Effective Teaching of Science and Math Vocabulary

(Originally titled “A Few Words About Math and Science”)

        In this Educational Leadership article, Peter Fisher and Camille Blachowicz (National Louis University/Chicago) suggest ways for teachers to help students master the technical vocabulary in STEM subjects. “In math and science instruction, new words typically are more complex, refer to more unfamiliar and complex concepts, and are more densely packed in the text than in the language arts,” say Fisher and Blachowicz – for example, solar energy, and associative property of addition. The good news is that terms often come in conceptual clusters – isosceles, equilateral, scalene, obtuse, acute, right angle. Here are their principles for teaching this kind of vocabulary:

        • Link manipulatives to language. Teachers need to orchestrate lessons in which students hear, read, speak, see, and write key terms (for example, diameter, radius, volume, calculate, and measure) as they manipulate physical objects. Word problems are a perennial challenge for many students since the “small” words (compare, design, look, work, average, equivalent, vary) tend to be confusing, the main idea usually comes at the end, and it’s difficult to distinguish important from unimportant details. Fisher and Blachowicz suggest this sequence: read, think, paraphrase, visualize, draw/diagram, solve, andexplain/justify.

        • Include visual representations. For example, in a unit on sound, third graders in a two-way immersion class listen to a book (Zounds: The Kids’ Guide to Sound Making by Frederick Newman (Random House, 1983), construct a Spanish/English word wall of vocabulary about sound, organize the words around the concepts of volume, pitch, frequency, and intensity, and create Wordles to graphically display the words.

        • Use meaningful and varied repetition and review. “If students didn’t understand a word the first time it was taught, repeating the same instruction or having them reread the word in exactly the same context most likely won’t be more successful,” say Fisher and Blachowicz. “Front-loading all your vocabulary at the beginning of a unit also doesn’t work.” The trick is to come back to key words in different contexts – for example, watching a video, reading, sorting graphic manipulatives, completing a Venn diagram, talking to their partners.

        • Teach morphemes. These include roots, prefixes, suffixes, and other meaningful word parts. In math, these might have to do with number (tri, quad, bit) and size (ampli, magn); in science, they can include areas of study (astro, photo, bio, astro). There are two ways to help students develop morphological awareness, say Fisher and Blachowicz: breaking words apart to find their morphemes, and putting together complex words from morphemes. Collecting word families is also helpful – for example, photograph, photosynthesis, telephoto, photogenic.

 

“A Few Words About Math and Science” by Peter Fisher and Camille Blachowicz in Educational Leadership, November 2013 (Vol. 71, #3, p. 46-51), www.ascd.org; the authors can be reached at pfisher@nl.edu and cblachowicz@nl.edu.

 

 

Stephen Anderson

How to Help Students Who Hate Math (Originally titled “Getting Beyond ‘I Hate Math!’”)

        In this article in Educational Leadership, Lisa Medoff (Stanford University) suggests eight ways that educators can build students’ tenacity with a subject that frustrates them. These strategies are especially important for students with learning disabilities and emotional stressors, but also work with all students, helping them prepare to face life’s inevitable disappointments and tragedies with a problem-solving versus a fatalistic mindset.
        • Empathize. This isn’t easy for teachers who love their subject and find it difficult to imagine what it’s like not to. It helps to imagine a situation where you’re out of your comfort zone and feeling frustrated and angry. It’s also a good idea to find out about areas in which students excel and say something like, “Alice, how do you remember your lines so well when you’re rehearsing for the play?”
        • Know your stuff. When teachers are presenting a concept they haven’t completely mastered, they sometimes rush through explanations and are impatient with students’ questions – or they might say, “I don’t really like this either, but we’re required to learn it, so let’s just get through this.” Better to spend time mastering the topic and walking students through their own self-doubts and frustrations.
        • Use a variety of activities and supports. The worst dynamic is a lecture/question format where students compete for the teacher’s approval and the attention goes to students who are speediest with the right answers. Better to get students working in groups with structured, hands-on, real-world activities with the teacher circulating to troubleshoot and provide one-on-one support. “Learners often feel more comfortable taking risks and trying new things in small groups, especially when they have time to process new material,” says Medoff. It’s also helpful to train students to help their classmates, saying, “Tell me where you got stuck” or “Let’s start with what you know about this problem” or “I’ll do one step and you do one.”
        • Convey the “growth” mindset. A teacher might say, “Some kids may need to put in more effort in certain areas than others do. And each of you needs to approach a set of problems a bit differently. But every one of you can master this math.”
        • Answer all questions respectfully. Even if you’ve answered a question before, don’t be impatient or testy. You might say, “I’m glad you asked me again to make sure you understood.”
        • Be intentional about homework. How many problems do students need to practice? Which kind will be most helpful? Will students need adult support to do the homework? What strategies should students use when they get stuck?
        • Reframe the purpose of quizzes and tests. “Make clear to students that tests are not meant to determine how smart a student is, but to show the teacher how well he or she taught the information – and to show the test taker what he or she has or hasn’t learned yet,” says Medoff. The most helpful feedback, she contends, is specific commentary on the strategies the student used. Anxious students also benefit from having a choice of test questions.
        • Praise effort and reinterpret mistakes. Students should learn to see success as the result of effective effort and mistakes as a sign that more work is needed. Students should become proficient at diagnosing their own errors (using rubrics) and planning follow-up. It’s also helpful when teachers acknowledge their own errors and gracefully accept correction.

“Getting Beyond ‘I Hate Math!’” by Lisa Medoff in Educational Leadership, September 2013 (Vol. 71, #1, p. 44-48), www.ascd.org; Medoff can be reached at lisamedoff@sbcglobal.net.


Stephen Anderson

Questions to Ask Older Students About Their Reading

        In this Reading Research Quarterly article, Gay Ivey (University of Wisconsin) and Peter Johnston (SUNY Albany) write about the advantages of adolescents reading self-selected young-adult literature at their own pace (as opposed to reading the same novel together as a class). The interview questions they used with students at the end of the school year are particularly helpful:
Have teachers this year done anything that made you interested in reading a certain book? What was it?
Have you read something this year that was so memorable you keep thinking about it or you told someone else about it?
Have other people this year helped you decide to read certain books? Who? What did they do or say that made you want to read?
Do you talk with anyone about the books you read? Who do you talk to, and what kinds of things do you talk about?
Have you started to read a book in school that you found confusing? What happened with that?
Tell me something about your reading in classes other than English (social studies, science, math, etc.). What has been interesting or challenging about those experiences?
How has your reading at home changed this year?
What will happen with your reading this summer?
What did you learn as a reader this year?
Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about your reading?

“Engagement with Young Adult Literature: Outcomes and Processes” by Gay Ivey and Peter Johnston in Reading Research Quarterly, July/August/September 2013 (Vol. 48, #3, p. 255-275), http://bit.ly/1b7SWt5; Ivey can be reached at mgivey@wisc.edu.


Stephen Anderson
Principal, Central High School

Restorative Justice

        In this thoughtful Middle School Journal article, Katherine Evans (Eastern Mennonite University) and Jessica Lester (Washington State University) say that “zero tolerance” discipline policies have failed to make schools safer. They point to a growing body of research suggesting that restorative justice, implemented in some schools in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, South Africa, Canada, and the U.S., is a better approach. Its purpose is to “hold offenders accountable, repair harm to the victims, and provide support and assistance to offenders to encourage their reintegration into the community.” Restorative justice can be seen as “a response to misbehavior and as a way to facilitate healthy school climates.” Evans and Lester list its seven principles:

        • Principle #1: Meeting needs – An underlying assumption of restorative justice is that humans have three basic requirements: autonomy, order, and relatedness. “When these needs are not met, students may go to great extremes to meet their needs,” say Evans and Lester. The result is misbehavior, conflict, and sometimes violence.

        • Principle #2: Providing accountability and support – “While zero tolerance policies promote accountability, they often do so without compassion,” say Evans and Lester. Restorative justice “promotes accountability within a supportive and compassionate learning community.” If it’s clear that a child’s actions were wrong and resulted in harm, the perpetrator must accept responsibility.

        • Principle #3: Making things right – A bad deed is defined “not as an offense against the institution (i.e., the school) but as an offense against the members of the institution (i.e., the students’ school community).” Restorative justice is different from restitution, which can be seen as another form of punishment. Rather, restorative justice should serve the needs of the victim, “restoring the relationship between the victim and the offender,” say Evans and Lester. “Further, the effectiveness of a restitution plan is contingent on the offender developing and being responsible for the plan, rather than having that plan imposed on them by an authority figure. In this way, the restitution becomes not only a way of repairing harm but also an opportunity to learn.”

        • Principle #4: Viewing conflict as a learning opportunity – Externally imposed sanctions deprive students of the chance to problem-solve, learn, and grow, say Evans and Lester, and “teach students that only those in power are able to make decisions and solve problems… Restorative models of school discipline open conversations between victims and offenders, allowing them a space to share perspectives, listen to one another, and work collaboratively to design solutions that bring about healing and restoration.”

        • Principle #5: Building healthy learning communities – Restorative justice “defines school violence as a breakdown of social relationships and implements specific processes to rebuild those relationships,” say Evans and Lester. “Strengthening school community and enhancing student-student, student-teacher, teacher-teacher, and school-community relationships is viewed as the most effective way to prevent misbehavior and school-based violence.”

        • Principle #6: Restoring relationships – Conflict and violence are a violation of relationships more than a violation of rules, say the authors. Restorative justice “seeks an understanding of what has occurred, the needs of those affected – including students, teachers, parents, and anyone else involved in the conflict – and ways to address the harm that was done.” Restorative justice “works with students and teachers rather than doing things to them or forthem.”

        • Principle #7: Addressing power imbalances – Restorative justice goes beyond students’ behavior and looks at the harm that can be done by institutional practices – for example, long out-of-school suspensions.

        Evans and Lester say that, despite research pointing to the efficacy of restorative justice, schools have been slow to adopt it. Why? It requires a lot of time and resources, its proponents haven’t provided enough conceptual clarity, and the philosophy clashes with existing punitive models of school discipline.

Ideally, restorative justice is has three tiers. The first is schoolwide instruction in social and emotional skills to build school community. The second involves repairing relationships when conflict happens, mostly in small-group conferences or peer mediation. The third tier deals with situations where harm has been done; it involves mediation and victim-offender conferences.

Evans and Lester suggest the following steps for gradually introducing restorative justice in a school:

• Combine top-down leadership with bottom-up energy. “This approach helps to gradually develop a critical mass within a school,” they say.
• Start where you are. There may already be elements of restorative justice within the school and staff members who support the idea.
• Start with voluntary participation. Staff buy-in is important, and the restorative process shouldn’t begin until offenders have admitted guilt and begun to take responsibility for their actions.
• Shift the paradigm from punishment and control. To implement restorative justice, schools need to move from managing students’ behavior to collaboration, mutual respect, accountability, and growth.

 

“Restorative Justice in Education: What We Know So Far” by Katherine Evans and Jessica Lester in Middle School Journal, May 2013 (Vol. 44, #5, p. 57-63), no e-link available; the authors can be reached at kathy.evans@emu.edu and jessica.lester@tricity.wsu.edu.

 

 

Stephen Anderson

Boosting the Reading Achievement of African-American Male Students

        “Too often, instruction designed to improve literacy achievement for black male readers and writers focuses on skill-based learning, ignoring cultural, social, and personal development,” say Summer Wood and Robin Jocius (Vanderbilt University graduate students) in this Reading Teacher article. All too often these students say, “I hate this stupid book!” and “These books are dumb anyway.” Wood and Jocius believe the solution lies in three areas:

        • Culturally relevant texts – “Unfortunately… black male students are often deprived of opportunities to see themselves, their families, and their experiences reflected in texts,” they say. Classroom libraries must have books to which black boys can relate – ideally written and illustrated by African Americans – and these books should be highlighted throughout the school year, not just in February. But not every multicultural book is helpful, say Wood and Jocius: “[E]ngagement will not ‘magically’ occur” just because the characters and authors are culturally aligned. In fact, some books are patronizing in what they assume will interest students. “To guide decisions about the use of texts that may provide mirrors into children’s cultures and experiences, teachers must consider all aspects of a text, including the characters, themes, and illustrations.”

        • Collaboration – It’s not enough for teachers to exhort students to try harder, say Wood and Jocius. They need to foster an ethos of mutual support in which students feel safe about acknowledging reading difficulties and encourage each other to develop critical reading and thinking skills together. “Because black male students are often marginalized in classrooms,” they argue, “a collaborative approach not only directly engages these students in literacy instruction, but also allows them to share their accomplishments and struggles with their peers in a comfortable and nonthreatening space… This sense of safety does not come automatically, especially for young readers who may be disengaged or struggling. Instead, this sense of community must be promoted and modeled by the teacher.” When one student finds a book too difficult, “buddy reading” may be the solution.

        • Critical conversations – These “are not merely book discussions in which plot, theme, and facts are being reiterated by group members,” say Wood and Jocius. “Rather, these are discussions in which students take positions and critique what is being said, who is saying it, how characters are positioned, whose voices are being heard, and how they may personally fit into the text… Critical conversations give students the opportunity to challenge and inform one another’s ideologies.”

        But aren’t these three practices effective for all students? Aren’t they just good teaching? Wood and Jocius agree and quote Gloria Ladson-Billings’s reaction to the same question back in 1995: “My response is to affirm that, indeed, I am describing good teaching, and to question why so little of it seems to be occurring in the classrooms populated by African American students.”

In a sidebar to this article, Wood and Jocius recommend the following websites as resources:

• Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners:

http://www.ala.org/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present

• Brown Sugar and Spice Educational Books and Services: www.brownssbooks.com

• Scholastic Multicultural Books:

www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/how-choose-best-multicultural-books

 

“Combating ‘I Hate This Stupid Book!’ Black Males and Critical Literacy” by Summer Wood and Robin Jocius in The Reading Teacher, May 2013 (Vol. 66, #8, p. 661-669),

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1177/abstract; the authors can be reached atsummer.wood@vanderbilt.edu and robin.jocius@vanderbilt.edu.

 

 

Stephen Anderson

Keys to Learning Science Vocabulary

        In this Middle School Journal article, Rebecca Shore, Jenna Ray, and Paula Goolkasian (University of North Carolina/Charlotte) report the results of an experiment on science vocabulary learning with three 7th-grade teachers in a large urban school. The researchers worked with teachers to systematically compare three memory strategies for learning these words: pathogen, vaccine, antibody, immunity, antibiotic, immune system, and antigen:

-       The first group of students used the standard approach – copying seven new words and definitions from the textbook’s glossary;

-       The second group of students talked to a classmate about the meaning of the words;

-       The third group of students drew colorful pictures of the words.

Students were quizzed on their knowledge of the words immediately afterward and again two days later.

        The results? “As expected,” say Shore, Ray, and Goolkasian, “we learned that different learning strategies can make a difference in word retention, particularly with struggling readers.” The second and third groups did significantly better than the first.

But there was an unexpected finding. Looking over more than 800 quizzes, Shore, Ray, and Goolkasian noticed that the majority of students from all three groups of students didn’t correctly define antibody, antigen, and antibiotic – all beginning with the same prefix anti. The researchers thought the same prefix would have helped students remember the meanings and distinguish among them, but the opposite was true. Clearly students’ attempts to retrieve the meaning of these words was hampered by confusion caused by the prefix.

Looking back at the textbook chapter from which these words were taken, the authors noticed that students were also introduced to two other clusters of easily-confused words: stalagmite and stalactite, and meiosis and mitosis. This made them think that study techniques might not be the most important factor in student success. Instead, they conjecture that teachers should use a morphological approach, emphasizing the meaning of different word parts.

Shore, Ray, and Goolkasian note that “similarities in new learning can cause negative transfer in memory and actually interfere with learning. After new learning takes place, the brain usually needs about a day to consolidate that learning. So, if a student was to practice a second similar skill before a first skill is consolidated in memory, the second skill can interfere with mastery of the first skill, and the child may not be able to perform either skill very well.” This suggests that when introducing a new cognitive task (or motor skill), teachers should draw attention to the similarities and differences and space out their presentations.

 

“Too Close for (Brain) Comfort: Improving Science Vocabulary Learning in the Middle Grades” by Rebecca Shore, Jenna Ray, and Paula Goolkasian in Middle School Journal, May 2013 (Vol. 44, #5, p. 16-21), no e-link available; the authors can be reached at rshore6@uncc.edu,jray51@uncc.edu, and pagoolka@uncc.edu.

 

Stephen Anderson

What Common Core ELA Instruction Might Look Like

            In this thoughtful article in Kappa Delta Pi Record, consultant/authors Mike Schmoker and Carol Jago say, “Done right, the ELA Common Core has the potential to right the ship of literacy, to facilitate, at long last, the creation of coherent curriculum in every course, and to rescue us from the fads and pseudo-literacies of recent decades.” They believe the CCSS appendices and ancillary documents are the “true strength” of the document, providing resources for students “to engage in close reading of large amounts of high-quality, complex text, combined with opportunities to engage in discussion and writing grounded in text.”

The best approach, say Schmoker and Jago, is not getting bogged down in the “bewildering array” of grade-by-grade Common Core ELA standards but starting with three “instructional shifts” embedded in the new standards:

-    Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts;

-    Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text;

-    Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary.

“Make no mistake,” they say, “these basic shifts – implemented across the curriculum – represent a radical return to genuine literacy. If they are even reasonably well implemented, they will change the face of education.”

            Building on these three insights, teachers should choose from the lists of books, plays, and novels in Appendix B of the Common Core and assemble “a good balance of high-quality, adequately complex texts that can be reasonably taught within a 9-month, 36-week school year,” say Schmoker and Jago. These, not the skills, should be the “soul of your curriculum.” Students are immersed each semester in close reading, embedded vocabulary instruction of words straight from the texts, plenty of class discussion, informal writing, one extended interpretive essay or a short research paper, and an oral presentation. There’s also time to work with speeches, articles, poems, and short works of fiction. What students would not be doing is watching movies, filling out skills worksheets, or making book jackets.

            The “straw that stirs the drink,” say Schmoker and Drago, is high-quality questions and prompts that get students reading, writing, and discussing with purpose. Teacher teams can generate questions such as, What evidence do you find that the main character grows or matures from chapter to chapter? What evidence in the text best supports the side you will take in your argument? “Well-designed questions will promote close reading and ensure interesting, successful discussions and writing assignments, grounded in careful analysis of text,” they say. “Because these are so critical, it would be wise to have a system in place for sharing the most successful questions, as well as compelling texts, with other schools in the district or region.”

            Here is what Schmoker and Jago would like to see in a 35-day quarter of ELA instruction in a sixth-grade class, with vocabulary taught before and during readings:

• 10-15 days: Novel: Tom Sawyer (Twain) with daily discussions and short or longer writing assignments

• 10-15 days: Nonfiction book: Jim Thorpe: Original All-American (Buchac) with daily discussions and short or longer writing assignments

• 3 days: Two news/magazine articles, pro and con: “Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2011) and “Video Games Don’t Cause Children to Be Violent” (M.D. Gallagher, 2010)

• 3 days: One or two speeches, e.g., “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat” (Churchill)

• 4 days: Several poems: author studies, informal interpretive writings; oral interpretation, e.g., “The Road Not Taken” (Frost), “If” (Kipling)

            • Rubric focus: Write arguments to support claims and interpretations with clear reasons and relevant evidence, organize reasons and evidence logically (from the Common Core)

• Formal papers: 3-5 page literary analysis of any text(s) read this quarter and a 3-5 argumentative/research paper on any nonfiction text(s) read this quarter, graded using a rubric.

            Schmoker and Jago believe instruction in content-area subjects should follow a similar pattern, with carefully selected textbook pages for each weekly topic, content-rich texts aligned with the curriculum, essential questions, discussion, and plenty of writing (with labs and performances added in science and the arts). To spend high-quality time on texts, they say, it’s necessary to cut down the number of standards covered and focus on those that are essential.

 

“Simplifying the ELA Common Core; Demystifying Curriculum” by Mike Schmoker and Carol Jago in Kappa Delta Pi Record, April-June 2013 (Vol. 49, #2, p. 59-63),

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00228958.2013.786589#.UZpYVZWyzIY; Schmoker can be reached at Schmoker@futureone.com. 

 

 

Stephen Anderson

Using Writing Contests to Prepare Students for State Writing Tests

In this article in The Reading Teacher, Danielle DeFauw (University of Michigan/ Dearborn) acknowledges the need to prepare students for cold writing prompts in state assessments, despite the fact that students usually get to select their own topic when they write in school. DeFauw suggests a way to “teach to the test” that really helps students: submitting their work to writing contests. Entering a writing contest, she says, shares three characteristics with writing in a state test: (a) they have to respond to a prompt; (b) the audience is distant and unknown; and (c) it’s about competition, evaluation, and perhaps enjoyment. Here is her recommended procedure for 2-5 days of writing workshops: • Stage 1: Genre exploration – The class reads winning contest entries together, using them as mentor texts. • Stage 2: Modeling – The teacher chooses a contest prompt, reads the guidelines, rules, and rubric, selects a personal topic, and thinks aloud as he or she responds to the prompt. • Stage 3: Students write – The teacher provides students with a writing contest prompt and has them apply what they have learned about writing to produce a draft, self-evaluate based on the contest guidelines and rubric, and decide whether to submit their work. • Stage 4: Sharing and feedback – Students read each other’s writing with a partner, in a small group, or to the whole class, and the teacher then collects and gives students feedback on the writing. DeFauw concludes by recommending ten websites that have no-fee writing contests or publishing opportunities (many of them post winning and exemplary entries): Creative Communication: A Celebration of Today’s Writers for grades 3-12, essays up to 300 words, deadlines in February, August, and October: www.poeticpower.com The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration for grades 4-8 – Students interview family members about events that happened before the student was born, 275-500 words by February 1st each year: www.thegrannieannie.org The Legacy Project’s Listen to a Life Contest for students 8-18 years old writing about an interview with a person who is 50 or older about his or her life experiences, dreams, goals, challenges, or successes: www.tcpnow.com/contests/winners.html Letters About Literature, Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, for grades 4-10 writing personal letters to an author, living or dead, whose work has influenced their view of the world or of themselves: www.lettersaboutliterature.org Magic Dragon from the Association for Encouragement of Children’s Creativity for elementary students; not a contest, but poems, stories, essays, or artwork on any topic may be published: www.magicdragonmagazine.com Optimist Club for students under 19 by the end of February, 700-800 words, sharing an opinion through persuasive, explanatory, or narrative prose in response to a prompt: www.optimist.org/e/member/scholarships3.cfm PBS Kids Writers Contest for K-3 students, a story with at least five illustrations, 50-200 words for K-1 and 100-350 words for 2-3: http://pbskids.org/writerscontest/contest.php Scholastic has multiple contests through the website and magazines (Scope and Storyworks): http://clubs2.scholastic.com/programs The Writing Conference has a January deadline and welcomes all students to write in narrative, poetic, or expository genres to a specific prompt: www.writingconference.com/contest.htm Young Voices Foundation: Mentoring Young Writers has an annual poetry contest and three themed fiction/nonfiction contests for K-2, 3-6, and 7-12: www.youngvoicesfoundation.org/youngvoiceshome.html

 “10 Writing Opportunities to ‘Teach to the Test’” by Danielle DeFauw in The Reading Teacher, April 2013 (Vol. 66, #7, p. 569-573), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/TRTR.1161/abstract; the author can be reached at daniellp@umd.umich.edu.


 Stephen Anderson

Dealing with a Defiant Student

“When children are defiant, their goal is not to annoy, disrespect, or frustrate us,” says Margaret Berry Wilson in this article in Responsive Classroom Newsletter. “Rather, their goal often is to feel significant.” Teachers sometimes get into power struggles with defiant children, she says. “But teachers never win power struggles. Once you’re in one, you’ve lost. And so has the child: No one wins a power struggle.” What’s the alternative? Orchestrating things to prevent defiance in the first place, says Wilson, and if it occurs, calmly working with students in ways that address their need to feel significant – while holding them accountable for following the rules. Some specifics: • Build positive relationships. Potentially defiant students need to know that you’ll still care about them whatever happens. Focus on positive attributes, learn about their interests, and channel those strengths into playing an important role in the classroom – for example, a student might be the expert at fixing jammed door locks. • Reinforce progress and effort. Notice and give specific praise for positive, cooperative behaviors, however small. Wilson believes teachers should avoid saying “I like”, “I appreciate”, and “I want”, which convey the idea that it’s about pleasing or complying with the teacher rather than doing the right thing. Such language may also make a student feel manipulated. Better to talk about positive results – for example, “When you helped Kevin this morning, I think he felt valued.” • Teach how to disagree respectfully. “It’s empowering for all children – especially those who struggle with authority – to know that they may disagree with adults,” says Wilson – as long as it’s done appropriately. Students should be taught to use phrases like “I feel that” and “I suggest” when they believe something is unfair or should be changed. • Channel children’s energy in positive directions. If students are fired up about an issue, they should be encouraged to write letters to the school or community paper, get involved in service projects, or do their own research on it. • De-escalate defiance. The goal is to keep the child safe and cool things down. Wilson suggests: Avoid pushing the student’s buttons; don’t do anything that will heighten stress or invite more resistance. Don’t try to reason or make an emotional appeal when the child is too angry to process it. Slow down. Taking a few minutes before saying anything raises the probability that the child will listen. After the incident, reflect on what the trigger might have been – an unexpected schedule change, perhaps? • Intervene early. At the first sign of defiance, set clear limits. The earlier the teacher intervenes, the less likely the child will be to dig in and escalate. Use brief, direct statements, speak in a calm, matter-of-fact voice, avoid questions, and keep body language neutral – for example, “Andrew, take a seat. You can read or draw for now.” • When using consequences, offer limited choices. Because students who have escalated to defiance are often seeking power, it’s smart to give them a selection of consequences – for example, “Anna, either you can come with us now, or I can have Mrs. Bell come sit with you. Which do you choose?” • Avoid negotiating in the moment. Once a teacher has decided on a consequence or redirection for a defiant child, it’s wise to stick with it. “Negotiating during the incident will invite further testing,” says Wilson. “It also sends the message that children can avoid a redirection or consequence by resisting.” And don’t get into a power struggle. “Max, we’re done talking about that for now. Everyone, get your writing journals out and start on your stories from yesterday.” • Give the child time and space. Once a consequence has been given, it’s best to step back and give the child space to comply in a reasonable amount of time. Asking for immediate compliance invites further defiance.

 “When Children Are Defiant” by Margaret Berry Wilson in Responsive Classroom Newsletter, Summer 2013, http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/when-children-are-defiant


 Stephen Anderson

Classroom Management 101

In this NJEA Review article, Tracey Garrett (Rider University) refutes three common myths about classroom management: (a) that it can’t be taught and must be learned by experience; (b) that it’s a bag of tricks; and (c) that it depends on giving students extrinsic rewards. In fact, says Garrett, one of the major success stories of educational research in the 20th century was establishing a set of principles and strategies that can be taught, observed, and emulated. Here’s her take, with a major focus on preventing discipline problems from happening in the first place: • Develop an organized physical layout for the classroom. Purge the classroom of all unwanted clutter. Personalize the classroom so it communicates information about the teacher and students. Plan pathways to avoid congestion. Plan adequate space for students to line up by the door. Make it clear where materials belong. Provide space for both academic and social tasks. Display students’ work. Involve students in the design of the classroom. Locate the teacher’s desk in an appropriate place. • Develop clear rules and routines. Create 4-6 classroom rules that clearly specify appropriate behavior. Consider involving the students in generating these rules. Write the rules using positive language. Post classroom rules and refer to them as necessary. Develop routines to provide direction about how different classroom tasks are accomplished. Teach and demonstrate classroom rules and routines as specifically as you do academic content. • Establish caring relationships with and among students. Get to know something personal about each student. Be aware of students’ accomplishments and comment on them. Send positive notes, phone calls, or e-mails home. Be sensitive to students’ moods and concerns. Praise more, criticize less. Hold high expectations. Be a “real person.” Maintain a sense of humor. • Plan and implement engaging instruction. Match the physical layout of the classroom to the teacher’s style. Have all materials organized and ready before the start of each lesson. Establish an attention-getting signal. Adapt content and activities to students’ interests. Ensure students work at the appropriate level of challenge or difficulty. Give students the chance to exercise autonomy and make choices. Give students the opportunity to finish and display their work products. Show enthusiasm for the curriculum • Address discipline issues when they arise. Use nonverbal interventions such as proximity, eye contact, hand signals, and facial expressions to redirect misbehavior. Ignore minor misbehavior, if possible. Use brief, concise, and specific verbal interventions to redirect misbehavior. Use positive teacher language to tell the student what to do rather than what not to do. Implement logical consequences to help students learn something about why that particular misbehavior was inappropriate.


 “Classroom Management: It’s More Than a Bag of Tricks” by Tracey Garrett in NJEA Review, Oct. 2012 (Vol. 86, p. 17-19), http://bit.ly/Qsy5CV (spotted in Education Digest, May 2012)

 Stephen Anderson

What Art Did for One Child

“My vivid and colorful imagination turned me into a hopeless daydreamer in elementary school,” recalls award-winning New York art teacher Michele Sommer in this poignant Harvard Educational Review memoir. “Once, in first grade, I was so completely absorbed in a daydream that I didn’t notice all the children had been dismissed. I found myself sitting completely alone at my desk, my teacher glaring at me… I was keenly aware even as a child that the adults in my life regarded my daydreaming as a defect, and so I was deeply ashamed of it. I worked hard to learn to pay attention and follow directions like everyone else. What I wouldn’t give today, as an artist, to once again have that extraordinary mental capacity!” In second grade, Sommer had difficulty with subtraction, so one day she drew vertical lines through all the subtraction signs, turning those problems into addition, which she knew how to do. Her teacher was not fooled and put a big red F on her paper. On the way home, Sommer disposed of the paper under the neighbor’s pine tree. “My earliest failures in school set the tone for my entire kindergarten through twelfth-grade education,” she says. “The negative academic expectations were somehow passed on from grade to grade, teacher to teacher. I felt I could never be an A student.” As she went through elementary school, Sommer did well in art and was praised for her ability. But was it a gift she might lose? “I have a distinct memory of the moment of terror I experienced entering the fourth grade,” she says, “wondering if I ‘still had it’ or if I had somehow lost my artistic ability over the summer months. What if I couldn’t draw anymore? How would I get through the school year?” In junior high school, she still felt “dumb, humiliated, and worthless” as a student. But on graduation day, she was astonished to hear her name called by Mrs. Kiester, her art teacher, to receive an award for a colored-pencil drawing she had done of a geranium. The teacher’s note on the back commended her for her work – for “the satisfaction and happiness it has brought to me and others who have known, loved, and marveled at your creativity while you joined us here.” “My art teacher saved my life that day,” says Sommer. “The feeling of success and the knowledge that I had a valuable skill that I could share with others did buoy me and set me on the path to my bright future… Art continues to save my life every day. I need the elements of art like I need food and water; to me these elements are the basic building blocks of life.” As an art teacher, she continues, “I often get to see another side of a student who is struggling in academic subjects. For parents and teachers of these students, having someone witness this side of them is extremely valuable in working toward a deeper understanding of a child. I have an important role in discovering how children learn and how they see and feel about themselves and the world around them. I know that every child can experience success and become excited about learning. Art education has the power to make that happen.”

 “The Cream Does Not Always Rise: The Plight of Visual-Spatial Learners and the Power of Art Education” by Michele Sommer in Harvard Educational Review, Spring 2013 (Vol. 83, #1, p. 40-42), www.harvardeducationalreview.org


 Stephen Anderson

The Wisdom of Maya Angelou

In this interview with Alison Beard in Harvard Business Review, author Maya Angelou talks about how she learned courage from her mother: “I realized that one isn’t born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things – in the way that if one sets out to pick up a 100-pound bag of rice, one would be advised to start with a five-pound bag, then 10 pounds, then 20 pounds, and so forth, until one builds up enough muscle to lift the 100-pound bag. It’s the same way with courage.” Angelou also talks about what she learned from watching her mother and grandmother run businesses: “That it’s wise to be fair, and it’s unwise to lie. That doesn’t mean tell everything you know. Just make sure that what you do say is the truth. There are people who say I’m brutally frank, but one doesn’t have to be brutal; one can tell the truth in such a way that the listener really welcomes it.” She shares what she does about writer’s block: “I sit on the hotel bed with a deck of cards and play solitaire to give my ‘little mind’ something to do. I got that phrase from my grandmother, who used to say, when something surprised her, ‘You know, that wasn’t even on my littlest mind.’ I really thought that there was a small mind and a large mind, and if I could occupy the small one, I could get more quickly to the big one. So I play solitaire.” Finally, she’s asked about what she’s learned about leadership from her encounters with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama: “A leader sees greatness in other people. You can’t be much of a leader if all you see is yourself.” “Life’s Work: Maya Angelou” an interview by Alison Beard in Harvard Business Review, May 2013 (Vol. 91, #5, p. 152), http://hbr.org/angelou Stephen Anderson

Spotting Students Who Are Suffering from Depression

“Depression is a quiet crisis in schools,” say John Desrochers (Fairfield University, CT) and Gail Houck (Oregon Health and Science University) in this article in Principal Leadership. About 11 percent of adolescents experience depression serious enough to require expert help. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people; in 2009, there were 1,934 suicides in the 5-19 age bracket. Desrochers and Houck tell the story of a ninth-grade girl who attempted suicide. She appeared to be popular, high-achieving, and involved in school and community activities, but upon further investigation, it turned out that as early as elementary school, she had periods of moodiness and withdrawal and a psychological evaluation documented occasional depressed behavior. In the weeks before her suicide attempt, several teachers noticed that her class participation, grades, and social engagement had fallen off. Her English teacher mentioned “dark themes” in some of her writing, and the school nurse said the girl had visited her with vague physical complaints that were followed by absences. The girl also quit the volleyball team, dropped out of all her school activities, and was no longer singing in the church choir. “To recognize and effectively address depression and other mental health problems, schools must have systems in place to connect the dots and provide appropriate support,” say Desrochers and Houck. “Depression is a developmental process. Early (even mild) episodes of depression left untreated make it more likely that major depression will develop later. Early intervention is essential.” The authors recommend a multi-tiered system of supports paralleling Response to Intervention (RTI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS): prevention and wellness promotion for all students, universal screening for academic and behavioral barriers to learning, effective interventions that increase in intensity as needed, monitoring students’ responses to interventions, and systematic decisions about services. Even if a systematic approach like this is not in place, principals should work with their mental-health team to: • Review current problem-solving structures and identify how they can help spot and intervene with students suffering from depression. • Facilitate planning by and close collaboration among school mental-health professionals. • Establish some form of universal screening for depression and other mental-health disorders. • Provide parent education sessions and professional development for school personnel on signs, symptoms, outcomes, and how to refer students who are showing signs of depression. Here is a list of symptoms (of course, not all students who show these are clinically depressed): Disengagement from family and friends; Difficulty with interpersonal relationships; Increased irritability, anger, sensitivity to criticism, and classroom misbehavior; Excessive time spent with video games and other solitary activities; Lack of interest in activities that had been giving enjoyment; Declining school achievement; Changes in eating habits, frequent physical complaints, fatigue, or sleep disturbance; Increased tardiness and absence from school; Lack of grooming or self-care; Feelings of boredom, apathy, sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness; Low self-esteem; Self-destructive thoughts or thoughts of suicide or death; Crying; Difficulties paying attention, remembering, completing tasks, or making decisions.

 “Depression: A Quiet Crisis” by John Desrochers and Gail Houck in Principal Leadership, April 2013 (Vol. 13, #8, p. 12-16), www.nassp.org


 Stephen Anderson Principal,

“Essential Questions”

Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins on “Essential Questions” In this important new book, backwards curriculum-unit design gurus Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins further explain the use of “essential questions”, including lots of examples. Here is a sampling: • In history and social studies: How can we know what really happened in the past? What is worth fighting for? Whose “story” is it? • In mathematics: When and why should we estimate? How does what we measure influence how we measure? How does how we measure influence what we measure (or don’t measure)? What do good problem solvers do, especially when they get stuck? • In language arts: Why am I writing? For whom? How do effective writers hook and hold their readers? How are stories about other places and times about me? • In science: How are structure and function related in living things? Is aging a disease? How do we decide what to believe about a scientific claim? • In the arts: What influences creative expression? What’s the difference between a thoughtful and a thoughtless critique? If practice makes perfect, what makes perfect practice? • In world languages: What should I do in my head when trying to learn a language? How do native speakers differ, if at all, from fluent foreigners? How can I sound more like a native speaker? How can I explore and describe cultures without stereotyping them? McTighe and Wiggins believe good essential questions have seven key characteristics: They are open-ended; there isn’t a single, final, correct answer. They are thought-provoking and intellectually engaging, often sparking discussion and debate. They call for higher-order thinking – analysis, inference, evaluation, and prediction. They point toward important, transferable ideas within (and sometimes across) disciplines. They raise additional questions and encourage further inquiry. They require support and justification, not just an answer. They beg to be revisited over time. McTighe and Wiggins go on to clarify how three kinds of questions are useful in teaching but are not essential: Questions that lead – They point to a single, correct answer – for example, Which letters in the alphabet are vowels? Questions that guide – These are a little more robust than leading questions, but they still point students toward previously targeted knowledge and skills – for example, Can you state Newton’s 2nd Law in your own words? Questions that hook – At the beginning of a lesson or unit, a teacher uses these to grab students’ attention and provoke wonder – for example, a science teacher in an Alaskan village asked students, Are we drinking the same water as our ancestors? Should essential questions be posed at the beginning of every lesson, as some principals require? McTighe and Wiggins think not. Essential questions are designed for the curriculum unit; they are “too complex and multifaceted to be satisfactorily addressed within a single lesson,” they say. “In particular, essential questions are meant to focus on long-term learning and thus be revisited over time, not answered by the end of a class period. Not only would it be difficult to come up with a new EQ for every lesson; the predictable result would be a set of superficial (leading) or, at best, guiding questions.” Why use essential questions? “For the majority of learners,” say McTighe and Wiggins, “school is a place where the teacher has the answers and classroom questions are intended to find out who knows them. Ironically, many teachers signal that this is the game even when they don’t intend to communicate it – for example, by posing questions that elicit only yes/no or single right answers, by calling only on students with raised hands, and by answering their own questions after a brief pause.” Essential questions, on the other hand: Signal that inquiry is a key goal of education; Make it more likely that the unit will be intellectually engaging; Help clarify and prioritize standards; Provide transparency for students (Where are we going with all this?); Encourage and model metacognition; Provide opportunities for intra- and interdisciplinary connections; Support meaningful differentiation. Essential questions are also important in professional learning community discussions of interim assessment results and student work – for example: Are these the results we expected? Why or why not? Are there any surprises? Any anomalies? What does this work reveal about student learning and performance? What patterns of strengths and weaknesses are evident? What misconceptions are revealed? How good is “good enough”? What actions at the teacher, team, school, and district level would improve learning and performance?

 Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins (ASCD, 2013)

 Stephen Anderson

Handling Seven Interpersonal Challenges with Skill and Grace

        In this article in Psychology Today, Mary Loftus says that “it is one of the operating principles of social psychology that even the most minute encounters can have large effects on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors… If there is a unifying theme to the findings, it is that the most successful encounters accommodate, even anticipate, the respondent’s point of view. That is, if we want something only another person can give – friendship, acceptance, forgiveness – we need to factor in the other person’s mindset into our requests and behaviors.” Here are a few examples:

        • Getting an honest answer – “When you want to hear the unvarnished truth, you have to ask for it,” says Loftus. General questions (What can you tell me about this job?) yield little useful information and may even elicit a misleading response. Positive-assumption questions (There aren’t any problems in this school, are there?) are equally unhelpful. Researchers have found that negative-assumption questions, communicating that you assume there will be difficulties and drawbacks (What are the worst parts of this job? What mechanical problems does this car have?) are the best for getting the truth.

        • Framing criticism – People don’t like to be told they’ve messed up, and even constructive criticism is often met with defensiveness, says Loftus. “There is mounting evidence that criticism can be damaging to all relationships and individual mental health… We are social creatures, and the way we say things has real power. To show care when choosing how to phrase something is a way to honor, and safeguard, any relationship.” So skip the complaining and go straight to the explaining, advises psychologist Susan Heitler. With children, it’s better to say what you would prefer them to do rather than criticizing what they have not done or done incorrectly. Compare these two approaches by a parent concerned about a messy playroom: “This place is a mess! What have you been doing? You haven’t picked up one thing. No one is coming over this weekend until this room is spotless.” versus “I’d love to see your playroom cleaned up by this weekend so you and your friends can have fun downstairs.”

        • Responding to a compliment – There are three internal questions when someone says something like, “That’s a beautiful sweater”: (a) Do we agree or disagree with the statement? (b) Do we accept or reject it? and (c) How can we avoid seeming proud or conceited if we accept the compliment? Studies reveal that two-thirds of people respond inappropriately to positive comments, says Loftus, and people tend to respond better to compliments from men than from women. Here are some possibilities:

• The praise upgrade: “Yes, it really brings out the blue in my eyes.”
• The follow-up: “Do you really think so? Do you want to borrow it?”
• Deflecting: “It was on sale at Walmart, and they didn’t even have the color I wanted.”
• Rejecting: “It’s itchy; I hate it.”
• Adding a relevant, related comment: “Thanks, it’s my favorite too.”

“But nothing tops a smile, looking the complimenter in the eye, and saying, ‘Thank you,’” says Loftus.

        • Giving praise – “Praising someone’s ability to work hard is more effective than gushing about how brilliant she is,” says Loftus. People who are praised for ability don’t try as hard at future tasks because they come to believe that success should come naturally and having to work hard shows a lack of innate ability. Praise for talent and “smarts” can also lead to people going to pieces when they encounter frustration, setbacks, or failure. “The ideal is to help someone think positively but realistically about achieving goals while praising their hard work,” she says. “When praised for persistence, those who think the path ahead will be difficult invest more effort.”

        • Persuading people – To change someone’s mood, mind, or willingness to do something, we shouldn’t think in terms of winning an argument, says Loftus. Think instead of how to win agreement without stirring up bad feelings. Avoid the undebatable, focus on goals, watch for persuadable moments, express similarities and shared values, show you have their best interests at heart, cite peers who have taken this route, and be agreeable.

        • Apologizing – It’s hard to say you’re sorry, and simply bringing yourself to apologize when you’ve made a mistake is the most important step, says Loftus. Insincere apologies are worse than none at all. The best apologies have five components:

• A simple expression of regret – for example, “I’m sorry.”
• An explanation of the cause – “I forgot to call you the other day with the information.”
• Taking responsibility – “I blew it.”
• A promise of forbearance – “I promise nothing like this will happen again.”
• An offer of repair – “What can I do to make it up to you?”

The more of these elements an apology contains, the better. But don’t apologies result in negative consequences? Apologizing certainly makes it clear that you did what you did, but researchers have found that it reduces sanctions, anger, and negative evaluations. Do women apologize more than men? Yes, say social psychologists Karina Schumann and Michael Ross (University of Waterloo in Ontario). Why? Because men seem to have a higher threshold for what constitutes offensive behavior.

        • Complaining – “Both direct observation of experts and psychological research point in one direction,” says Loftus: “A successful complaint usually boils down to being really nice and staying very calm, but never settling for less than you believe is fair.” Ideally there are three components:

• Say something positive – for example, “This is one of our favorite restaurants.”
• Make your complaint or request – “But tonight the cheese bread was burned. Could we possibly get another order that is less crisp?”
• Follow up with a statement of gratitude – “Thanks so much, you’re a dear.”

This approach is most likely to get the problem solved and maintain good relationships.

“Smooth Encounters” by Mary Loftus in Psychology Today, April 2013 (Vol. 46, #2, p. 69), no e-link available

Stephen Anderson

Expectations For Student Learning: ACADEMIC

Expectations For Student Learning: ACADEMIC Central High School Students will demonstrate: 1. Responsibility for their own learning. 2. Ability to research and to synthesize information. 3. Effective reading, writing and speaking. 4. Competence generating solutions to authentic life situations. Expectations For Student Learning: SOCIAL Central High School students will demonstrate: 1. Appreciation for the unique contributions of each individual. 2. Cooperation in achieving a common goal. 3. Understanding of basic social values that promote moral and ethical conduct. 4. Skills that lead to non-violent conflict resolution. 5. Connections between education and life-choices.

Stephen Anderson

An example of higher order thinking

Higher-order thinking

Are students using higher order thinking operations within a critical framework?

• Explanation
• Continuum of practice
• Example

Explanation

Higher-order thinking requires students to manipulate information and ideas in ways that transform their meaning and implications. This transformation occurs when students combine facts and ideas in order to synthesise, generalise, explain, hypothesise or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation. Manipulating information and ideas through these processes allows students to solve problems and discover new (for them) meanings and understandings. When students engage in the construction of knowledge, an element of uncertainty is introduced into the instructional process and makes instructional outcomes not always predictable; i.e., the teacher is not certain what will be produced by students. In helping students become producers of knowledge, the teacher's main instructional task is to create activities or environments that allow them opportunities to engage in higher-order thinking.

Lower-order thinking occurs when students are asked to receive or recite factual information or to employ rules and algorithms through repetitive routines. Students are given pre-specified knowledge ranging from simple facts and information to more complex concepts. Such knowledge is conveyed to students through a reading, work sheet, lecture or other direct instructional medium. The instructional process is to simply transmit knowledge or to practise procedural routines. Students are in a similar role when they are reciting previously acquired knowledge; i.e., responding to test-type questions that require recall of pre-specified knowledge. More complex activities still may involve reproducing knowledge when students only need to follow pre-specified steps and routines or employ algorithms in a rote fashion.

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Continuum of practice

1. Students are engaged only in lower-order thinking; i.e., they either receive, or recite, or participate in routine practice and in no activities during the lesson do students go beyond simple reproduction.
2. Students are primarily engaged in routine lower-order thinking a good share of the lesson. There is at least one significant question or activity in which some students perform some higher-order thinking.
3. Almost all students, almost all of the time, are engaged in higher-order thinking.

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Example

The topic of a year 2 Maths lesson was classification and grouping generally and, more specifically, set theory. The teacher brought in a range of diverse objects. Students, in groups, had to categorise them according to criteria which the students themselves determined in their groups.

At the end of that part of the lesson, the groups rotated around the classroom and in groups suggested the basis of classification. The teacher then gave hula hoops to each group and asked them to place them in an overlapping set fashion. Instructions were given as to what was desired, with the request that objects in the overlapping or intersecting set had to have characteristics in common with each of the hoops. The groups did this and again rotated and discussed the basis of the classification.

The basis of the classification was determined by the students and could be determined for a variety of reasons for example, they were all yellow, or all dirty, all cubes etc. Students simply had to articulate reasons and justify their classifications. The lesson concluded with the teacher making comments regarding the use of symbolic representations in Maths.

 

 

Stephen Anderson

Teaching the way YOU Learn

Think about how you learn best.  What motivates you?  Excites you?  Encourages you to know more about a subject?  If you could learn using any instructional strategy you wanted, what would you choose?

Next, think about how you teach.  What is comfortable for you?  What strategies do you enjoy using most and are your “Go-to” instructional methods?  If you’re having a tough day and didn’t get the time you wanted to plan a stellar new lesson, what practices do you rely on? What methods do you struggle with, enjoy using the least, or possibly avoid?

Now, think about how your students learn.  What motivates them?  Excites them?  Encourages them to know more about a subject?  If they could direct how you teach, what would have you do?

For some students, how they learn and how I learn fit very well.  When I plan lessons and think about learning, I feel I can do pretty well by them.

For other students who learn differently than I do, it can be a struggle.  I have to consciously make an effort to include instructional strategies that I don’t like, because I don’t learn that way.

I am more of a visual and auditory learner.  It’s pretty easy for me to come up with teaching techniques that utilize these types of learning.  I am not a very good hands-on learner.  I have to work pretty hard to come up with something that engages my students who learn this way.  I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic colleagues who are hands-on learners.  They have helped me to develop a better understanding of this learning style and how to better integrate it into my own teaching.

When I discuss with students what works for them and what they’d like to see more of in my classes, competition is almost always one of the responses.  I struggle with competition.  I am not a competitive person and I don’t understand this mindset very well.  It’s actually something that can set me on edge.  When I think about the students I have difficulty motivating or don’t connect with as well as I’d like, many of them have a competitive nature.

So I’m asking for your help.  I am looking for resources and instructional strategies on how to better reach my competitive students.  What works in your classroom?  Are you someone who enjoys competition?  How do you leverage that for your own learning or teaching?  What instructional strategies do you find comfortable or challenging?  Do you find yourself teaching how you learn?

Stephen Anderson

Teaching Students with Asperger to Deal with Anxiety

        “Anxiety can be understood as a hidden disability,” say Jessica Minahan (a Newton, Massachusetts special educator) and Nancy Rappaport (Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance) in this Kappan article. They believe anxiety is the culprit in many of the behavior problems experienced by children with Asperger syndrome. Standard behavior modification approaches (stickers, points, praise) are ineffective and can make things worse, say Minahan and Rappaport: “If students with Asperger are to succeed in school, they need a prescribed behavioral intervention plan that addresses anxiety, explicit instruction in underdeveloped skills leading to anxiety, which helps them learn alternative, more appropriate responses to use when they’re flooded with anxiety, and includes accommodations that teachers can use while students learn new skills.”

        Some students show obvious signs when they’re anxious – flushed cheeks, tense muscles. But with others, there aren’t clear signs until they act out and anxiety is expressed indirectly – increased insistence on routines and sameness, preference for rigid rules, repetitive behavior, anger outbursts, and silly behavior. Minahan and Rappaport use the analogy of a shaken can of soda: you can’t tell it’s been shaken by looking at it (the student looks fine); you only find out when you pop the can open (the student inexplicably explodes). Anxiety also undermines students’ academic performance by the effect it has on working memory, attention, and other abilities.

        “A student’s anxiety-related behavior is often motivated by escape or avoidance,” say Minahan and Rappaport – asking to see the nurse when a writing assignment is handed out, or cursing just before a math test. “If the teacher responds with a time-out or sends the student to the office,” they say, “this may accidentally reinforce the avoidant behavior…” What’s needed is explicit instruction in the following underdeveloped skills:

• Self-regulation – the ability to calm oneself and manage frustration;
• Thought-stopping and thought-interruption – the ability to short-circuit a cycle of negative thinking by refocusing attention on a replacement thought;
• Thinking traps – the ability to recognize common thought patterns that can increase anxiety and learn how to manage those thoughts;
• Social skills – the ability to take another person’s perspective and use conversation skills;
• Executive functioning – the ability to think before acting and follow sequential steps to complete a task effectively;
• Flexible thinking – when anxious, this can help a student avoid becoming upset when things don’t turn out as expected.

“These skills must be explicitly taught if the student is to change his or her behavior over the long term,” say Minahan and Rappaport. “Sadly, many behavior plans/programs don’t address these skills.”

        It’s critically important for teachers to backtrack from a behavior meltdown and find the antecedents. These might include unstructured times (cafeteria and recess), transitions, writing demands, social demands, and unexpected events. “Ninety percent of every behavior plan should be dedicated to antecedent management,” say Minahan and Rappaport. “Students will continue to require accommodations until they develop the skills to cope and can succeed without them.” For example, a student might be given two 10-minute anxiety-reduction breaks during each day, and these shouldn’t have to be “earned” by good behavior. Academic accommodations are also important – for example, previewing a math worksheet early in the day and doing the first problem with the student, or providing a list of commonly misspelled words. Students need to be coached from statements like “I’m a horrible speller” to saying “I’m not a great speller, but I have a strategy.”

        Students with anxiety issues also benefit from cognitive behavior coaching. It’s a big step when they can understand that emotions start small and grow larger – from calm to an explosion – and what the outward signs are. “Once students understand this,” say Minahan and Rappaport, “they can learn to catch themselves at the frustration point and practice a coping strategy to regulate themselves before becoming explosive or shutting down.” A teacher might say, “I notice your face is scrunched, your shoulders are up near your ears, and your fist is clenched. You’re frustrated right now.”

The authors also recommend using an “emotional thermometer” with pictures of various facial expressions and matching emotions and steps to take. Teachers can also provide a “calming box” containing small items the student can use to calm down – putty, a good-luck charm, a “lucky penny”, or noise-reducing headphones.

 

“Anxiety in Students: A Hidden Culprit in Behavior Issues” by Jessica Minahan and Nancy Rappaport in Phi Delta Kappan, December 2012/January 2013 (Vol. 94, #4, p. 34-39),www.kappanmagazine.org

 

 

Stephen Anderson