My favorite facilitation is peer feedback. The writer and their peers are completely engaged! The peers are evaluated by the facilitator in their expertise of the content analyzed. The writer edits based on their listening skills from someone other than the facilitator. Take care that the scholars understand how to receive peer review versus allowing their feelings to prevent personal growth.
Peer feedback is so great when scholars are taught the right way to participate in it. It's also a fantastic real-life skill (learning to give and take constructive feedback).
I love this facilitation. I think that it involves the student deeper in the content because they have to evaluate their peer's work. I agree with what you and Amanda said about how we need to teach our scholars how to appropriately receive their peers' comments so that they can grow from it. -Anna Zvers, PLA@93
Heather Barney. Yes, peer feedback is a very useful tool, especially if given guidelines on how it can be done. Something I’m attempting to do as well, it definitely provides a unique perspective to the scholars
I agree that this strategy has great value for teachers to see if learning goals were obtained. It will also be a good lesson on how to value others work, how we are all different, and how to support each other as we are all learning together....even the teacher.
The art of knowing when to switch gears is my favorite. Setting the clear expectation and explaining to the student that we will give something a try and it may not work out as planned seems to remove stress, allowing them to understand that things may not always be successful the first time they try. It's a great learning process for my students and myself!
TLJA FW I liked your view. I've always tried to show my scholars that no-one is right all of the time. Mistakes and errors by them or myself are a way we learn and fix those errors.
I like that with this program it is easier to tell scholars what I want and helps us all to keep organized. It will help them to keep themselves organized not only in school but in their lives when they graduate. They may not use this program in their life but ity will help them with managing themselves.
I love the Art of Switching Gears. As educators we need to be ready and aware that not all learning experiences go as planned. We need to be able to switch gears so we can keep things going. There's time when I might be facilitating an activity and realize that I should go in a different direction and be willing to switch.
The facilitation I love is "Ask three before me." Empowering kids to ask each other for help and guidance will save me time from trying to help everyone when there's only so much time in a class period. I also liked the "Yes, and..?" approach for discussions and is probably something I'll put on an anchor chart. The tech I've used is google classroom, but I hope to improve on my use of it this year and create a google site for the class as well.
I also thought the "Yes, and?" was a great idea! "Ask three before me" is also wonderful. Not only is it time saving, but it encourages the class to work together as a team.
I like the "Ask three before me", it works for some of my classes and for other classes they like to just give each other the direct answer or do it for them instead of assisting the student or explaining how to find the answer. I need to work more on showing/modeling how to answer without giving the answer.
As our school had one-on-one computers, getting the technology into the hands of the scholars wasn’t the hard part, the hard part was keeping them focused on the task and not just exploring the web.
I think that knowing when to shift gears is important. Whether it is because the tech isn’t working or the scholars aren’t getting it or are not into it…whatever the reason, being ready and able to switch to something else is a crucial skill in the classroom.
Well said Abbigail. “The art of knowing when to switch gears” IS a crucial skill in our classrooms. As facilitators we must remain open, flexible, and locked & loaded with an alternate plan or two.
I have learned from virtual learning times that my shy scholars are much more comfortable on the computer and are more likely to respond to the teacher or classmates online than raising their hands in person.
August 2022 will be my first term with PLA-Nixon, it will be interesting to see how they get technology into the hands of my Kindergartners.
My favorite tip for facilitating learning is the “Yes and…?” Approach. I believe this strategy will work well with my younger learners because it encourages language, describing words, and deeper thinking to get their point across.
“Resisting the urge to do everything for your learners.” This is so important, I’ve always encouraged my learners to “Try First, then Ask for Help” in hopes of empowering them. I liked the quote from Chapter #17: “… hand-holding will only deprive them of a marketable skill.”
I try to do something similar. However, I did find this last year I had a couple of scholars who wanted me to confirm or check every problem they did as they did it. So, they weren’t asking for help completing it, just confirming they were right. I tried to gently let them know that unless they had an actual question, I would just check the work when they were done with all of it.
Veronica, I agree with you that "resisting the urge to do everything for your learners" is very important. I also teach kindergarten. Each year we spend time working on logging in multiple times together before I set them out on their own. I also create cards with all of their login information and pictures to help. I have found this has helped scholars have more confidence and independence with using technology. -Charlene Long-Trix Academy
Right now, I currently don't have scholars using technology during my resource groups. I will have to see if I can get a set of four of five Chromebooks to keep in my office to use in my groups. Getting organized and being consistent are tech tips I will need to focus on when introducing technology in my groups.
I've always had at least one student "techie" in each class. They've helped me on several occasions to keep lessons flowing smoothly. I imagine a "techie" would be one of the "3" ("Ask three before me"). Needing help as a teacher shows our students we/everyone is constantly learning and it's okay to ask for help. Education is a journey with a multitude of destinations...no one and done.
-I love to use technology to enhance my lessons, rather than just use it as a different way to do the same thing that could be accomplished using a paper and pencil. One thing I do in my classroom is have the students use technology for assessment. One of my favorite programs is Nearpod. There are game-style summative assessments or I can use it to formatively assess as they go along with me during instruction. -My favorite tech tip from the blogpost was "Don't be afraid to let your students teach you." Our students are growing up with technology in their hands and they may know something we don't! It is such a powerful experience to let the student become the teacher. -Anna Zvers, PLA@93
I also love using Nearpod. It has been such a great tool in the classroom for me. Scholars are able to show what they have learned in a nontraditional way as you stated. I also use quizziz as a tool for quick assessments. -Charlene Long-Trix Academy
At my school we use technology daily. We have one to one ipads in the classroom. My scholars use reading a-z and edgenuity daily. These programs are great tools to use and are based on their individual goals. At the beginning of the year we take time to learn log in procedures. I give each scholar a card with all of their login information. We practice, practice, practice. Once some scholars have the ability to login quickly, they are able to help others as tech experts.
I love using the "ask three before me" strategy. I teach kindergarten and I feel it is empowering for scholars to ask each other and for other's to be able to help them. I love using technology in order for scholars to practice and to show what they have learned. Since the pandemic started I have gained a love for Nearpod. Scholars are able to use technology in order to watch video clips, make multiple choice answers, show their work and so much more. This brings me to the second strategy of "resist the urge to do everything for your learners". This is especially hard in the beginning of the year when they are brand new to school. As the year progresses it is easier to let go and allow them to fly on their own. -Charlene Long-Trix Academy
I totally agree, I think the "ask three before me" is so good for the younger learners. They sometimes don't realize that they can find out answers for themselves! It can be so good to help them start gaining independence at a young age.
When I was in the classroom, my scholars worked on their computers everyday, largely on remediation activities. My favorite strategies from Chapter 17 are using Checkpoints to Monitor Progress and Provide Meaningful Feedback and Peer Feedback. I believe that feedback truly helps scholars grow and develop their understanding of a concept. Peer Feedback is a great way for the scholars to learn, because they are sometimes able to explain it better than the teacher or can explain a concept it a way that their peers understand it better.
Although I am excited to incorporate technology more into my lessons in the future, thus far, I have used it mostly for enrichment activities. In a few instances, technology has been used in my classroom in writing contexts. My scholars are bound to use technology often in their adult lives, so teaching them how to create documents to type and store their ideas has proved valuable. Besides this, collaborative programs like padlet have allowed students to get descriptive in their writing, sharing with the class things such as their favorite memories and stories from the year. I have found that technology is best used, as Kasey explained, without throwing many programs at scholars all at a time, but over a progression of time. This way they can experience each program with its intentions rather than being delivered a list of websites and logins and instructions. I want technology in my classroom to be helpful, not overwhelming.
Two tips for facilitation from chapter 17 that stood out to me were “Resist the urge to do everything for your learners” and “Don’t be afraid to let your students teach you”. Both of these tips stood out for similar reasons. As a teacher, I sometimes feel that I am supposed to have all the answers and need no room for improvement in the eyes of my scholars. But this is simply not the case. I don’t know everything, and me delivering everything to my class cannot be a 100% perfect method of teaching. They have to discover things on their own, and wrestle through things. This can make lasting learning beyond what I could ever present. They can come up with some things that I may never have found or realized myself. So, I need to be open to learning the tools (in this case, on technology) that they find helpful and try them out for myself.
I teach the little scholars and my favorite strategy is the Ask Three Before Me. This is especially important during centers/guided reading. They always want to interrupt you to ask a simple question. My scholars have to ask other scholars before interrupting my group. Usually the question can be answered by working with others scholars to find the answer.
I like the Utilize Student Tech Expert. I think pinpointing a student per class that can handle this task would be great. When a Student can remember how to get back to an assignment or figure out how to rotate the screen back, it would be helpful to have a student to assist with these questions. I definitely try to implement the "Resist the Urge to Do Everything for Your Learners" tip. I am always telling my learners to look it, google it and read to find the answer. Our school is now 1:1, so the learners should be using technology everyday. We also have Tech class as a special. :)
Heather Barney - tech gets into the hands of our scholars due to now having 1-1 tech, everyone has a chrome book. My favorite takeaway has been the evaluation my peers, the feedback is unique for a scholar to hear from a peer, with positive reinforcement for work, rather than it just being a teacher providing the feedback. I think it’s awesome to incorporate a feedback tool for a longer, bigger project, that it can be used in the process of research too, something I will be incorporating into a library specials project for grades 3-6
I incorporate technology into all of our lessons, centers, and group activities. "Resisting the urge to do everything for your learners" was the one that stood out to me. This is something I have to continually work on. With 1st graders it can be difficult to not want to help them completely, but they are much more capable than we give them credit for sometimes. Heather Hill PLA @93
At our school we use technology everyday. We even had a computer to send home with each student, although not everyone had Wi-Fi. So that put limitations on what kinds of long term projects we could get into with online tools. I use tech to supplement my lessons, check for learning, and to have them demonstrate mastery in centers whenever possible. A limitation can be assessing them on computers without having access to monitor all computers at once to make sure calculators/googling isn't happening. No matter how much we learn, they always seem to be a step ahead.
My favorite facilitation is peer feedback. The writer and their peers are completely engaged! The peers are evaluated by the facilitator in their expertise of the content analyzed. The writer edits based on their listening skills from someone other than the facilitator. Take care that the scholars understand how to receive peer review versus allowing their feelings to prevent personal growth.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePeer feedback is so great when scholars are taught the right way to participate in it. It's also a fantastic real-life skill (learning to give and take constructive feedback).
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI love this facilitation. I think that it involves the student deeper in the content because they have to evaluate their peer's work. I agree with what you and Amanda said about how we need to teach our scholars how to appropriately receive their peers' comments so that they can grow from it.
Delete-Anna Zvers, PLA@93
Heather Barney. Yes, peer feedback is a very useful tool, especially if given guidelines on how it can be done. Something I’m attempting to do as well, it definitely provides a unique perspective to the scholars
DeleteI agree that this strategy has great value for teachers to see if learning goals were obtained. It will also be a good lesson on how to value others work, how we are all different, and how to support each other as we are all learning together....even the teacher.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe art of knowing when to switch gears is my favorite. Setting the clear expectation and explaining to the student that we will give something a try and it may not work out as planned seems to remove stress, allowing them to understand that things may not always be successful the first time they try. It's a great learning process for my students and myself!
ReplyDeleteTLJA FW I liked your view. I've always tried to show my scholars that no-one is right all of the time. Mistakes and errors by them or myself are a way we learn and fix those errors.
DeleteI like that with this program it is easier to tell scholars what I want and helps us all to keep organized. It will help them to keep themselves organized not only in school but in their lives when they graduate. They may not use this program in their life but ity will help them with managing themselves.
I love the Art of Switching Gears. As educators we need to be ready and aware that not all learning experiences go as planned. We need to be able to switch gears so we can keep things going. There's time when I might be facilitating an activity and realize that I should go in a different direction and be willing to switch.
DeleteThe facilitation I love is "Ask three before me." Empowering kids to ask each other for help and guidance will save me time from trying to help everyone when there's only so much time in a class period. I also liked the "Yes, and..?" approach for discussions and is probably something I'll put on an anchor chart. The tech I've used is google classroom, but I hope to improve on my use of it this year and create a google site for the class as well.
ReplyDelete@Syra Please tell me more about ask three. Can you give an example of what scholars are asking of each other? Is it supplies, skills, procedure?
DeleteI also thought the "Yes, and?" was a great idea! "Ask three before me" is also wonderful. Not only is it time saving, but it encourages the class to work together as a team.
DeleteI like the "Ask three before me", it works for some of my classes and for other classes they like to just give each other the direct answer or do it for them instead of assisting the student or explaining how to find the answer. I need to work more on showing/modeling how to answer without giving the answer.
DeleteAbbigail Brantch - JRPLA
ReplyDeleteAs our school had one-on-one computers, getting the technology into the hands of the scholars wasn’t the hard part, the hard part was keeping them focused on the task and not just exploring the web.
I think that knowing when to shift gears is important. Whether it is because the tech isn’t working or the scholars aren’t getting it or are not into it…whatever the reason, being ready and able to switch to something else is a crucial skill in the classroom.
Well said Abbigail. “The art of knowing when to switch gears” IS a crucial skill in our classrooms. As facilitators we must remain open, flexible, and locked & loaded with an alternate plan or two.
DeleteTLJA FW I like the TAG strategy Tell, Ask and Give, for peer-to-peer feedback. The sticky note idea is good for shy students to feel more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI have learned from virtual learning times that my shy scholars are much more comfortable on the computer and are more likely to respond to the teacher or classmates online than raising their hands in person.
DeleteAugust 2022 will be my first term with PLA-Nixon, it will be interesting to see how they get technology into the hands of my Kindergartners.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tip for facilitating learning is the “Yes and…?” Approach. I believe this strategy will work well with my younger learners because it encourages language, describing words, and deeper thinking to get their point across.
“Resisting the urge to do everything for your learners.” This is so important, I’ve always encouraged my learners to “Try First, then Ask for Help” in hopes of empowering them. I liked the quote from Chapter #17: “… hand-holding will only deprive them of a marketable skill.”
Abbigail Brantch - JRPLA
DeleteI try to do something similar. However, I did find this last year I had a couple of scholars who wanted me to confirm or check every problem they did as they did it. So, they weren’t asking for help completing it, just confirming they were right. I tried to gently let them know that unless they had an actual question, I would just check the work when they were done with all of it.
Veronica,
DeleteI agree with you that "resisting the urge to do everything for your learners" is very important. I also teach kindergarten. Each year we spend time working on logging in multiple times together before I set them out on their own. I also create cards with all of their login information and pictures to help. I have found this has helped scholars have more confidence and independence with using technology.
-Charlene Long-Trix Academy
Right now, I currently don't have scholars using technology during my resource groups. I will have to see if I can get a set of four of five Chromebooks to keep in my office to use in my groups. Getting organized and being consistent are tech tips I will need to focus on when introducing technology in my groups.
ReplyDeleteI've always had at least one student "techie" in each class. They've helped me on several occasions to keep lessons flowing smoothly. I imagine a "techie" would be one of the "3" ("Ask three before me"). Needing help as a teacher shows our students we/everyone is constantly learning and it's okay to ask for help. Education is a journey with a multitude of destinations...no one and done.
ReplyDelete-I love to use technology to enhance my lessons, rather than just use it as a different way to do the same thing that could be accomplished using a paper and pencil. One thing I do in my classroom is have the students use technology for assessment. One of my favorite programs is Nearpod. There are game-style summative assessments or I can use it to formatively assess as they go along with me during instruction.
ReplyDelete-My favorite tech tip from the blogpost was "Don't be afraid to let your students teach you." Our students are growing up with technology in their hands and they may know something we don't! It is such a powerful experience to let the student become the teacher.
-Anna Zvers, PLA@93
I also love using Nearpod. It has been such a great tool in the classroom for me. Scholars are able to show what they have learned in a nontraditional way as you stated. I also use quizziz as a tool for quick assessments.
Delete-Charlene Long-Trix Academy
I haven't used Nearpod before, but look forward to using it this next year!
DeleteI've heard good things about it!
Heather Hill
PLA @93
At my school we use technology daily. We have one to one ipads in the classroom. My scholars use reading a-z and edgenuity daily. These programs are great tools to use and are based on their individual goals. At the beginning of the year we take time to learn log in procedures. I give each scholar a card with all of their login information. We practice, practice, practice. Once some scholars have the ability to login quickly, they are able to help others as tech experts.
ReplyDeleteI love using the "ask three before me" strategy. I teach kindergarten and I feel it is empowering for scholars to ask each other and for other's to be able to help them. I love using technology in order for scholars to practice and to show what they have learned. Since the pandemic started I have gained a love for Nearpod. Scholars are able to use technology in order to watch video clips, make multiple choice answers, show their work and so much more. This brings me to the second strategy of "resist the urge to do everything for your learners". This is especially hard in the beginning of the year when they are brand new to school. As the year progresses it is easier to let go and allow them to fly on their own.
-Charlene Long-Trix Academy
Grace Munoz- Trix Academy
DeleteI totally agree, I think the "ask three before me" is so good for the younger learners. They sometimes don't realize that they can find out answers for themselves! It can be so good to help them start gaining independence at a young age.
When I was in the classroom, my scholars worked on their computers everyday, largely on remediation activities. My favorite strategies from Chapter 17 are using Checkpoints to Monitor Progress and Provide Meaningful Feedback and Peer Feedback. I believe that feedback truly helps scholars grow and develop their understanding of a concept. Peer Feedback is a great way for the scholars to learn, because they are sometimes able to explain it better than the teacher or can explain a concept it a way that their peers understand it better.
ReplyDeleteGrace Munoz- Trix Academy
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am excited to incorporate technology more into my lessons in the future, thus far, I have used it mostly for enrichment activities. In a few instances, technology has been used in my classroom in writing contexts. My scholars are bound to use technology often in their adult lives, so teaching them how to create documents to type and store their ideas has proved valuable. Besides this, collaborative programs like padlet have allowed students to get descriptive in their writing, sharing with the class things such as their favorite memories and stories from the year. I have found that technology is best used, as Kasey explained, without throwing many programs at scholars all at a time, but over a progression of time. This way they can experience each program with its intentions rather than being delivered a list of websites and logins and instructions. I want technology in my classroom to be helpful, not overwhelming.
Two tips for facilitation from chapter 17 that stood out to me were “Resist the urge to do everything for your learners” and “Don’t be afraid to let your students teach you”. Both of these tips stood out for similar reasons. As a teacher, I sometimes feel that I am supposed to have all the answers and need no room for improvement in the eyes of my scholars. But this is simply not the case. I don’t know everything, and me delivering everything to my class cannot be a 100% perfect method of teaching. They have to discover things on their own, and wrestle through things. This can make lasting learning beyond what I could ever present. They can come up with some things that I may never have found or realized myself. So, I need to be open to learning the tools (in this case, on technology) that they find helpful and try them out for myself.
I teach the little scholars and my favorite strategy is the Ask Three Before Me. This is especially important during centers/guided reading. They always want to interrupt you to ask a simple question. My scholars have to ask other scholars before interrupting my group. Usually the question can be answered by working with others scholars to find the answer.
ReplyDeleteI like the Utilize Student Tech Expert. I think pinpointing a student per class that can handle this task would be great. When a Student can remember how to get back to an assignment or figure out how to rotate the screen back, it would be helpful to have a student to assist with these questions. I definitely try to implement the "Resist the Urge to Do Everything for Your Learners" tip. I am always telling my learners to look it, google it and read to find the answer.
ReplyDeleteOur school is now 1:1, so the learners should be using technology everyday. We also have Tech class as a special. :)
Heather Barney - tech gets into the hands of our scholars due to now having 1-1 tech, everyone has a chrome book. My favorite takeaway has been the evaluation my peers, the feedback is unique for a scholar to hear from a peer, with positive reinforcement for work, rather than it just being a teacher providing the feedback. I think it’s awesome to incorporate a feedback tool for a longer, bigger project, that it can be used in the process of research too, something I will be incorporating into a library specials project for grades 3-6
ReplyDeleteI incorporate technology into all of our lessons, centers, and group activities. "Resisting the urge to do everything for your learners" was the one that stood out to me. This is something I have to continually work on. With 1st graders it can be difficult to not want to help them completely, but they are much more capable than we give them credit for sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHeather Hill
PLA @93
At our school we use technology everyday. We even had a computer to send home with each student, although not everyone had Wi-Fi. So that put limitations on what kinds of long term projects we could get into with online tools. I use tech to supplement my lessons, check for learning, and to have them demonstrate mastery in centers whenever possible. A limitation can be assessing them on computers without having access to monitor all computers at once to make sure calculators/googling isn't happening. No matter how much we learn, they always seem to be a step ahead.
ReplyDelete