Classroom Instruction that Works:

9 Strategies for Successful Student Learning

Presenter: Dr. Lori Langer de Ramírez

lori@miscositas.comwww.MisCositas.com

Introductions…

1. What’s in a name?1. What’s in a name?

2. “One thing you 2. “One thing you wouldn’t know wouldn’t know

about me just about me just by looking…”by looking…”

Lori – named after mom’s student Langer – from Dad Ramirez – from my husband de – I’m old-fashioned, I guess!

? – I write books in my spare time…

How is our SCHOOL world changing?

56%

Individual effort…

56%

…vs. cooperative learning and collaboration…

56%

The uses of technology…

21st Century Skills

• thinking critically• solving complex,

multidisciplinary, open-ended problems

• creativity • entrepreneurial

thinking• innovative use

of knowledge, information & opportunities

21st Century Skills

Communicating and collaborating with

teams of people across cultural, geographic and

language boundaries

Research-Based Instruction

• Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane Pollock reviewed hundreds of studies on instructional practices that have proven to effect student achievement.

9 Essential Strategies (Part 1)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences2. Summarizing and Note Taking3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing

Recognition4. Homework and Practice…

9 Essential Strategies (Part 2)

5. Nonlinguistic Representations 6. Cooperative Learning7. Setting Objectives and Providing

Feedback8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses9. Cues, Questions, & Advance Organizers

Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Presenting students with explicit guidance in identifying similarities and differences enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge.

• Asking students to independently identify similarities and differences enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge.

Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge.

• Identification of similarities and differences can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The identification of similarities and differences is a highly engaging activity.

Suggested Teaching Strategies: Identifying Similarities and Differences

• COMPARING: the process of identifying similarities and differences between or among things or ideas

Comparing with a Comparison Matrix

Suggested Teaching Strategies: Identifying Similarities and Differences

• CLASSIFYING: the process of grouping things that are alike into categories on the basis of their characteristics

Classifying with a Web Format

Suggested Teaching Strategies: Identifying Similarities and Differences

• CREATING METAPHORS: identifying a general or basic pattern in a specific topic and then finding another topic that appears to be different but has the same pattern

Suggested Teaching Strategies: Identifying Similarities and Differences

• CREATING ANALOGIES—identifying relationships between pairs of concepts, identifying relationships between relationships

Identifying Similarities and Differences: Try it!What items do you want to compare? What characteristics do you want to compare?

How are the items similar and different based on the characteristics?

Characteristics

Things To beCompared

Place an 'X' in the box to indicate if an item possesses that characteristic. How are they alike? How are they different?

Summarizing and Note Taking• To effectively summarize, students must

delete some information, substitute some information, and keep some information.

• To effectively delete, substitute, and keep information, students must analyze the information thoroughly.

• Being aware of the explicit structure of information is an aid to summarizing information.

• Provide opportunities for students to summarize key content.

• Teach students how to process information for their own note taking.

Summarizing and Note Taking: Use summary frames and other organizers to assist students who learn visually.

Summarizing and Note Taking: Sequencing Events

Summarizing and Note Taking: Informal outlines and webbing

Suggested Teaching Strategies: Rule-Based Summarizing

• Summary Rule # 1: Use the Single Strike Out To take out material that is not important for your understanding.

• Summary Rule # 2: Use the Double Strike Out To take out words that repeat information.

• Summary Rule # 3: Replace lists of things with one word that describes the things in the list (example: replace ‘apples, oranges, and limes’ with ‘fruit’) Highlight these words in red.

• Summary Rule # 4: Find the topic sentence, and change the word color to green. If you can’t find the topic sentence, make one up and change to green.

Summarizing and Note-Taking: Try It!Here’s What, So What, Now What

This is a great way to help students summarize a reading, a news article, and generate a discussion of information to help you plan for instruction. Ask students to write about their thoughts and share with another person or group:

Here’s What: Describe one very important concept/skills that you learned during this lesson.

So What: How can you practice or use this concept/skill so you will know that you understand and

remember it. Now What: How can you use this concept/skill to help you

in the classroom?

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

• Not all students realize the importance of believing in effort.

• Students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort.

• Rewards do not necessarily have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation.

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

• Reward is most effective when it is contingent on the attainment of some standard of performance.

• Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards.

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

Reinforcing Effort and Providing RecognitionWhat are some subject-specific ways to reinforce effort and provide recognition for your students?

Homework and Practice

• The purpose of homework should be identified and articulated.

• Establish and communicate a homework policy.

• Design homework assignments that clearly articulate the purpose and outcome.

Homework and Practice

• Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum.

Homework and Practice• If homework is assigned,

it should be commented on.• Vary the

approaches to providing feedback on homework assignments.

What is your homework policy?

Nonlinguistic Representations

• Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate on the pre-existing knowledge or the newly introduced knowledge.

• A variety of activities to produce nonlinguistic representations should be used…

Nonlinguistic Representations: Creating graphic representations

Nonlinguistic Representations: Making physical models

Nonlinguistic Representations: Generating mental pictures

When you read or listen to others read, you should paint pictures in

your head. Imagine ccoolloorrss,

sizes, and . Consider all the details and

paint a picture in your imagination.

Nonlinguistic Representations: Drawing pictures and pictographs

Nonlinguistic Representations: Engaging in kinesthetic activities

What are some nonlinguistic activities that connect to your subject area?

Engaging in kinesthetic activities

Creating graphic representations

through organizers

Drawing pictures and pictographs

Making physical models

Generating mental pictures

Cooperative Learning• Organizing groups based on ability should be

done sparingly. – Students of low

ability perform worse when they are placed in homogeneous groups.

– Students of high ability perform only marginally better when homogeneously grouped.

– Middle ability students benefit most.

Cooperative Learning

• Cooperative groups should be kept small in size—3 or 4 members.

• Cooperative learning should be applied consistently and systematically, but not overused.

• Tasks given to cooperative groups should be well structured.• If students do not have sufficient time to practice skills independently, cooperative learning is being overused.

Partner #1 should share with the group some

Cooperative Learning activities that you

have used/or would like to use in your subject area.

Working in groups of three…

Partner #2 should take notes about

what Partner #1 shares.

Using the notes, Partner #3 should tell a member from another group about the Cooperative Learning

activities that were shared.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Instructional goals narrow a students’ focus.

• Instructional goals should not be too specific.– Goals stated in behavioral objective format are

not as effective as goals stated in more general formats.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Students should be encouraged to personalize the teacher’s goals, adapting them to their personal needs and desires.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Feedback should be corrective in nature.

• The best feedback shows students what is accurate and what is not.

• Asking students to keep working on a task until they succeed appears to enhance student achievement.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Feedback should be specific to a criterion, telling students where they stand relative to a specific target of knowledge or skill.

• Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Feedback should be timely.– The larger the delay in giving feedback, the less

improvement one will see.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback:

Create your own rubric

Generating and Testing Hypotheses• Hypotheses generation and testing can be approached in a more

inductive or deductive manner.– Inductive:

use general rules to make prediction about specific event.

– Deductive: specific pieces of information lead to general conclusion.

• Teachers should ask students to clearly explain their hypotheses and their conclusions.

Generating and Testing Hypotheses: Teaching strategiesproblem-solving opportunities

Generating and Testing Hypotheses: Teaching strategies

Generating and Testing Hypotheses: Teaching strategies

Generating and Testing Hypotheses: Teaching strategiesInvention

http://www.inventionatplay.org

Generating and Testing Hypotheses: Teaching strategies

Generating and Testing Hypotheses:

Teaching strategies

Use of decision making

http://kids.mysterynet.com/

Generating and Testing Hypotheses

How do these strategies fit into your curriculum?

system analysis problem solving decision making historical investigation experimental inquiry invention

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

• Cues, questions, and advanced organizers should focus on what is important as opposed to what is unusual.

• “Higher level” questions or advanced organizers produce deeper learning than “lower level” questions or advanced organizers.

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Questions are effective learning tools even when asked before a learning experience.

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Waiting” briefly before accepting responses from students has the effect of increasing

the depth of students’ answers.

What does Bloom’s look like in your classroom?