Three Epiphanies about Content-Area Learning

When I was right out of college I thought that I knew everything. I was most up to date on recent best practices, research, and teaching strategies. I thought that seasoned teachers would be learning from ME because there was no way that they had all of the most recent information. Oh boy, was I right!
Gotchya! You probably thought I was going to say wrong. I really was able to teach others a lot, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't still learning myself. I learned from teachers around me, I learned from my students, and I also learned a lot from my mistakes. For example, even since starting this blog I have learned a lot, and you might even call them epiphanies.

1. Lectures are not dead
2. Blogs can be pretty darn good resources
3. It is okay to not be perfect

The biggest "Ah-ha" moment for me was when I realized that the worlds oldest teaching technique, the lecture, wasn't dead. The lecture is coming back in style and it has a new and improved image. The best advice that I learned was that the lecture is a good way to get across so much information, but it needs to stay brief. The length of the lecture needs to be short in order to accommodate for all attention spans, but also to simply keep the information overload to a minimum. The short lecture should be wrapped up with an application activity of sorts that allows the student to apply the information that they just learned. In recent months I found myself trying to jump through hoops and breathe fire to keep up with the new expectations to keep lessons engaging for students. Then, I realized that I don't need to reinvent the wheel I can just revamp the old ways.

In the first few months I really was teaching others quite a bit; I had a lot to share and it was an incredible feeling to be knowledgable. Now, don't get me wrong, I learned A LOT from them as well, but their teaching strategies had been well used and were oldies but goodies. I thought to myself, "I want to always stay in the know and constantly aware of the cutting edge teaching techniques." Then a couple months went by and I realized that I was just teaching and not expanding my teacher's tool belt at all. What I learned in college was what I stuck with. While creating this blog I realized the importance of constantly researching the most recent laws, teaching strategies, and best practices. Reading through academically worded journals and research based essays takes a lot of time and can be cumbersome, and then I discovered the wonderful world of blogs! I never previously looked at blogs as educational resources, but they have so much to offer! I am now able to look at fun, creative, and easily legible sites that offer valid, current information. The best part about blogs is that they also include personal experiences which add a dash of realness that most educational journals are missing. I once was worried that blogs were bogus, but now I know they have awesome information that In can read quickly and get great research based techniques in minutes.

As a special educator I am part of a team; I am part of a co-teaching team. I have three people and three classes that I co-teach with, but I don't have any time to actually co-plan. In the ideal world we should be using all of the co-teaching models and working as a united front to best educate our students, but that doesn't always happen. I felt like I was failing as a teacher and colleague. I didn't know what I could do to make it better. Then, I had an epiphany: it is okay to not be perfect. Teaching models were created to try and benefit the student learning, but they were designed with perfection in mind in regards to the co-teaching and the actual environment that you are to be teaching in. I am not dealing with perfection by any means and I am doing my best. I am okay with adapting what I have available to me to make new strategies work to the best of my ability. Perfection is not easy and it is okay to not be perfect!

Helpful Resources

As an educator it is my professional responsibility to stay in the know about knew techniques, strategies, and best practices. However, as a special educator it is not only my professional responsibility, but my way of life. It is imperative that I am privy to new and innovative ideas to help support my ever changing students and their unique learning needs. 

You might think to yourself that that sounds logical, and maybe you're thinking that there is one home base for special educators to go. For example, there might be a main page that special educators can go to with their secret special education passwords to stay on top of laws, best practices, and disabilities; that would be awesome! BUT there is no such thing. Instead, I have to sort through websites, blogs, and books to determine what is relevant and reliable. This process can take quite some time, which, as an educator is a hot commodity. So, if you are like me and are looking for helpful resources here are two that I use frequently!

I. Reality 101

• http://cecblog.typepad.com/cec/

This blog is maintained by the Council for Exceptional Children and a few teachers that share their everyday practices and experiences. I love that this is a blog is a mix of reality, (hence the name), and reliable sources. The Council for Exceptional Children is a recognized professional special education group that participates in active research and experiments to help better the education of all students with disabilities.
This site has many resources that are supported by research and other experienced teachers. The blog is organized in sections and by dates. They took some time off from writing, but all of the sources are still there and they just recently picked back up. The type of things that they blog about are co-teaching, classroom management, and accommodations. I have used this site to learn more about organizing my resource room, better use technology to support my students, and to even solidify that teaching is my passion. This site is the best of both worlds being research based and rooted in raw true classroom experiences. I have namely used this site to help me in my co-teaching environments, but it can be used for so much more. Check it out for reliable ideas and up to date laws and best practices!

II. Learning Disabilities

• https://www.verywell.com/learning-disabilities-4014696

This blog is supported by research as well, but it does not have as many personal stories. I mostly enjoy that this site focuses on the disabilities that our students have. The main things that it provides information on are all related to making content more accessible to students with disabilities and also making their lives just as fulfilling as anyone else's.
I have learned how to identify different disabilities, how to support each child in different subjects, and stay in the loop about most recent laws. The best information that this website can offer is seen in the sub categories on the side. Anything that you can think of in relation to learning disabilities is there. For example, I have learned about learning disabilities in relation to math application and reading. The better that I understand the areas of need the more that I can provide support for my students. I would suggest this site not only to special educators, but to general educators and even parents! The website describes, in depth, certain diets and foods to stay away from to enhance learning abilities for students with ADHD and other disabilities.  It is a wealth of information for all willing to read! 

Talk To Me

“Lecture”, the dirtiest word in education right now. It is a teaching technique that is viewed as antiquated, not hands on, and boring. Teachers are instructed to stand on their heads, spin in circles, create exploding volcanoes, and do anything other than perform a dreaded lecture because some believe that students need to experience the content to understand it. I mean you can't really argue with statistics, a recent "2014 study showed that test scores in science and math courses improved after professors replaced lecture time with “active learning” methods like group work" (Worthen, 2015). What a novel idea; group work! Unfortunately, the only thing that this statistic does is provide evidence for "active learning"; it does not discredit the old school lecture. While, I have sat through many a lecture that could be described as a snooze fest at best, I still rally behind the oldie but goodie technique. 

The lecture simply can't be beat. It informs students and then allows them, "to process ideas and think deeply about what they just heard or saw" (Kovalskys, 2015). However, you do have to be very careful because lectures can quickly take a turn from informative and interesting to drooling and drowsy if you don't follow a few rules. For example, Kovalskys describes a new breed of lecture-the interactive lecture- as a traditional lecture style intertwined with active learning experiences such as formative assessments, checks for understandings, and student-generated products. (2015)

As a teacher we are expected to constantly keep things moving, get the students motivated, and pique their interest in any content whether it be multi-step equations or subject-verb agreement. One way to do this is to teach them what each thing is first by lecturing, but remember to keep it brief. Researchers suggest that lectures should be 15 minutes or less, but there is little evidence that supports this claim. Rather many students go through bouts of paying attention and not about every 4-5 minutes. (Briggs, 2014) Ultimately what we can gather from the attention span theories is that we should mix it up. We should offer opportunities that engage “student attention during a segment and refreshing attention immediately after a segment.” (Briggs, 2014). A beautiful way to weave the active learning method and lecture learning method together is to provide an engaging lecture with interactive notes for about 8-10 minutes and then ask a probing question that allows students to engage with the content that was just taught. In addition, to add an ending to a segment you can provide students with practice to try their hand at implementing the content you just taught. This schedule will help teachers present the necessary information so students learn the information correctly, but it also keeps students engaged and using what was just taught.

Lastly, it is imperative that as teachers we understand the appropriate use of prosody and intonation. If you choose to use a lecture style you are choosing to be on stage. As educators we are on stage for about 90% of our day and we need to convey the message that whatever we are teaching excites us. Students are like animals and can detect when something is off. Your attitude toward the content will set the mood for the entire class period. Lectures are not antiquated and outdated they are functional and necessary. They provide instant information so students that struggle don’t have to worry if they discovered the “right” answers through inquiry based learning and students that are not confident can always be reassured that they have the correct information.

Lectures provide the perfect template to give information. Many times it is imperative for students with learning disabilities to get the right information and practice using the right information. We are so wrapped up in the idea of discovery based learning, but we don’t take in to account what implications it might have if a student practices the incorrect way without being told otherwise. We can immediately remove that possibility by providing short, engaging lectures that end with a culminating activity or application activity for students. As teachers we have to remind ourselves that reinventing the wheel is not necessary. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways and we can just add some new ideas to them. So get out there and lecture away!

Works Cited

Briggs, S. (2014, June 28). The Science of Attention: How To Capture And Hold The Attention of Easily Distracted Students - InformED. Retrieved July 10, 2016, from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30-tricks-for-capturing-students-attention/

Kovalskys, G. (2015, July 31). Why the Best Teachers Won't Ditch the Lecture (EdSurge News). Retrieved July 10, 2016, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-07-31-why-the-best-teachers-won-t-ditch-the-lecture

Worthen, M. (2015, October 17). Lecture Me. Really. Retrieved July 10, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/lecture-me-really.html?_r=0

Setting 'Em Up for Success

I can remember the feeling well; the feeling of embarrassment, shame, and stupidity as I sat in my chemistry class as a high school junior. I knew nothing. It felt like my teacher was speaking a foreign language, but the problem with that is I did take a foreign language class, Spanish, and I was really good at it. It felt like there was really something wrong withe me because the content simply made no sense at all. All of my peers grasped it; nit quickly, but eventually. I was left to ask multiple questions that ultimately went unanswered and left me feeling even more inadequate. I stayed for tutoring at lunch and after school, I stole notes from my older brother in hopes that they might be more logical than what was in my textbook, and I asked my teacher for help. Nothing worked and I felt hopeless. Now as I reflect on my experience I realize that I was getting so caught up in the new vocabulary of jules, colloid, and isotopes that I never even had a chance to focus on the rest of the content and the major concepts. I now teach students with learning disabilities and I can only imagine that my experience was similar to their's. I see the same thing happening to my ninth grade students with, and in all truth, without learning disabilities, as they take biology. The language is so new to them that in fact it is foreign. As I watched this situation unfold before my very eyes in my co-teaching biology class I had an "Ah-ha" moment. The students need graphics, they need something to organize the content for them; they need Content Enhancement Routines, (CER). 

For those of you that are new to the world of education, special education, and acronyms, CERs are guidelines that help students connect and access to the content. Rather than changing the way a student learns it is adapting the curriculum to them. Now, I am well aware that what I am describing is not a new theory; it is essentially what teachers do everyday. However, CERs delve a little deeper and allow teachers to really focus on how to change the content so that it is easily understandable. As described by Bulgren and Lenz, "CERs are based on instructional principles designed to (a) teach academically diverse groups in ways that meet both group and individual needs; (b) carry out instruction in active partnership with students; (c) focus on the teacher as content expert and mediator of learning who selects critical features of the content and transforms them in a manner that promotes learning; and (d) maintain the integrity of the content"(Bulgren & Lenz, 1996; Lenz, Bulgren, & Hudson, 1990; Schumaker et al., 2002).  This sounds like a promising practice that touches on many points of education that seem to need more support. I can see how my current students are yearning for something that reaches each of them and also points out the most relevant of information; which is something students with disabilities tend to have difficulty doing on their own as is. 

In a recent biology unit of genetics students were required to complete punnett squares based on homogenous and heterogenous genotypes. They were then asked to describe the possible phenotypes for each genotypes. It was a great practice exercise, but the glaring problem was that they didn't know what the words meant! In this instance I would have used a Clarifying Routine, which does exactly as it says. It clarifies the meaning of pertinent words and phrases within the content. This was the missing link for my kids, and for me when I was in chemistry. 

I think that as teachers it is our responsibility to make the content accessible; which starts with good planning. As you are planning you can identify the concepts, words, and phrases that might hang up our students. You can then put those vocabulary words into a Clarifying Table that will then help students to understand the question and task at hand. 

For example, there are two tables below that demonstrate a Clarifying Table in which students take characteristics from the Frayer model for vocabulary and dig a little deeper to help aid in recalling the meaning of the unknown words. One table is a blank example, while the other is an example of potential student work. 

What these tables highlight is that connecting to prior knowledge is extremely beneficial. As a student if I have to identify connections, clarifiers, and examples and non-examples then I have more to connect to. I have prior knowledge to build on, but I also have connections that I have to make. As teachers we tend to assign students words from the book and have them find the definition in the back and define them, however, this is one of the least effective methods. You should really focus on, "Less is more — depth is more. Teach fewer vocabulary terms, but teach them in a manner that results in deep understandings of each term." (Ellis, 2015). What Ellis is saying is that we should focus on main concepts only, but we should focus our efforts on demanding mastery of those few vocabulary words rather than a brief understanding of many. As teachers it is our professional responsibility to be versed in our content areas and identify the probable difficulties within our content. We can do this by using CERs when we are planning and then implementing graphics like the Clarifying table. We would be remiss if we did not offer these things to our students because if a student has a learning disability, or not, knew vocabulary adds a new level of learning and understanding. We have to accommodate for that. If we do not then our students are going to mimic my junior year of high school chemistry and check out. They won't participate and they will blame themselves. This is no way to set our students up for success. 

Works Cited

Bulgren, J. A.; & Lenz, B. K. (1996). Strategic instruction in the content areas. In D. D. Deshler, E. S. Ellis, & B. K. Lenz (Eds.), Teaching adolescents with learning disabilities: Strategies and methods (2nd ed., pp. 409-473). Denver: Love.

Ellis, E. S. (n.d.). The Clarifying Routine: Elaborating Vocabulary Instruction. Retrieved July 03, 2016, from http://www.ldonline.org/article/5759

Did You Say Differentiation?

The way that a person speaks and uses language can speak to their character. The vocabulary that people choose can help to identify their comfort level within a topic, their educational level, or even their origin of birth. It is fascinating how many things that can be determined from the simple words someone uses. For example, in education if you are able to have the gift of gab and the appropriate lexicon then many people trust your words because they carry heavy weight. However, one word in particular seems to be all too popular within education as of late: differentiation.

Rick Wormeli compared differentiation to a scene in The Sound of Music where everyone is riding a bike, but not everyone is on the same level of competency on a bicycle. He says, "Despite everyone's different rate and competency with bike riding, the group is moving as a whole; everyone is on the trip, advanced and struggling bike riders, and no one is left behind." (2015, Differentiating Instruction: A Modified Concerto in Four Movements) In this perfectly identified analogy there is still no concise definition of what differentiation is. He explains that this "differentiation", allowing kids to ride ahead of the teacher, some to lag behind, and others to ride on the teachers back, grants everyone access to the same activity. The "d-word" is used to describe the creativity that had to occur to keep everyone together and on the same task. While this theory and logic is great it is not always practical. 

Now, I do support differentiating instruction and trying to teach to each students needs by offering options and difference. Throughout Wormeli's article he discusses the benefits of teaching using different modalities and offering accessibility to more students. This type of teaching is differentiation. It allows access to content that is usually off limits to someone who is struggling or needs to see the information displayed in another way to fully grasp it. While, I whole heartedly agree that this approach is beneficial and helpful it is far too vague for reasonable implementation. 

Differentiation has become a buzz word within education and is used far too often as the remedy for all educational ailments. The ultimate basis is great, but the biggest shortcoming is that it is too broad of a practice. There is not a clear and concise process to follow, therefore it can be commonly misinterpreted. Many times teachers aren't even sure what they are differentiating, "Is it the curriculum or the instructional methods used to deliver it? Or both? The terms "differentiated instruction" and "differentiated curriculum" are used interchangeably, yet they are not synonyms." (Delisle, Differentiation Doesn't Work, January 6, 2015) Administrators and coaches believe that differentiation is a magical cure-all, and they demand that teachers do it more, for every lesson. However, in reality every lesson cannot be differentiated and each day will not conclude with all students gaining mastery of the content. There are just some days that are tough and that has to be acceptable. If it is not acceptable then we do not need a pretty name to throw around as an educational elixir, but rather clear, measurable, data driven techniques that support student learning. A step by step process that teachers can follow and adapt to their individual classrooms would be best. We all believe in the ideology, but now we need to develop guidelines to apply it. 

Resources

Delisle, J. R. (2015, January 6). Differentiation Doesn't Work. Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/07/differentiation-doesnt-work.html

Wormeli, R. (n.d.). (2015). Differentiating Instruction: A Modified Concerto in Four Movements. Retrieved June 25, 2016 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/Differentiating_Instruction:__A_Modified_Concerto_in_Four_Movements