explain to me that if the bottle got lighter, it meant atoms are being destroyed. If it weighed the same, they weren't. If it weighed more, something else was going on that we couldn't explain (this is an important and often overlooked step). In essence, I was locking them in to a reasoning. Is that preventing them from doing any thinking? I say no because I'm still asking my students to reason, it's just the timing that changes. If I do it after, students more often construct weird explanations for the results and engage in all kinds of magical thinking and confirmation bias. This is assuming the purpose of a lab is to test a specific claim. Sometimes a lab is just to get ideas rolling in which case we do our reasoning after. [<i>Edit: Have your students sketch a "prediction graph" on their whiteboards ahead of time.</i>]<br />
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<b>4.</b> Distinguish between reasoning and introducing a new claim. It is hard for students to see when their reasoning is backing up a claim and when they're making a brand new assertion. I don't have a good method for this other than continually asking them to go back to what their claim actually predicts. It's also important to help them with the idea that a single experiment doesn't have to explain everything. We burn paper and weigh it and it weighs the same. That only tells us that the atoms aren't being destroyed. That means we often need to use multiple pieces of evidence to converge on a single, more complex, explanation.<br />
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<b>5.</b> Differentiate between logical/scientific reasoning and reasoning from evidence. I think this idea came from a paper by <a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/academics/?facid=dk100">Deanna Kuhn</a><sup>2</sup> but I'm not sure. The part I really latched onto was that students come into experiments in science class with the idea that <i>something has to covary.</i> We're measuring this and manipulating that so clearly there's a relationship between the two. Students aren't asked to actually look at the data created but simply to reason about the science involved. In hindsight, this is certainly true in most of my classes. I run some kind of amazing science lab where the null hypothesis is always rejected. My takeaway is that occasionally students need to be doing experiments where no relationship will actually be found. I've gotten better at this both in intentionally designing them in and allowing students to run an experiment that I know will result in no relationship. The first few attempts at this what do I find? Students can ALWAYS find a relationship. It's a long slow process of breaking this habit.<br />
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The other insight I got from that paper was that students don't really understand measurement uncertainty. I definitely find that to be true. I like <a href="http://pedagoguepadawan.net/124/measurementuncertaintyactivities/">Geoff's approach</a> but I don't really do anything about this other than hate how I don't do anything about it.<br />
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This is getting long. I'm going to stop here. I've got two more posts on CER in my drafts but history has shown I'm awful at following up on promised posts.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1: The flipside is the argument that more attention to persuasion will lead to better arguments. I'll write more on this next time. (EDIT: This footnote doesn't go anywhere but I'll keep it to remind me.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2: I hadn't heard of the <a href="http://www.educationforthinking.org/">Education for Thinking Project</a> until I googled her for a link. Looks right up my alley.</span>Jason Buellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029995715142652159noreply@blogger.com4