by Elaine Gallagher PhD.

Good questioning skills are part of the artistry of teaching.  Well-crafted questions can assist students in digging deeper for more thoughtful responses.  They can allow students to reflect on their own thought processes and to develop the ability to clearly articulate their thinking.  Skillful questioning leads students to make their own discoveries, create their own learning.

If you don’t do this already, spend some time anticipating the kinds of questions you want to raise during a discussion and the kinds of questions students are likely to raise. Think through how you want to respond to these questions and have several illustrative examples ready to explain and enhance more difficult material. You might also think about ways in which to get your students talking to each other.

We have spent years programming them to filter all their responses through the teacher. We stand at the head of the room like a target.  We jump in to respond to each student with evaluative comments.  Our voice dominates.

Try sitting with your students.  Consciously refrain from responding to everything.  Tell your students that you want them to handle the discussion and that you will act as a facilitator.  They may need preparation to take this step and that can come in the form of questions that you give them to use as a guiding structure for their discussion. Later you can ask them to create the structure.

• Give students «thinking time» or «wait time» after asking a question. If there are no responses to your questions, don’t answer your own question. As another, simpler question or give an example.

• Move from simple questions to those that require thought. Avoid questions that need only a yes/no answer. Don’t insult students by asking questions that are too simple and don’t frustrate them by asking questions that are too difficult. I think frustrating questions are okay, but allow them to collaborate with a partner, or put them in small groups of three or four to wrestle with the question for a few minutes

• Ask only one question at a time, not a string of several at the same time.

• Make sure that everyone can hear a student question. Repeat the question if necessary. (Better yet, ask another student to repeat the question. ) If you don’t understand the student’s question, ask for clarification, «Give me an example» or «Do you mean…»(Again, seek the clarification from another student.) Sometimes turn a student question back to the class. If no one can answer it, you know it’s something difficult for all. (Not necessarily. Turn the question over to pairs or small groups for a couple of minutes and then open it back up to responses. If you’re still getting blank stares, ask where the confusion is.)

• Don’t let a few students dominate a discussion. Get all students involved. As the «quick» student to wait or, at times, ask everyone to first write down the answer. Then choose someone to give a response. (Or go for pairs and small groups to maximize participation.)

• If you ask a question and immediately get a response, you can ask others what they think. «Do you agree, Jon?» is a good way to get students involved in the discussion.

• If you decide to call on a student, first ask the question, pause, and then call on the student. This keeps everybody’s attention since they know they may be called upon. Never go “around the room” in obvious order asking questions. Always keep students on their toes; don’t develop patterns that will clue them into whom you might call on next. Have students’ names on 3 x 5 “ cards, and use them to call on students at random, shuffling them periodically.

• I’m not sure «keep students on their toes» doesn’t translate to high anxiety. I suggest varying your questioning strategies. Sometimes it’s nice to have some time to think and formulate your answer. If you feel there is value in asking for a spontaneous response, set it up that way.

• Don’t ask, «Do you understand?» or «Do you have any questions from last week’s lecture?» Ask questions which require students to give answers which demonstrate that they understand. So if you finish working through a problem on the board, you might ask something like – «What three things do you need to consider before starting the problem…

• If a student asks a question that was covered previously and he/she should know, don’t embarrass the student by saying, «You should know that,» or «We covered that last week.» Instead, consider asking another student to answer the question.

• Move around the room in a way that promotes discussion. When a student asks a question, it is natural for an instructor to move toward that student. This tends to exclude other students and focuses the interaction between teacher and student. Moving away from the student who is speaking draws others into the discussion.

• One of the most helpful things you can do if you want to improve your questioning skills is to have yourself videotaped during a discussion. When you watch the tape, pay particular attention to the kinds of questions you are asking.

What levels of thinking are those questions requiring of your students? How much time do you give students to answer questions? How many times do you answer your own questions? How much of the «discussion» is really you talking? How often do you help a student examine his/her own thinking? What percentage of the time are students talking to each other? How often does a student challenge or ask for clarification on another student’s response?

 

 

DEVELOPING QUESTIONING SKILLS

Suggestions for developing better questioning skills:

• Talk less but ask more.
• Analyze your questions.
• Use more divergent questions.
• Reduce the number of questions that can be answered by only «yes» or «no.»
• Ask more questions to discover multi-talents.
• Do not stop the discussion with the right answer.
• Increase wait-time between asking and answering questions to at least five seconds.
• Lead more student-student «basketball» types of discussions.
• Provide good halting times.
• Avoid asking multiple questions.
• Develop sensitive listening techniques.
• Develop silent time.
• Ask questions appropriate to the developmental level.
• Provide direct instruction with interesting materials.
• Model good questioning skills.
• Create an atmosphere of trust and encourage questions.
• Include student questions later in the lesson, quiz, or assignments.
• Respond in an encouraging way.
• Help children improve their questioning skills.

 

LEVELS OF QUESTIONING: AN EXERCISE

Different levels of questions address different cognitive abilities, including knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

The following exercise applies these levels of questions to a well-known children’s story.

 

The Story: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks wanders into the house of the Three Bears. She tastes their porridge, finding one bowl «too hot,» one bowl «too cold,» and one bowl «just right.» Goldilocks also tries out their chairs, finding one chair «too big,» one «too small,» and one «just right.» Then she tries out the bears’ beds, finding one bed «too hard,» one «too soft,» and one «just right.» She falls asleep in Baby Bear’s «just right» bed. When the bears return, they find that someone has been eating their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds. They discover Goldilocks in the «just right» bed and she runs away.

                                   The Questions

Level 1: Know

• List the characters in the story.
• What were the bears eating?
• Where was Goldilocks when the bears found her?

Level 2: Comprehend

• Retell the events in the story in your own words.
• Why was Goldilocks afraid of the bears?
• Why was Goldilocks sleeping in Baby Bear’s bed?

Level 3: Apply

• Tell what might have happened if you had been Goldilocks.
• Relate the story from the point of view of Baby Bear.
• Use the information from the story to help you build a model of the bears’ house.

Level 4: Analyze

• Compare Goldilocks’ experience with that of Little Red Riding Hood’s.
• Identify parts of the story that could happen to you.
• Make a list of all the events in the story that indicate it is a fairy tale.

Level 5: Evaluate

• Judge whether or not Goldilocks made a good decision by running away from the bears. Explain.
• Pretend that Goldilocks was on trial for «breaking and entering.» Decide whether you would find her guilty. Justify your decision.
• Evaluate Goldilocks’ behavior as a guest in the bears’ house.

Level 6: Create or Synthesis

• Combine art and drama to create a new ending for the story.
• Suppose that Goldilocks had found the home of the Three Raccoons. What might have happened?
• What if Goldilocks had brought a friend to the home of the Three Bears. What might have happened?
• How would you change the ending of the story?

 

Benefits of increased use of “Wait Time” as you ask questions

One factor which can have powerful effects on student participation is the amount of time an instructor pauses between asking a question and doing something else (calling on a student or rewording the question).

Research on classroom questioning and information processing indicates that students need at least three to five seconds to comprehend a question, consider the available information, formulate an answer, and begin to respond. In contrast, the same research established that on the average a classroom teacher allows less than one second of wait-time.

After teachers were trained to allow three to five seconds of wait-time the following significant changes in their classrooms occurred:

• The number of students who failed to respond when called on decreased.
• The number of unsolicited but appropriate responses increased.
• The length of student responses increased.
• The number of student statements where evidence was used to make inferences increased.
• The number of responses from students identified by the teacher as less able increased.
• The number of student-to-student interactions increased.
• The number of student questions increased. (Rowe, 1974)

Allowing wait-time after a student response or question also produced significant changes in classroom interaction.  The most notable change was that the instructor made fewer teaching errors characterized by responding illogically or inappropriately to a student’s  comment.

Other benefits of 3 -5 second wait time include:

1. 300-700% increase in the length of student responses.
2. The number of unsolicited, but appropriate, student responses increases.
3. Failures to respond decrease.
4. Confidence increases – there are fewer inflected responses.
5. Speculative responses increase.
6. Teacher-centered show & tell decreases; student-student interaction increases.
7. Teacher questions change in number and kind:

• The number of divergent questions increases
• Teachers ask higher level questions (Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• There is more probing for clarification.

8. Students make inferences & support inferences with data.
9. Students ask more questions.
10. Contributions by “slow” students increase.
11. Disciplinary moves decrease – more students are on task.
12. Achievement on logic tests improves.

On the other hand, too much wait-time can also be detrimental to student interaction. When no one seems to be able to answer a question, more wait-time will not necessarily solve the problem. Experts say that waiting more than 20-30 seconds is perceived as “punishing” by the students. The amount of wait-time needed depends, in-part, upon the level of question the instructor asks,  and student characteristics, such as familiarity with content and past experience with the thought process required.

Generally, lower-level questions require less wait-time, perhaps only three seconds. Higher-level questions may require five seconds or more. With particularly complex higher-level questions some instructors tell student to spend two or three minutes considering the question and noting some ideas.

NOTE: “Lower” or “higher” levels refer to the six levels Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Other instructors allow five to ten seconds of thinking time, and/or encouraging students to work in pairs to develop ideas, and then ask students what processes they are using to investigate the questions. This strategy makes students aware that thought process is at least as important as an answer and that alternative processes can be applied to arrive at an answer to the same question. (This is a metacognitive technique: students learning how we learn)

 

THREE TYPES OF QUESTIONS

Low-Level versus High-Level

Low-Level	High-Level
Concentrate on factual information Can be memorized Can limit student understanding Evaluate students’ preparation and comprehension Can help diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses Review or summarize content	Require students to use higher order thinking skills Require students to use reasoning skills Use knowledge to problem-solve, analyze, and evaluate Encourage discussion Encourage students to think more deeply and critically

 

2. Open versus Closed 

Close-Ended	Open-Ended
Can usually be answered by one word or phrase Is a conversation stopper Limited number of acceptable answers Most answers usually anticipated by the teacher Correctness of answers is easily judged May be at any level of the taxonomy Include yes/no, true/false, multiple choice or fill in the blank Allow student to demonstrate limited knowledge	Cannot usually be answered by a single word or phrase Invites others to volunteer information Many acceptable answers Most answers not anticipated by the teacher Correctness of answers less easily judged May be at any level of the taxonomy Allows student to demonstrate the breadth and depth of his/her knowledge

 

3. Convergent versus Divergent 

Convergent	Divergent
Has a single, correct answer Represent the analysis and integration of given or remembered information Lead you to an expected end result or answer Thought processes involve explaining, stating relationships, and comparing and contrasting Often closed-ended May be low- or high-level	Have a number of possible answers Encourages exploration of possibilities Requires both concrete and abstract thinking Thought processes involve predicting, hypothesizing, inferring, or reconstructing Often require new, creative insights Always open-ended May be low- or high-level

             Now, teachers, you are prepared to stimulate your students’ brains by asking questions more effectively.

 

REFERENCES:

1. Academic Learning Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
2. Judy Van Voorhis: Education Department, Muskingum College, Ohio.
3. Margaret Farguhar: Grosset & Dunlap, New York

 

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By Elaine Gallagher, PhD

What is Inquiry-based learning? The old saying, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”,  describes the core of inquiry-based learning.

Inquiry is the process of seeking truth, information, or knowledge by questioning. questioning is the key!

So what’s inquiry learning?

Inquiry-based learning is about asking questions in order to promote learning. There are many kinds of questions: rhetorical questions, Socratic questions, convergent or divergent questions, open or closed questions, even low level – high level questions, with profundity determined by which of the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy the questioner is using.

“Essential Questions” are questions which, usually, the teacher poses and models. They are questions that get to the heart of the lesson or unit, for example: “What were some social and economic reasons for the Mexican Revolution in 1910, and what effects did these reasons have on the general population?”

Sometimes the “Essential Question” is called “The Big Idea”, (Sugata Mintra), so that the teacher and students focus on an essential factor in the lesson or unit of study.

CONSTRUCTIVE INTERACTION or THINK, PAIR, SHARE are similar techniques with 4 steps. The purpose is to construct critical thinking and collaborative discussions.

• The teacher presents to students a pertinent or essential question, such as “What factors form your personality?”
• Individually, students respond by writing what they think….brief comments, not an essay. Usually, in 5 minutes they can complete this step.
• In pairs, each student will read his/her comments to their partner.
• Now the students form into small teams of 4 or 5 students, to discuss what the pairs had discussed, and to arrive at a few conclusions or a basic summary of the topic.
• The entire class converges to hear about ideas that emerged from the various teams. Topics are shared with the entire class…then the teacher moves on. One of the goals of this activity is to provoke students to think, and to develop awareness of various topics.

There are also “Foundation Questions”: These are generally the «what is» questions. Students create the foundation questions by brainstorming topics and ideas in order to provoke questions.

Through investigation and research of factual information, students work toward answering the Essential Question or Big Idea by developing a series of “Foundation Questions”, such as “What were the dates of the Mexican Revolution?” or “”Who were the instigators and leaders of the Revolution?” “What motivated them?”  “How did the revolution end? Who won? What do we mean when we say “win’?”

These kinds of questions, which students can ask, in order to form an outline of study, are part of the Inquiry Method of teaching/learning. Teachers need to model these questions so that the students, too, will learn how to use them, answer them, or investigate the answers if the questions pose questions with answers that are unknown by students.

Real learning takes place when students WANT to know something because interesting questions have been presented, by the teacher as well as by other students.

 

QUESTIONING

Use a prompt to stimulate student interest in the topic for exploration.

Do an experiment and analyze the results. Present a provocative question, an essential question, or a Big Idea. Students are then in a position to generate their own questions about the topic.

IMPORTANT: It’s when students ask their own questions that they become empowered learners. 

 

PLANNING AND PREDICTING

After students explore ideas through hands-on experiences or Internet research, they formulate a question and create a plan for investigating their question.

They also predict what they think their results will be. Working in cooperative learning groups, the students design an action plan to investigate their questions and predict the outcome.

Prior to beginning the inquiry, students are introduced to the topic.

• The teacher helps the students to generate questions by modeling questioning: How did you come to that conclusion? What are some other possibilities?
• Students create a list of resources to answer their questions and communicate their findings. These resources may include: computer, Internet, brainstorming software, multimedia tools, etc. They also create a list of keywords for research, acquiring e-mail addresses of experts, and identifying local personnel who may provide information.  The teacher’s role is to guide them, not to provide the answers.

 

INVESTIGATING

The teacher facilitates the process by gathering resources and asking open-ended questions during the team investigations.

Students have the opportunity to move around the room to see what other groups are doing. This generates other ideas that can be incorporated in their own investigations. Students keep records or logs to be used when compiling information. This log also provides them with information on what worked during the investigation and what didn’t; which questions have been answered and which have not.

Not all knowledge that is needed during investigations can be acquired by inquiry. It is important for a teacher to say «no» to investigations that are costly or have safety concerns, investigations that sway from the goals of the lesson, or investigations that are not relevant to answering the essential question. Students, redirected by the teacher, stay focused on appropriate questions and investigations.

 

RECORDING AND REPORTING

Students record and communicate their findings in this stage of inquiry learning. They can report their findings in a variety of ways. Whatever means they use, they restate the question and predictions, describe the investigation, and interpret the results. The cooperative groups report their findings.

 

REFLECTING

In the reflecting phase, students revisit the phenomenon and plan further investigations. New questions may occur as a result of the inquiry and the process is repeated. Students reflect by revisiting the essential and foundation questions.

If the information gathered does not answer the essential question, then more foundation questions may need to be formulated and investigated.

When students reflect on their own achievement and identify the skills and knowledge they applied in the process, students can answer the question for themselves, «Why are we doing this?»  They are able to make a more authentic connection between their schoolwork and the value of what it is they’re learning.

Another important facet is connecting with the world outside the classroom.

 

PLANNING A CLASS USING INQUIRY GENERAL INFORMATION

First, you need to know that Inquiry is not a specific lesson or method. It’s a technique that teachers may use periodically when there’s a topic or lesson that has extensive depth or necessity of research. It’s a technique that may take two or three weeks to complete on a specific topic. A wide variety of questioning tools need to be used in ALL lessons to stimulate critical thinking.

This topic was discussed in a previous article, entitled “Teaching and Learning Strategies”. INQUIRY is an extension of good questioning, by which the students are supported, guided, and encouraged to learn from producing their own questions, resulting in answers that they will remember much better than if they had read material assigned by the teachers, then completing answers to questions provided by the teacher. INQUIRY is student-based learning resulting from student-based questions.

 

PLANNING A CLASS USING INQUIRY

STEP 1:

Teacher poses an ESSENTIAL QUESTION / BIG IDEA.

               EXAMPLES:

• “What gave Shakespeare his ideas for the wide variety of play and sonnets he wrote?”
• “How do ramps help us?”
• “What caused the disease Kuru, killing off about 1/3 of the Fore tribe in Papua, New Guinea in the 1950’s?”

 

STEP 2:

Students come up with FOUNDATION QUESTIONS.

             EXAMPLES:

• When did Shakespeare live?
• Was he married? Did he have kids?
• Who else was famous at the same time as Shakespeare?
• Was he famous while he was alive?
• Did he travel to to get ideas for his writings?

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• Who invented the ramp? Do we know?
• Did early humans understand physical laws of the earth?
• Were there physicists before Sir Isaac Newton?
• What was Isaac Newton knighted? Who made that decision/

———————————————————

• Where is Papua, New Guinea?
• What is Kuru like? How do people react when they have it?
• How do people get Kuru?
• What is the Fore tribe like?…Customs, languags, food, holidays,religión.
• Is there are cure for Kuru?

 

STEP 3:

Teacher advises students about resources and investigative tools that are available, IF students are using limited resources. Teacher should make public, posting on the wall, for example, a rubric which will be used to assess the final project of each team.

 

STEP 4:

Students work collaboratively to arrive at answers and ideas based on the ESSENTIAL QUESTION / THE BIG IDEA. As students are investigating, the teacher circulates, to add support and guidance to students’ questions. Students are planning and predicting the outcome of some of their questions. ALL discussions need to be in English, if this is an English class. Teacher can help guide students to the oral fluency needed to creat the questions.

 

STEP 5:

Students are organizing data, preparing notes, an outline, and reports of their results.  They are reflecting on the correct ness of answers, and the data they are accumulating.

 

STEP 6:

The final presentation of the results are being planned. Power Point presentations, oral team reports, posters, musical, acting roles, photographs, an original video, etc, serve as a culminating exhibition of the work completed during the inquiry project. A rubric scoring chart will be used for each team’s final Project, plus individual studnst will be assessed for the positive, active participation during the Inquiry Project.

A self-assessment should be used, too, so that studnets refl;ect on what they did, how they felt about their personal contribution to the Project, and, most important of all, WHAT DID THEY LEARN ABOUT THE BIG IDEA/ESSENTIAL QUESTION during their inquiry work.

 

FINAL COMMENTS

The INQUIRY METHOD is one of many techniques that help build interest in the topic and enhances critical thinking ability. A wide repertoire of techniques that obtain successful results is the signature of an excellent teacher. Ask wise, open, high level questions. Encourage studnet collaboarative work.

Use INQUIRY when you have a profound Essential Question or Big Idea.

The technique will help your students to learn how to learn, which is the hallmark of an educated person.

REMEMBER:

It’s when students ask their own questions that they become empowered learners. 

THE END

 _________________________________________

P.S. If you are a teacher of primary grades, and want more information about the INQUIRY METHOD for young students, write me at juniorbarney1@hotmail.com and I’ll send you, via e-mail, an article by a first grade English teacher who successfully developed a physics unit, where students learned much about physics by asking their own questions. When you write, ask for “Facilitating Inquiry”.

by Elaine Gallagher, Ph.D

 

Let’s begin with what I mean by «success».

«Success» means that a child can exhibit reading and writing skills, uses critical thinking, and truly enjoys reading and writing.

Ever since the 1920’s and 30’s when Dr. Samuel Orton, a neuro-psychiatrist, at the University of Iowa (USA), noticed that many of his young patients had problems with language that were similar to symptoms of patients with certain kinds of traumatic brain injury, educators have been aware of a neurological connection to language problems. Orton’s fundamental conjecture that dyslexia (although he did not use that word) was neurological in nature is now widely accepted, and has been proven by various brain studies research, such as at Lake Forest University, USA..

In addition to investigating the physiological causes of language difficulties in children, Dr. Orton developed theories on how dyslexics should be taught. A teacher, Anna Gillingham, began to use Orton’s methods and saw almost miraculous improvement in her students’ academic, social, and emotional development.  Anna Gillingham wrote books, manuals, prepared teaching materials, and trained other teachers and researchers.

The Orton-Gillingham methods are based on a multisensory, structured, phonics approach. Results with students have been phenomenal.  Dr. Orton, discovered that babies, who had skipped crawling, proceeding straight to walking, missed a physical step in their growth, and later exhibit language or reading problems.

Anna Gillingham, working with children of 8 – 12 years old exhibiting severe dyslexia, had them play games where they would crawl through play tunnels, walk on balance beams, jump, skip rope, re-enacting basic physiological movements that a child much younger might have done.  Gillingham combined a multisensory approach with physical skills development, and added those activities to a strong phonetic approach to teaching language.

While there is no such thing as a “cure” for dyslexia, 15% of humans have the biological tendency for dyslexia, Gillingham and Orton proved with 1000’s of children over 40 years, that the obvious symptoms of dyslexia could be completely avoided if all children were taught with a highly kinesthetic, multi-sense approach. Since students don’t arrive at Kindergarten identified as one of those 15% of humans exhibiting dyslexia, Dr. Orton and Anna Gillingham strongly supported that every child have high-quality sensory activities beginning in pre-school, such as crawling games, running, jumping, calisthenics, making letters with their bodies, and a wide variety of other physical/sensory activities.

Theories in practice today, from using four modes in teachers’ lessons, including visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile activities daily, to utilizing work that enhances the students’ abilities, such as Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, to Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive growth, are connected to the pioneer work of Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham.

If we intend to provide all children with the best possible early childhood experiences, allowing each child to progress to his/her potential, it is essential that we recognize and utilize Orton’s and Gillingham’s work, as well as Dr. Jean Piaget’s studies. Piaget stressed, in his theory of four developmental stages of human growth, that children are not biologically ready for some activities, such as reading/writing, at an early age. He suggested that approximately seven years of age (first grade) is the best time to begin to read and write.

Finland, for example, which has consistently been #1, out of 70 countries, in international PISA exams for 15-year old students, begins teaching reading/writing at age seven.  Prior to that, all Finnish schools concentrate on the child’s physical, emotional, tactile, artistic, musical, and social development.

What type of activities provide the development a child needs in order to be READY for the fine motor skills work necessary for academic school success?

Many activities are ones teachers already know.  It is NOT that our educators don’t know about these activities; it is that they do not realize the IMPORTANCE of concentrating on a multi-sensory approach in pre-school and beyond in order to provide all of our children an equal opportunity for success.

Pushing children to read and write at younger and younger ages results in children who are “burned-out” by 2^nd or 3^rd grade, when it is obvious to see that the once-eager-to-learn child has become passive, less eager, and even frustrated. What’s the rush to read and write?  They aren’t going out on the job market at 8 years of age. By providing children with a wide variety of multi-sensory activities, we are permitting that child to begin 1^st grade with a firm base of success, physical/mental development, and a strong sense of self.  “I can do it!”

The same way a building needs an excellently-constructed foundation so it will withstand earth tremors, so our children deserve a strong base to prevent the “school tremors” that inevitably will come their way.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

1. The usual physical ones for gross motor skills:
   • Running, relay races, kick-the ball (like baseball, with bases, but kids kick a big ball instead of hitting it with a bat)
   • Tag (the one who is “IT”, runs to touch someone else, and the touched one becomes IT)
   • Hopscotch, walking a balance beam, jumping rope
   • Playing with trucks, sand box, a huge doll house (child size), swimming (in real water or with physical movements of their bodies)

2. Games & music

• “Simon says”, “The Farmer in the Dell”, “London Bridge is Falling Down”, “The Hokey Pokey”
• Dancing in rhythm with the CD being played: slow movements to slow music, fast with fast, etc.
• Ballet, jazz, and tap dancing experiences
• Singing…any songs so children get the rhythm in their brains and their bodies exhibit it.

3. Pre- readiness skills practice

• Reading aloud to the children daily, with the students repeating a refrain, or acting out scenes after they have heard the same story several times
• Students telling stories, show & tell
• Students gluing pictures of words that they are learning as a vocabulary (NOT writing the word). For example, the Teacher can have 5 new words to discuss and show, such as “blue.” The child will try to find something “blue” in a magazine, cut or rip it out, and glue it on a paper.  Same with “dog”…most kids know these vocabulary words if they are English speakers in the home; but if not, they are building an oral vocabulary with a sensory approach.
• Making letters with their bodies (individually or as a team) An “A” the kids can form with 2 or 3 team members.
• Making a 3-dimensional/mosaic letter. The teacher can make a big letter for each child on a piece of colored paper, such as an “M.” The students can use pieces of a variety colored paper that they have torn into small pieces (good use for scrap paper).  Then they glue the mosaics onto the letter the teacher has given them.  This could be repeated week by week until they complete the alphabet.  The objective is NOT that the children be able to read or write the letters (although some may be able to). The goal is that the kids are using motor skills to develop the basis for writing in first grade.
• Coloring/ drawing pictures with fat crayons.
• Making letters of the alphabet in sand. The teacher will have trays with about 2 inches deep of sand. Teacher will show a letter, like an A, and the students will attempt to form the letter by tracing in the sand.
• Word Wizard: The teacher or a student is the WIZARD, who wants to know the other students’ names.  The children “write” their name in the air with body movements, and the WIZARD has to correctly guess the name. Then a new child is the Wizard.

• TALKING by the student is necessary. The students should talk more than the teacher!!! Talking to each other, to the teacher, in front of the group….all give the children a sense of accomplishment, reduce the fear element of speaking, and allow them to feel capable because they are developing strong ORAL skills, which, we all know as educators, is the precursor to reading and writing

It is obvious that teachers have a huge repertoire of similar activities to these given above.  If they can vary activities for the child, transitioning smoothly though various auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic activities DAILY, (more doing than sitting), we will see a great difference in the preparation/readiness level of our children entering 1^st grade.

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RECOMMENDED READING LIST

1. A step-by-step Orton-Gillingham training session, see the book, School Success for Students with Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties. by Dr. Walter E. Dunson.

2. The Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Students with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship… by Anna Gillingham

(Republished: Aug 1, 2014) AMAZON.CO

3. Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills, Third Edition.  Jun 20, 2011

by BEVERLY WOLF

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     Some schools have teachers who are going outside the UNOi book, which is good. The book is your guide, your tool. An UNO teacher stimulates and inspires his/her students! The teacher uses questions which encourage critical thinking. Students often work in pairs or small teams. Someday, very soon, paper books will be obsolete. Texts, readings, written work, projections will be completed and submitted via iPads or other generic tablets.

If you are moving ahead in the 21st century, developing some of your own work, here are some ideas for topics and for content. All are compatible with UNO.

It goes without saying that in a CLIL-based language-learning situation, ORAL FLUENCY is the #1 objective. In the 21st Century, if you don’t speak the language, you don’t know the language. A corollary to this statement is that if you only know ONE language, you don’t really know it well.

 

Language Arts: 7th – 12th GRADES:

1. LITERATURE

The teacher with students’ input will select texts.

Teachers will work with a Google SYNOPSIS of each book/novel.

Most of these books have accompanying movies available, which I highly recommend for better student comprehension.

Titles include, but are not limited to, the following books:

• * Park’s Quest                                           * Cricket in Times Square
• * Bridge to Terabithia                              * Journey Home
• * The Cat Ate My Gym Suit                    * My Side of the Mountain
• * I Heard the Owl Call My Name           * Call It Courage
• * A Wrinkle in Time                                 * I, Juan de Pareja
• * Where the Red Fern Grows                 * Holes
• * To Kill A Mockingbird                          * Parvana’s Journey
• * Romeo and Juliet                                  * A Christmas Carol
• * Green Grass of Wyoming                    * The Orient Express
• * White Fang                                            * For Whom The Bell Tolls
• * Frankenstein                                         * The Old Man and the Sea
• * The Fountainhead                                * The Time Machine
• * The Giver                                               * A Short History of Time (S. Hawking)
•  * 1984                                                       * Einstein’s Biography
•  * Poetry of Robert Frost                       * The Epic of Gilgamesh
• * Lassie, Come Home                             * Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
• * The Secret Garden                               * Tangerine
• * Poetry of ee cummings (He spelled his name with small letters.)
• Others, depending on teachers’ interests and students’ abilities

 

 

SPECIFIC TOPICS AND OBJECTIVES TO BE MASTERED:

 

Students will be able to (SWBAT)

• Recognize the major differences among the different genres.
• Identify the plot line in all reading selections.
• Recognize a point of view in any selection.
• Recognize cultural attitudes and customs shown in the readings.
• Recognize, define, and use basic literary terminology.
• Discuss a variety of literary selections and the authors of such.
• Compare incidents from personal experiences to incidents in the readings.
• Use literary models of writing to discuss basic language principles.
• Recognize the development of an overall theme in a literary work.

 

 

2. WRITING SKILLS 7 – 12: Language Arts

Texts: Open….Teachers can choose if they prefer to use a specific text, or not.

General Objective:

Students will advance in fundamentals of English through instruction in spelling, basic grammar, usage, punctuation, vocabulary development, and creative writing.

 

TOPICS AND OBJECTIVES TO BE COVERED:

Students will be able to (SWBAT):

Learn, identify, use correctly, and exhibit adequate knowledge about these topics:

1. The Sentence

• Kinds of sentences
• Complete subject and complete predicate
• Simple subjects and simple predicates
• Finding the subject
• Conjunctions
• Sentence fragments and run-ons

 

2. Nouns

• Kinds of nouns
• Collective and compound nouns
• Singular and plural nouns
• Possessive nouns

 

3. Verbs

• Kinds of verbs
• Verb phrases
• Simple verb tenses
• To be, to have, to do
• Perfect tenses (at B-2 level)
• Irregular verbs
• Progressive forms
• Transitive and Intransitive (at B-2 level)
• Direct and indirect objects
• Subject verb agreement
• Word order in sentences
• Rise, raise; lie, lay; sir, set (at B-2 level)
• Bring, take; let, leave; lend, loan (at B-2 level)

 

4. Modifiers

• Adjective
• Adverbs
• Negatives

 

5. Capitalization and Punctuation

• Correct sentences
• Proper nouns and proper adjectives
• Interjections
• Uses for commas
• Dates, Addresses, and Letters
• Direct Quotations
• Titles
• Semicolons and colons
• Abbreviations
• Apostrophes
• Hyphens, dashes, and parenthesis

 

6. Pronouns

• Pronouns and antecedents
• Personal pronouns
• Subject and object pronouns
• Pronouns in compound subjects and objects (at B-2 level)
• Possessive pronouns
• Interrogative pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns
• Reflexive and intensive pronouns (at B-2 level)

 

7: Prepositional phrases

• Prepositional phrases
• Pronouns after prepositions (at B-2 level)
• Adjective phrases
• Adverb phrases
• Placing phrases correctly
• Choosing correct prepositions (at B-2 level)

 

8. Complex Sentences

• Clauses (at B-2 level)
• Compound and complex sentences (at B-2 level)

 

9. Writing a research report (Begin at B-1 level)

10. Creative expression and factual information (Begin at B-1 level)

 

 

    

        3. LISTENING & SPEAKING

General Objective

Students will study formal and informal methods of communication.  Listening skills and speaking skills will be developed, leading to improved fluency, ability to discriminate sounds, and increase the speaking vocabulary.  Speeches, speaking techniques, and listening to appraise and learn will be studied.

 

Major topics and objectives to be practiced

Students will be able to (SWBAT) participate in and demonstrate:

• Expressing and influencing
• Listening to an opinion
• Writing an outline to show planning of an opinion paragraph
• Speaking to express an opinion
• Communication link
• Speaking to persuade, after having read examples of persuasive writing, and after having made an outline of the speech.
• Explaining and informing
• Listening for information
• Speaking: expository / writing an expository paragraph
• Comparing and contrasting
• Use of idioms and recognition of their meanings

 

 

                          Research Skills:

 

Objectives:

Students will develop and apply library and technology skills so they can complete a thorough, original research paper.

 

Topics and objectives to be covered:

 

Student will be able to learn about, develop and complete: (SWBAT)

• Planning for the project, with a suitable title
• Building vocabulary
• Research and study strategies
• Test-taking strategies
• Using technology terms
• Using writer’s tools and tips
• Create a bibliography and use footnotes
• Comparing and contrasting
• Exploring cause and effect
• Expressing valid opinions
• Create a position paper

____________________________________________

 

This is the end of suggested English expectations to be mastered during Middle School and by the end of 12th grade (high school), IF the student has been in a bilingual program since the first grade of primary school. «BILINGUAL» (to me) means 1/2 day of English, 1/2 day of Spanish or Portuguese, or other first language.

____________________________________________

REFERENCE TEXTS: E-mail me for a FREE copy…                                            juniorbarney1@yahoo.com

1. Grammar for English Teachers by Elaine Gallagher (2nd Edition: 2012) Secretaria de Educacieon y Cultura, Coahuila, Mexico.
2. Grammar Summary by Elaine Gallagher (2015) Secretaria de Educación Pública, Coahuila, Mexico.

____________________________________________

by Elaine Gallagher, PhD

Can multiple-choice exams prove what a student really knows? In short, the answer is “NO”!

No one knows for certain if a correct choice was made because the student actually KNEW the answer, or if he/she simply GUESSED the correct answer.

If students are lucky in Las Vegas, they may be able to do well on multiple-choice exams without having had to know anything. Or an “unlucky” student, could know a lot of material, and orally or in essay format be able to explain the lesson well, but give him/her a multiple-choice exam, and the brain freezes. To this student, every choice looks right or wrong, so the student, frustrated, guesses…usually choosing incorrectly because the student isn’t lucky in Las Vegas.

Effort vs. Ability

What explains success in school?

To this question American parents overwhelmingly respond, “Ability.”  Our own school experience makes clear that if you are smart, you get A’s and B’s, or 9’s and 10’s. But if you are not smart, you get C’s and D’s or 6’s and 7’s.

We all “know” that not everyone can be “smart.”

When Asian or Finnish parents, however, are asked the same question, “What explains success in school?”, they usually respond with, “Effort.”

Studies from University of Pittsburgh’s Lauren Resnick support that “effort leads to ability.” The harder you work, the closer you come to meeting the standards. Effort itself is not rewarded directly—only results count—but research has shown that effort always leads to student improvement. In this way, the higher standards movement greatly strengthens the classroom work ethic.

Interesting to note:  When I was much younger, during the late 1940’s and the 1950’s, our school (Saint Patrick School. Portsmouth, New Hampshire) gave monthly report cards with a mark for “Effort” and one for “Comportment”. All of the academic subjects also were marked, but my parents emphasized EFFORT and COMPORTMENT. Frankly, I didn’t do that well in either one, often getting a “C”, which was the equivalent of “Average”. I talked too much, and I finished my work too quickly, without taking time to recheck things. Yet, my academic grades were always A’s and B’s. Eventually, I developed a strong work ethic because my parents, as well as my school, emphasized EFFORT and good behavior.

In those days, at least in my school, we never had multiple-choice exams. Our teachers said those kinds of exams were “for lazy teachers”. Every test we had was oral, or essay/short answers style, or calculations in mathematics. This was the norm, all through school’s twelve years, we never were tested by multiple-choice exams.

At university, however, I was in for a shock! Classes had 300 students, not 30, meeting in auditoriums, all multiple-choice exams. I practically flunked out, in fact, I was on academic probation, the step before flunking out….but a miracle saved me!

In geology class, the day of 100-question multiple-choice exam, the mimeograph machine had broken, so the professor announced he was giving us five essay questions, to answer as completely as possible, showing what we knew.

I wrote until the exam’s blue book was full, explaining to Dr. Wheeler all I knew about the geology aspects he was assessing.

Surprise! I received a 92 on the exam! I went to Dr. Wheeler, exam in hand, telling him that I really DO know what he’s teaching and what’s in the text book.

He said to me, “Obviously you can’t do well on multiple-choice exams, because you think too deeply. With 300 students in this class and several other classes, I can’t give essays all the time. My advice is to change to a history major because classes are small. The prof may be boring, but the exams are essays.

I followed his advice, and was able to graduate from the University of New Hampshire with a major in history. I went on for a master’s degree and a doctorate, but I avoided all courses that tested by multiple choice.

Eventually, I taught myself how to “pass” a multiple-choice exam.

I discovered a way that worked for me …but nonetheless, multiple-choice tests do not and cannot relate to what a student actually knows.

 

Performance-Based Classrooms

Standards-based classrooms focus on student performance.

How did you win merit badges in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts? You didn’t take multiple-choice tests. You practiced with the rope, and then you tied the knot in front of your Scout leader.

How do you get a job in photography? Once again, you don’t take a multiple-choice job test. You bring your portfolio of photographs with you to the job interview, and you show your prospective employer what you can do with a camera. It’s performance that counts in the real world. Standards-based school reform, our classrooms will be organized around performance and student portfolios that collect student work.

How do you prove you know a language? By speaking it.

Oral fluency is the key to being able to read and write creatively. If you can speak a language, you can read and write it. Sadly, most language “exams” are multiple-choice.

Why? Because they are easy to correct.  In my opinion, that is the ONLY positive statement that can be made about multiple-choice exams. Since most educators know this, why do we still give multiple-choice exams?

There are two answers:

(1)   They are quick & easy to score.

(2)   No one has come up with testing format to give oral exams that are quick and

easy to score.

 

Open-Ended vs. Multiple-Choice Examinations

Standards-based exams are open-ended, rather than multiple-choice, and they are characteristically of a problem-solving nature, requiring critical thinking, not memorized facts.

Multiple-choice exams cannot get at problem-solving abilities as well as open-ended exams, but they are cheap, and easily scored.  By contrast, the open-ended, New Standards Reference exams are expensive because the tests must measure the abilities students will require for success in an economy of rapid change. This economy is ill-served by workers only adept at rote memorization.

Abilities now needed in society of the 21^st Century hinge on the essential skills of oral fluency, critical thinking and problem-solving. In standards-based learning, it’s not enough to recall mathematical formulae—students must also be able to use these formulae to solve problems, so that’s what should be assessed.

 

International Benchmarks

How high should school standards be set?

Our standards should be internationally benchmarked—that is, we should be asking our students to perform at the same levels as their counterparts in the rest of the developed world.

It’s time to define the height of the mountain. We don’t have to get our students to the top,—but, in a technologically-driven global economy, our children have to be able to perform at the same level as their competition. If American workers are to receive high wages and obtain jobs in HVA industries, (high-valued-added), they must be able to meet the same educational standards required of students in our competitor nations.

 

The Floor and the Ceiling

In standards pedagogy, the “standard” represents the floor, and all students are expected to perform at this level. Effort sustained over a long enough period of time will make it possible for all students to meet the standard.

The ceiling is as high as individual students can reach through a combination of effort and ability. Unless you believe that American students are inherently less able than students in Western European and Pacific Rim nations, then you have to conclude that American students can perform at much higher levels. Polls of our own students reveal their belief that we ask too little of them.

Eliminating multiple-choice exams, replacing them with performance-based tests, oral and written, (not memorized), using critical thinking, and organizing students’ portfolios to exemplify their best work, are the methods we need to employ, or our students will not be challenged. All of these assessment tools must be based on international standards, so we’ll challenge our students and inspire them to make EFFORT, thus raising their abilities.

Raising standards doesn’t mean that students complete MORE work, or have 2 or 3 hours of homework. Absolutely NO! Raising standards is based on the depth and complexity of the work taught and studied by students. We are speaking here of QUALITY, not of quantity.

In language learning, the CEFR, (Common European Framework of Reference to Language Learning), serves as an international benchmark. Students no longer should get an A or B or a 9 or 10 in English or other languages. Now we need to base their performance on the CEFR scale, placing them at levels A-1, or A-2, B-1, B-2, C-1, C-2, observing abilities in the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in order to assess their levels.

The CEFR levels (A-1 is the most basic) are observable and identify each student’s level. With EFFORT and time, most people can get to the B-2 level, a minimum level of fluency and independence in a second or third language. In our native language, adults should be at a C-2.

In closure, the world is moving away from multiple-choice exams because even though they are quickly corrected, they cannot measure adequately what a student actually knows, or can exhibit, or can discuss. The 21^st Century is seeing us moving slowly, but surely, towards performance standards. If you are a teacher, prepare yourself to use assessment methods that allow the student to exhibit what he/she knows. Use rubrics, for example, as a basic standard to guide and score some assignments.

Creative assessments include: writing an original poem, speaking in front of the class, writing an essay, solving mathematical word problems, teaching a lesson to the class, inventing a puzzle or a math problem, and publishing a current events magazine.

We began this article with the question, “Can Multiple-Choice Exams Prove What A Student Really Knows?”

Now you know the answer.

________________________________________

by Elaine Gallagher

 

1. DESKS

The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning. Teachers and students need eye-contact, interaction, and collaboration. Rows of students’ desks were designed since the 1900’s precisely to prevent teacher-student interaction, preparing students to be obedient, quiet, recognizing the power and authority of their «superiors, thus being ready to work in factories.

Now, we still want students to be respectful of others, but in a positive environment, interaction, collaboration, critical thinking, and active class participation in a cordial atmosphere are all part of a 21st century school.

 

2. LANGUAGE LABS

Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room.

 

3. COMPUTERS / COMPUTER LABS

Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: ‘Our concept of what a computer is’. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we’re going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come to the fore. Can’t wait.

Also, student computers and i-Pads will be inside each classroom, not grouped in one room for «computer classes» once or twice a week. Kids are now being born already knowing how to use a computer. They don’t need «lessons». Check out the research in India with groundbreaking work in the 1990’s of Sugata Mitra.

 

4. HOMEWORK

The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And despite whatever Secretary Duncan in the USA might say, we don’t need kids to ‘go to school’ more; we need them to ‘learn’ more. And this will be done 24/7 and on the move (see #3). ‘

A teacher who has to give written homework for work not completed in class («not enough time»), or «to teach responsibility and a work ethic», is a dinosaur….Sorry, but this attitude is left over from the Industrial Revolution. Get with it, teachers!  (Read research of Alfie Kohn: «The Myth of Homework».).

 

5. THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS OR TO ASSESS 2nd or 3rd LANGUAGES

The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn’t far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions.

In second or third languages, ORAL FLUENCY will be the most important factor to prove and to provide evidence that one knows a language. If you can think it to say it, you can write it, too.

Multiple-choice exams to rate someone’s language ability (or any ability, in fact) favor kids who are lucky in Las Vegas. Students don’t have to know much to pass. They just have to be lucky or good-guessers. A student with oral fluency, however, obviously knows a language, exhibiting his or her oral skills…not memorized passages, but speaking from the brain….that’s fluency.

One-on-one oral exams, given by a native speaker, such as the GESE (Graded Exam of Spoken English), is a good example of a valid language exam.  Non-profit Trinity College London has been around for 110 years, providing English exams in music, drama, oral skills, as well as exams in reading comprehension, writing, and listening! Exam results are given in equivalents of the CEFR. (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

 

6. DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION AS THE SIGN OF A DISTINGUISHED TEACHER

The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn’t yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won’t make you ‘distinguished’; it’ll just be a natural part of your work. Heterogeneous grouping gets the best results for students of all abilities. «FAILING» a course will be obsolete, because students will repair, correct, fix their errors…thus learning through their mistakes, gradually improving. No one learns everything the first time, so why penalize students who don’t «get it» on the first exam attempt?

 

7. FEAR OF WIKIPEDIA

Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it’s time you get over yourself.

 

8. PAPER BOOKS

Books were nice. In ten years’ time, all reading will be via digital means. Right now, look at how many people on a plane or train are already reading digital books. And yes, I know, you like the ‘feel’ of paper. Well, in ten years’ time you’ll hardly tell the difference as ‘paper’ itself becomes digitized.

 

9. ATTENDANCE OFFICES

Bio scans. Enough said. Some schools or events already scan people’s ID’s as they enter, registered on a data base on the office computer.

 

10. LOCKERS

A coat-check, maybe. No books, no backpacks…Students arrive with an i-Pad. The school supplies laptops.

 

11. IT DEPARTMENTS

Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments, as we currently know them, will be obsolete.  Cloud computing and a decade’s worth of increased wifi and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT — software, security, and connectivity — a thing of the past. What will IT professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the next twenty years.

 

12. CENTRALIZED INSTITUTIONS

School buildings are going to become ‘home-bases’ of learning, not the institutions where all learning happens. Buildings will get smaller and greener, student and teacher schedules will change to allow less people on campus at any one time, and more teachers and students will be going out into their communities to engage in experiential learning.

 

13. ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES BY GRADES

      OR ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS

Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer groups by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered.

(This is not really so new. The idea is being recycled. …Check out Salmon Falls Education Center, Hollis, Maine, USA, or Crosby School, Biddeford, Maine….Founded in 1972, with no grade levels, kids grouped loosely by ages (pre-school/Kinder Unit, Primary Unit, Intermediate Unit, Middle School Unit, High school unit).  Also, there were no desks….round tables for 4-6 students were in all classrooms.

There were no marks….except on individual assignments…Parents received a narrative report each trimester based on collaboration, critical thinking, empathy, self-esteem, initiative, inquisitiveness. Everyone took music or art every day. Sports were life-long activities, such as skiing, soccer, hiking, bowling, tennis, etc.)

Levels, too, are disappearing, as educators with a brain are noticing that «beginning’, «intermediate», «advanced» levels mean nothing, simply perpetuating an educational caste system, where progress to a higher level rarely happens, except in «commercial» language schools where one has the privilege of paying money to get into a higher level. Smart educators realize that we learn and grow by being with peers who know more than we do. (MKO= Most Knowledgeable Other: Vygotsky, etc.)

 

14. EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL CLASSES THAT FAIL TO INTEGRATE SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY

This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modelled by the very professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers. Universities, notoriously, are usually the very slowest educational entity to change! Grow..or go!

 

15. PAID / OUTSOURCED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

No one knows your school as well as you. With power in their back-pockets, teachers will rise up to replace peripatetic professional development as the source of school-wide professional development programs. This is already happening. (Mike Schmoker: «Results Now!» in 2008 included a chapter: «The Experts Are Among You.»)

 

16. CURRENT CURRICULAR NORMS

There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational content providers and high schools as places for specialized learning.

 

17. PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE NIGHT/ PUBLIC CLASSES

Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make parent-teacher conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and teachers will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication opportunities. Parents will drop into school to observe a class whenever they want, not the «dog-and-pony-show» we now offer as «public classes».

And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech integrated.

 

18. TYPICAL SCHOOL CAFETERIA FOOD

Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00 bowls of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so.

 

19. OUTSOURCED GRAPHIC DESIGN AND WEBMASTERING

You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake, just let your students do it. By the end of the decade — in the best of schools — they will be.

 

20. HIGH SCHOOL ALGEBRA I for EVERYONE

Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in middle school, or we’ll have finally woken up to the fact that there’s no reason to give algebra weight over statistics and IT in high school for non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway).

 

21. PAPER

In ten years’ time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no less than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper industry and the book publishing industry itself will either adjust or perish.

 

          Can you add other areas of future change?

 

_____________________________

By Elaine Gallagher

Hello, Readers.

We often talk about who’s a good leader, or a bad leader…who shows potential to be a great leader. My definition of a «leader» is «Someone that others choose to follow, to work with, to learn from, and to enjoy sharing ideas with…»

There are many examples or characteristics of leadership. You can find them in Internet, personality studies, and in self-help books. There are no specific essential, obligatory characteristics.

Reviewing my written notes, I had listed nine characteristics of a great leader which I use in some of my courses. Tonight I searched Internet, looking for «nine characteristics of leadership», to make sure I could give credit to someone if my original notes had been taken from an article that I previously had read.

Much to my surprise, I found eleven different sources, all named, «Nine Characteristics of Leadership.»  Not one of the eleven articles had the same nine characteristics I am presenting in this article, although «VISION», on my list, appears on seven of the eleven articles I read tonight. So, here are nine key characteristics of leadership. Most influential and positive leaders possess all nine.

The next several paragraphs develop key questions for use in Constructive Interaction, or for general class discussion about leaders. This can be an activity for students, on for teacher meetings in schools that use meetings to develop their staff.

The goal is to get students or teachers to talk, to present and defend ideas. This activity is suited from 5th grade through high school, CEFR levels: B-1, B-2, minimum.

I have provided you with five sets of work. Choose which ones you want to use. You don’t need to do them all, but, follow-up the activity in a few days, or at the next staff meeting,  with a new set of questions, so that participants’ brains can synthesize and absorb the topic, the vocabulary, and the major concepts of leadership.

Activities #1, #2, and #4 are at Bloom’s higher levels of Apply, Analyze, and Assess. Work Sets #3 and #5 may be good activities to provide a final assessment of students’ or teachers’ concepts of «leadership.» These activities (#3 and #5) are at the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Create new ideas or material.

 

QUESTIONS REQUIRING CRITICAL THINKING, IN ORDER TO ANSWER:

Work Set #1: Can you identify any of these traits in yourself? Or in a family member, a friend, or in a student? If so, how can you support, enhance, or develop these traits? Everyone can’t be a leader because who would follow? But everyone may have the potential to become a leader under certain circumstances. Do you believe this is true or false? Provide evidence or an example.

Work Set #2: Look at these nine traits, suggesting leadership. Do ALL have to be in one person? Which ones could you eliminate, yet, still have a leader? Or are all nine characteristics basic to any leader? Are there some traits you would eliminate, not seeing them as important? Would you replace them with others? Can you add characteristics for a more complete view of what makes a leader?

Work Set #3: In pairs, select 3 well-known, international leaders. Investigate them. Then decide which of the nine traits they exhibit, and/or which ones are missing. What do you think are «negative Leaders»? What traits do they possess? What traits don’t they have?

Present your findings to the class using Power Point, Keynote, or PREZI.

Work Set #4: Looking at the nine traits, do you identify any that could be present in a young child, such as 9 years of age? What reasons, ideas, theories can you suggest to explain why some people become leaders and others do not? Were world-known leaders recognized as being leaders when they were young? Teenagers? What traits may have been seen by parents as «negative», but, developed in an adults, can be positive? Are there characteristics in young children or teens that could help us develop future leaders?

Work Set #5: In small teams (2, 3, 4 students) research any two of these people, especially their youth, maybe before they became famous. Take notes.

Did either of your famous people show unusual, strong, or unique characteristics as a child/teenager? Are any of these traits reflected in their current position?

Can you come up with a statement (or a few) explaining what you believe to be the relationship (if any) between a famous leader and his/her childhood. Relate your findings to the class using presentation tools such as Power Point, Keynote, or Prezi.

 

NINE LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

 

1. BRAINPOWER

Knowledgeable, incisive and adept at problem-solving; can provide a logical, workable solution for most problems.

 

2. TEMPERAMENT

Calm and rational in tense situations, showing grace under pressure, moods don’t vary; is relaxed, never appearing or saying, «I’m so stressed out.»

 

3. COURAGE

Willing to take a stand and accept risks, regardless of professional and personal fall-out. Speaks out when he/she notices grave errors or unproductive decisions, yet is not grossly rude or arrogant in his/her statements.

 

4. VISION

Promotes large goals and ideas with policies and plans to implement and fulfill them. Has written plans of action far in the future for himself/herself, yet involves others in the implementation of the plans.

 

5. COMMUNICATION

Can articulate and «sell» a vision that everyday people can embrace. Provides clear concepts that others can embrace.

 

6. CHARISMA

Has dynamism and charm that encourage others to follow him/her, inspires others to do their best….often, does not see himself/herself as a «leader», just a person full of ideas…but others seek out the ideas and presence on the leader.

 

7. INTEGRITY

Honest and trustworthy, dependable, engendering respect even among foes; is transparent in his/her actions, and refutes hypocrisy.

 

8. EXPERIENCE

Savvy about the workings of his/her area/business so that goals can be accomplished; in education, knows academic theories, and research that support his/her visions.

 

9. JUDGMENT

Has a track record of sound decisions based on facts and research, not only on hopes, ideas, personal bias, or emotions; seems that he/she has a crystal ball to know what will happen, what will be the results of good or of unwise decisions.

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by Elaine Gallagher

I just returned from two UNOi conferences in Brazil, to initiate Brazil’s academic school year beginning about February 3rd.  The goal of the two conferences (for 1,000 teachers in each session) was to develop teachers new to UNO. They were NOT indoctrinated into the «text». The goal was learning how to become part of change.

Traditionally in Brazil, as in other countries, grammar has been a vehicle for teaching second or third languages, with poor results. Students may be able to read and translate, but they can’t exhibit oral fluency. Since UNO supports and promotes CLIL philosophy for language learning, in fact, my talks were about CLIL, many teachers asked me the role of grammar in language learning.

The following is what I explained to them.

An easy-to-remember definition of GRAMMAR is: “Grammar is the way a language is organized.”  Every language is organized in some way, so, obviously, every language has grammar.

For students to acquire English well, grammar should not be emphasized or taught in formal, rigid ways. The style of overt, obvious grammar teaching never obtained excellent results, so gradually, teachers have been moving towards a more communicative and natural approach at teaching English.

                        Overt grammar teaching, (inductive teaching) including memorization of rules and lists of verb tenses (such as: I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are),  is an archaic and non-productive way to teach a language, resulting in students who claim that they “hate English”, or who believe that they NEVER, EVER will learn English.  They concentrate so much on not making mistakes as they speak, that they simply don’t attempt to speak. Overt grammar teaching means that you provide the students with grammatical rules and explanations. Grammatical information is openly presented, and it is expected that the students will learn all the rules of grammar by practicing many worksheets.

Overt grammar teaching does NOT get good results!

Covert grammar teaching (deductive grammar teaching = part of CLIL philosophy) hides grammatical facts from students, presenting them subtly, gradually, even though the students are learning the language. For example, the students may be asked to do an information gap activity or read a text where new grammar is practiced or introduced.  Attention, however, will be drawn to the activity or to the text, not to the grammar.

With covert grammar instruction, teachers help the students to acquire and/or practice the language, but they do not draw conscious attention to any of the grammatical facts of the language.

Teachers ask the students, “What do you notice here that is different than before?”  Or teachers may point out a complex sentence, such as, «I would have gone camping, but it rained.» Verbs can be identified, but no tense «names» are taught until; perhaps B-2 or C-1 levels. Instead, the teacher will ask, «Which verb happened first in this sentence? Then what happened?»

Covert teaching is explicit and clear about mentioning some grammar points, but teachers only introduce the new language, expecting that students will subconsciously absorb grammatical information. The goal is that students gradually will acquire the language.

Most language specialists urge teachers to emphasize acquisition activities, (Stephen Krashen), yet not forget to include learning activities, in order to have the material absorbed, acquired, assimilated by the students.  This will result in students who are more fluent and comfortable in English, speaking and writing in a more natural way.

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by Elaine Gallagher

For the past 4 years in UNOi we’ve been talking about «change»: change in the students, resulting from changes in the teachers, the school administrators, and in the entire school structure. We give talks to parents about «change», explaining our expectations so that the parents will welcome and understand the changes occurring in our schools. We make clear that texts, iPads, and videos are simply tools, and that an excellent teacher needs to go beyond the book to implement change and to challenge students.

 

Yet, change is slow…..too slow for my taste. Some of the changes we support in UNO are so simple to implement, they cost no money, but they are not happening.

Last week I gave talks/classes/ideas in Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Veracruz, and Tabasco. Perhaps a total of over 1,000 people participated during the week: parents, administrators, Spanish and English teachers. The response seemed to be positive…teachers lined up with their USB’s to get copies of my presentation, parents writing e-mails, asking for copies of the talk, which I answered, completing work at 4:30 in the morning.

 

You would think, «Super! Terrific! Change will happen soon.»

But how soon is soon? Certainly not the next day, although, I ask myself, why not?

 

During the same week, one school owner, committed to change, invited me and the UNO Coach to tour her school. I saw little children in Kinder during physical activities to help form neuronal movement, stimulating the formation of synapsis.

 

We saw a middle school science class, with students working, collaborating on iPads, conducting a virtual experiment in groups of 2 or 3 students. The teacher was circulating around the classroom, monitoring and supporting the students as they worked. We took photos from the hallway window, so as not to disturb the class. It should be noted that teachers were not advised I’d be touring the school, so it appears that this class usually works in this format. It was an excellent example of collaborative learning.

 

Subsequently, we passed the hall window of another middle school class, with 35 studnets placed in 5 rows of 7 students each. I said to the owner, «Ooops… 19th century organization».

 

We stood for a while, watching. The students’ backs were toward us, not knowing we were there. One boy, in the last seat of a row, was playing with a white stuffed toy animal, and had his head on the desk, with the toy moving over his head. The teacher continued, oblivious to what the kids were doing.

 

Students were not moving nor participating. The «justification» was that it was not an academic class. The teacher was telling students about the sports teams they’d be assigned to later that day. The assistant to a special needs student, sitting against the wall, in front of one of the rows, wasn’t moving, or paying attention to the teacher. I felt sorry for the teacher (who could see us watching her through the hall window), but even sorrier for the students who were being subjected to an emotionless monologue.

 

I thought, «should I? Or should I not?» Since one of my mottos is «When in doubt, act!», I asked the school owner if I could enter the class. She responded, «Yes.» I advised her, the coach, and the academic director to remain outside in the hallway, so as not to make a «show.»

 

So, I walked into the room, asked the teacher for permission to talk with her class for about 10 minutes, to which, of course, she responded positively. I told the kids (in Spanish, as it was a Spanish class) that the room looked 19th century. «Let’s put the desks in a big circle», I suggested, without blocking the exit, for security reasons. It took less than a minute, and immediately, you could feel the larger space, the atmosphere changed when students could see each other, and I could walk around making eye contact with the students, as we discussed topics about school, learning, languages, with many students actively participating.

 

Even the teacher and the assistant for the boy with special needs were smiling and noting the difference. The students had come alive! . It took 10 minutes for a change to occur. ! The director took photos of the transformed classroom, photos of kids smiling and answering, and asking questions. As I left the class, I said to the teacher, «See how big your room looks now? The arrangement of desks makes a huge difference.» She smiled in agreement. This was a mini-change, but a change nonetheless. Our UNO directors need to support and to push change or it will not happen. Period.

 

Even the SEP, supposedly rigid and inflexible, is changing, for the better, moving, slowly but surely, away from lock-step education, instructing teachers to base lessons based on students’ competencies, using critical thinking, and to base grades NOT only on tests and quizzes, but to use projects, cooperative learning, and differentiation among students with various learning and emotional needs.

 

For at least ten years the SEP has been urging schools NOT to teach fine motor skills activities (such as writing with a pencil) to children until they are in first grade of primary, in order to fully develop children’s gross motor skills first. The SEP also has been promoting the idea of no student failures, NOT to give away grades, but to have teachers support students’ corrections of their own work, thus learning through one’s errors.

 

The SEP has even dropped giving the Enlace exams, supposedly a profile of a school’s level of academic competency. Why? Because it was based on multiple choice exams and memorization, not truly a measure of what students know. As I am fond of saying: «A multiple choice exam is easy to score, but it only serves kids who are lucky in Las Vegas. It doesn’t prove that they really learned anything. »

 

Some SEP teachers (even Spanish teachers, not only English teachers) are beginning to place students’ desks in circles or semi circles, not in rows, because they are recognizing three impacts: (1) the room looks bigger, with more space; (2) the teacher can move around the room more easily, making eye-to-eye contact with students, resulting in better discipline and more student involvement; (3) psychologically, the room has a more positive atmosphere. Students are able to see each other, not the backs of the heads of the other students who are in front of them.

 

The SEP now has a CENNI exam for 6th graders in English. It was given throughout Mexico last November, to measure where kids are in English. CENNI stands for «CErtificación Nacional de Nivel de Idioma». It was developed in 2010, reflecting levels of the CEFR.

 

On the CENNI exams, the answers to be chosen DO involve the necessity to think, NOT what you have memorized. There is NO grammar in the exam. It’s based on content read, pictures understood, listening activities to respond to, and vocabulary level, tested by identification of pictures with written words, not memorized dictionary definitions.

 

So…what is CHANGE?

It’s the acquisition over time and practice of new attitudes and habits.

Are you part of change, a change agent, or are you still in the camp of the resisters?

Your actions speak, not your words.

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(NOTE: One of my jobs, for almost 15 years, is «English Consultant» for the Secretaria de Educación Pública in Mexico.  If you want to know more about the CENNI exam, write and I’ll send you a presentation I share with SEP English teachers when I teach them how to have the best student success with the CENNI exam.  My email: juniorbarney1@yahoo.com)

by Elaine Gallagher

Hello, Readers.

You’ve already seen «Cultural Literacy» with an introduction and an explanation, and historical dates. You also have seen phrases and idioms that most culturally- literate people know.

Now, you’ll see a list of names or figures, or places that most culturally-literate people know. If you don’t know them all, start growing. Your Internet link is waiting for you! Have fun!

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Achilles heel

Adam and Eve

Adonis

Adriatic Sea

The Aeneid

Aeschylus

Aesop’s Fables

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

The Alamo

Louisa May Alcott

Alexander the Great

Horatio Alger

Alice in Wonderland

Allies (World War II)

Allah

Alps

Amazon River

American Stock Exchange

Anderson, Hans Christian

Apaches

Appleseed, Johnny

Archimedes

Aristophanes

Aristotle

Astaire, Fred and Ginger Rogers

Athens

Atlas (Titan)

Audubon, John

Augustine, Saint

Augustus, Caesar

Auschwitz

Axis (World War II)

Aztec Empire

 

 

Babel, Tower of

Babylon

Bacchus

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Baghdad

Bahamas

Balzac

The Barber of Seville

Bard of Avon

P.T. Barnum

baroque

The Barrymores

Clara Barton

bass fiddle

bassoon

Bastille

bar mitzvah

Beatitudes

The Beatles

beaucoup

Beauty and the Beast

Ludwig van Beethoven

behaviorism

Alexander Graham Bell

Berkeley, California

Irving Berlin

Berlin Wall

bibliography

bicameral legislature

big bad wolf

big bang theory

Big Ben

big business

big dipper

biofeedback

blackball

Black Death

black hole of Calcutta

black holes

blacklist

black magic

black sheep

William Blake

blank verse

Blarney Stone

blood type

Boer

Bolshevik

Bombay

economic boom

sonic boom

Daniel Boone

John Wilkes Booth

Lucretia Borgia

Borneo

botany

Botticelli

bottom line

botulism

Bourbon Kings

bourgeoisie

boycott

Johannes Brahmes

brain trust

brainwashing

Brasilia

Brave New World

Charlotte Bronte

Emily Bronte

Bronze Age

Brown vs the Board of Education

John Brown

Brueghal

Brutus

Buddha

Paul Bunyon

buoyancy

bureaucracy

byte

Byzantine

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Next time, we’ll continue with more items, beginning with «C».

Have fun in Google!

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