Adaptability

Adaptability is the ability to change to fit changed circumstances. Explore these strategies to intentionally support Adaptability as a Habit of Mind in your classroom. Mindset Minute Choose one of the mindset categories (skills and intelligence, challenges, effort, feedback, obstacles, or success of others) and have students consider it for one minute. Have them reflect in writing or through conversation about whether the category is something you are born with or whether it is something that can be developed and learned. Use the Fixed vs. Growth Mindset poster as a visual reminder for yourself or your students. Use the Mindset Quiz with your students to help them self-evaluate their own mindset and target specific areas to work on. RAFT Use the RAFT strategy to differentiate instruction and to promote creative thinking. Assign (or have students choose) a Role, an Audience, the Format, and the Topic. For example, you may have students present a Topic that is related to the investigation question, and students might choose to play the Role of a newscaster, present in the Format of a cartoon, and pretend their Audience is parents. SCAMPER Use the SCAMPER activity to differentiate instruction, promote creative thinking, and/or discover alternate design solutions. Once students have studied a concept or designed a solution, ask them to SCAMPER it. They can choose one letter of the acronym to revisit their learning. S=substitute, C=combine, A=adapt, M=modify, P=put to other use, E=eliminate, R=rearrange. Four Corners For questions that have multiple possible answers and/or perspectives, put four different answers to the question in the four corners of the room. Ask students to go to a corner, discuss the topic with the other students in the corner, and then support and defend their choice to the rest of the class. White-Boarding Use whiteboards to capture ideas and thoughts. The temporary nature of a white-board promotes risk-taking and collaboration. Students can develop models that show their understanding of a process or concept. They may use pictures, diagrams, and words to convey their meaning. Other strategies that are good for white-boarding include Gallery Walk, Board Meeting, Graffiti Wall, and Floor Display.

Adaptability

Lesson Skeleton Come to class on certain days with an incomplete lesson plan. Share the rough agenda with the students and allow them to suggest the learning, activities, discussions, investigations, etc. for the additional time. Mix-it-up! Start students working with a partner on a multistep problem. Before starting the second step of the problem, have students “mix it up” by changing partners. Repeat for each new step to help students develop their ability to collaborate with various types of people. Backward Day Reverse the normal schedule for a day. Highlight the adaptations that have to be made. Create Two Begin an Engineering Design investigation. As a class, determine two or more solutions to the problem. Label plans A, B, C, etc. As students begin solving the problem, assist them in making the transition to a different solution when needed. Explain the importance of exploring a variety of potential solutions to any given problem. Punt Model for students that there are times you may need to stop something that is not working for the class and re-adapt it for later use. Say “punting this until…….” Then point out to students how it is brought back. Explain the importance of knowing when to abandon a plan or idea when it is not working. Collaborative Brain Sketch Conduct a collaborative brain sketch. Place students in small groups. Provide each student with a sheet of plain white paper and a pencil. Ask each team member to do a quick sketch about the topic being studied. After a designated time, have the students pass their sketches to the person on the right. This person may add to the sketch by drawing more, adding labels, or adding descriptions. After a designated time, rotate the drawings until each student has an opportunity to contribute to each drawing. Then, allow the groups time to share their finished drawings and share what they learned. Share these ideas to a class list. First Word Acrostic Students write the topic word (ex. Photosynthesis) on their paper. They use the letters of a word to incorporate their understandings about the topic. For example, for the “P” in photosynthesis, the student may write “Plants use the process of photosynthesis to make their own food.” Let them work in pairs and encourage creativity.

MINDSET  QUIZ    1.  Circle  the  number  for  each  question  which  best  describes  you    2.  Total  and  record  your  score  when  you  have  completed  each  of  the  10  questions  3.  Using  the  SCORE  chart,  record  your  mindset          

  Strongly  Agree   Agree   Disagree   Strongly  

Disagree            Your  intelligence  is  something  very  basic  about  you  that  you  can’t  change  very  much   0   1   2   3  

No  matter  how  much  intelligence  you  have,  you  can  always  change  it  quite  a  bit   3   2   1   0  

Only  a  few  people  will  be  truly  good  at  sports,  you  have  to  be  born  with  the  ability   0   1   2   3  

The  harder  you  work  at  something,  the  better  you  will  be   3   2   1   0  

I  often  get  angry  when  I  get  feedback  about  my  performance   0   1   2   3  

I  appreciate  when  people,  parents,  coaches  or  teachers  give  me  feedback  about  my  performance   3   2   1   0  

Truly  smart  people  do  not  need  to  try  hard   0   1   2   3  You  can  always  change  how  intelligent  you  are   3   2   1   0  You  are  a  certain  kind  of  person  and  there  is  not  much  that  can  be  done  to  really  change  that   0   1   2   3  

An  important  reason  why  I  do  my  school  work  is  that  I  enjoy  learning  new  things   3   2   1   0  

   SCORE  CHART  22-­‐30  =  Strong  Growth  Mindset    17-­‐21  =  Growth  with  some  Fixed  ideas    11-­‐16  =  Fixed  with  some  growth  ideas    0-­‐10  =  Strong  fixed  mindset        MY  SCORE:    MY  MINDSET:              

Adapted  from:  Dweck,  C.  S.  (2006).  Mindset:  The  new  psychology  of  success.  New  York:  Random  House  Inc.    

Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

• Something you are born with

• Something to avoid• A chance to fail

• Unnecessary• For those who aren’t skilled

• Get defensive• Ignore and discount Criticism

• Get discouraged; give up easily• Blame Others

• Feel threatened• Find fault or excuses

Skills and Intelligence

Challenges

Effort

Feedback

Obstacles

Success of Others

• Something that can be learned and improved

• Something to embrace• An opportunity to grow

• Essential• The path of mastery

• Find feedback useful• Learn from criticism

• Persist through setbacks• Look forward to the next try

• Feel inspired• Seek ways to emulate or partner

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

Van Andel Education Institute VAEI.org

Van Andel Education Institute VAEI.org

RAFT

ROLE AUDIENCE FORMAT TOPIC

• Writer

• Journalist

• Scientist

• Artist

• Judge

• Athlete

• Weather Forecaster

• Historian

• Adventurer

• Student

• Doctor

• Police Officer

• Class

• School

• City

• State

• Parents

• Fictional Character

• Jury

• Experts

• Toddlers

• Sports Team

• Actors

• The President

• Poem

• Song Lyric

• Video

• Cartoon

• Infographic

• Journal Entry

• Brochure

• Advertisement

• Game

• Biography

• Newspaper article

• Interview

• Issue relevant to

current events

• Issue relevant to a

particular time

period

• Topic of personal

interest

• Topic related to

investigation

questions

SCAMPER

Substitute

Combine

Adapt

Modify

Put to other use

Eliminate

Rearrange

What alternative materials or processes can you use?

How can you combine seemingly different ideas to create something new?

How can you adapt or adjust something you’re already doing for a project?

How can you change the form or quality of your materials or processes?

Can you use something for a different purpose?

What can you remove or omit?

How can you move around materials or change the order of your process?

S.C.A.M.P.E.R.A Teaching Strategy to Develop Original and Imaginative Thinking

K-12

Van Andel Education Institute VAEI.org