Reflections

  1. 7 Norms of Collaboration—The Adaptive School, Garmston and Wellman
  2. 3 Key Findings—How People Learn; Bransford, Brown, Cocking (eds.)
  3. Advance Organizers and Nonlinguistic Representations—Effective Instructional Practices, Marzano et al.

Thoughts Circling around in Our Minds / Things We Want to Incorporate in Our Schools / Things That Square with Our Beliefs
How can I develop this into my own theory of development? / using more advanced organizers / accessing prior knowledge/learning is essential
need all 3 key ideas to evaluate student learning
Is how much this relates to Literacy First / More time for student reflection / Kids have to be able to relate to something before they can learn or understand it.
I need to do more nonlinguistic representations / I want my students to set their daily goals and objectives: “Today I want to learn . . .”
Have we disregarded the affective for excellence int the cognitive? / All people are to be valued if only for their uniqueness. / That developing a positive attitude in students will lead to a more humane human.
How important the hook is to spark excitement that fosters learning / More stories like the triangle story / Positive intentions
paraphrasing
How to do more nonlinguistic representations in my classroom / More authentic assessments / Activating prior knowledge is key!
Upper level teachers need to experience lower level frustrations of starting with such little blank slates! / A deeper understanding and acceptance . . . of differences!Among staff, and students! / Children all learn differently and should therefore be allowed to perform differently.
How do I move students from prior knowledge and getting that “hook” to metacognition when they are so very concrete still? / More advanced organizers / I agree that advanced organizers are a good way to facilitate learning.
How I can use a cool idea like the triangle-land story / Coupling nonlinguistic representations with the more standard state assessment format / Metacognition is vital for deep understanding
What can I do with my students tomorrow that will be a nonlinguistic representation of their knowledge / More nonlinguistic representations / The idea of synthesis: metacognition
The fact that projects created by the students will be remembered more so than just answering myquestions
Taking this information and applying it in the Early Childhood classroom or home visit / More ideas for activating prior knowledge and non-linguistic representation that can be used at the EC level / Dealing with the misconceptions prior to learning is the key to creating a successful learning environment.
Taking a concept like the triangle-land story and letting kids illustrate their understanding of an abstract concept / Presuming positive intentions
Discussing adding this as a norm in our PLC / You need to hook kids and get prior knowledge

7 Norms of Collaboration from The Adaptive School—Garmston and Wellman

  1. Pausing
  2. Paraphrasing
  3. Probing for Specificity
  4. Putting Ideas on the Table
  5. Paying Attention to Self and Others
  6. Presuming Positive Intentions
  7. Pursuing a Balance between Advocacy and Inquiry

Key Findings from How People Learn (Bransford, Brown, Cocking [eds], pp. 14-18)

  1. Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.
  2. To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.
  3. A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.