I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's book,
Outliers, when I received an email from Jill, the social studies teacher who is working on her pedagogy with me, suggesting that I read:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true
The article is by the same author and is worth reading. There is a section in which Gladwell identifies (as we have in
One Teacher at a Time and
One Principal at a Time) that of all of the teacher elements studied, feedback is identified by researchers in Virginia as the most closely linked to academic success. He uses a phrase that we could use as synonymous: a teacher who has
regard for student perspective. Let's use that phrase to clarify what we mean when someone asks about GANAGing a lesson and giving feedback. Use flexible strategies that allow students to become engaged in the learning.
Posted:
12/14/2008 2:23:22 PM by
Janie Pollock | with
0 comments
Someone asked me to answer the question, "Why do we have to GANAG lessons?" You don't, but it works for various reasons. When I worked with teachers for a number of years to implement the research-based strategies identified in Classroom Instruction that Works, I found it difficult to communicate efficiently with teachers about including the strategies as a natural part of the lesson to help students learn the curriculum declarative and procedural knowledge better since teachers had so many variations on sequences of events or agendas in the lessons. So, to improve communications, I took many previous sequences (some are described in Chapter 3 in One Teacher) and using the logic that each of the subsequent researchers had used a similar procedure, updated the various options using new learning research information, identified the steps in GANAG as both conducive to applying the learning research as well as conducive to making the act of planning and delivery more fluid. Working with teachers using the schema for over ten years, I have been able to see the adaptations they make, but also learn from them that GANAG helps them improve their instruction to improve learning. Using GANAG (and the GANAG Plus with special education and ELL teachers) has also been extremely helpful for teachers working in PLCs or collaborative teams.
A fundamental research tactic in GANAG is that it allows teachers to be more mindful of the use of feedback to learners, and that is one of the most powerful aspects of using the schema.
With that information, I began to work with principals and found that observing and communicating feedback to teachers using the same schema, GANAG, also led to improvements in student learning and in communication about instruction and assessment. So, in a month or so, ASCD will publish Improving Student Learning One Principal at a Time.
Posted:
12/3/2008 3:52:39 PM by
Janie Pollock | with
0 comments
One of the best teachers I have met, Linda Mishkin, taught for thirty years in private schools. Now, in retirement, she teaches HS in the Bronx at a "small school" and weekly sends emails about her experiences. As the others are poignant lessons, so is this one:
Last week, I was absent on Monday; on Tuesday, when I
> returned to my classroom, my $60, Zen bowl-bell, that we use
> in a mindfulness exercise to begin every class, was missing
> :o( . I felt sad. I have unsuccessfully searched the
> classroom for it, but still keep the hope that it will
> appear in an overlooked corner, or that the taker will
> return it.
> Thanksgiving was upcoming and I wanted to overflow
> with feelings of gratitude not indignation. In mentioning my
> feelings to Karl, he said, half in jest,"Well, Linda,
> think about it this way, you can be grateful that you had it
> as long as you did." He got me thinking.
> I had simultaneously received an email from Zenon,
> which he titled, "We have several amazing kids in our
> school". He proceeded to inform me that on the Monday
> that I was absent, at the end of the day, three of my
> students peered into my room. When they saw the chaotic
> mess, they knew that i would be upset when i returned, and
> found it unacceptable. They stayed after school until the
> room was all picked up.
> While it hurts that someone cares so little about my
> feelings that they would steal my Zen bowl-bell, it is
> equally wonderful that someone else cares so much about my
> feelings that they would give of their time to be kind to
> me, fixing up a room that looked like a war-zone. It is to
> these three students- Jessica, Yessica and new student,
> Carolina- that I owe special thanks for easing me back into
> the Thanksgiving mood and mode. And of course, each and
> every one of my colleagues, who has been kind to me
> directly, or indirectly by being kind to our students, and
> each other. For these blessings, Thank you.
>
> In the wise words of a young man, being prepared to
> replace the
> Dalai Lama:
> "There is no benefit personally, spiritually, or
> mentally in obsessing about how others have caused you
> suffering. There IS a benefit in reflecting on how other
> sentient beings have been kind to you. If we have that
> appreciation, our happiness will increase and our altruistic
> heart will become stronger. We will have a stronger desire
> to protect others, and we will think more often about
> helping them."
Posted:
12/2/2008 9:29:23 AM by
Janie Pollock | with
0 comments
ASCD asked me to give some insights about veteran and novice teachers working together, so that will be posted on
www.ascd.org/blog which is a great resource for all of us to read about other topics as well.
Posted:
12/2/2008 9:26:51 AM by
Janie Pollock | with
0 comments