Identifying Similarities and Differences really is a great way to look at our work and world in general. To often we are caught looking at our work or issues in todays world from one point of view. By looking at things that are similar and different we must look from multiple views. To do this there are many different advanced organizers that can assist. The most classic is a Venn Diagram. From there there are endless ways to go. When it comes to Homework and Practice, there is a great debate happening in our schools. Do you grade homework, how much do you give, is it valid, and then the parents chime in on this one as well. This is so tough as one does not always know about what the family situation is. Often the parents tell the answers just to get it done with and keep the teachers happy. This does not really give the students any practice at home. Some do not even have a support system at home. And for some this actually works and the kids really gain from the practice. Personally I send it and in our district we send no more than 20 min for our 2nd graders. I do not grade it for the reasons above. Generating and Testing Hypotheses was our last approach this week and I feel one of the most fun and hands on way to learn. A student has to use their mind to guess what is going to happen. There could be tons of outcomes! Some are right and some are wrong, but no matter which, there is a lesson to be learned. Testing is the fun part of this one especially in science! When testing is done, don't forget the questions of Why were you right, or Why were you wrong.
Overall reviewing all of these tactics has been great and an in-depth look is always beneficial. But what really took the cake with these was finding the technology to accompany them. That is what I will take away most from this and our readings. Knowing how to support these learning techniques is HUGE!
I really appreciate your comment about one way to identify similarities and differences is by looking at things from different perspectives. I just never thought about that before. I feel that many classes in the past, and even today, show one point of view...especially social studies. In fact, I am a little angry that it took me till college to learn that Christopher Columbus cut of Indians' hands. Now I know that is something that teachers wouldn't want to tell to young students, but I truly feel that older kids can handle some of the details. I love teaching perspective by having students line up in two lines facing each other. I then give them 2 minutes to write down what they see in the classroom, with turning around. We discuss the fact that we are all in the same room, at the same time, but are seeing things differently...that there's always two sides, maybe more, to every story.
ReplyDeleteI also would like to comment on how you mentioned that parents mostly tell their children the correct answer, just to get the homework done. That is very true! At my school, students stay till 6 in the evening for a mandatory after school program, where teachers help during study hall. Hopefully this helps eliminate that problem a little :)
In my class, we have started to use debates as a way to explore similarities and differences when it comes to student opinions on open-ended, no true right or wrong topics. We started with a discussion about a lesson we read about in one of our read alouds when a boy got a detention for something he did. Instead of having a somewhat boring discussion about "Do you think the teacher was right or wrong for giving a detention," students had to spend a few minutes journaling their thoughts to organize (paragraphs and sentences, organizers, etc) and then they were grouped based on their feelings. Then, they had to discuss as a group, their main talking points so that they could present their feelings to me and two other students who couldn't make up their mind. Each group had a spokesperson who shared and in the end, each person chose which group presented a better supporting argument. It was a really fun way to discuss similarities and differences. I may try it with other topics in the future (ie: What type of tree is better…deciduous or evergreen? and make them speak as though they are the tree)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking along the same lines as you Michael with regard to the strategies and the tools. I enjoyed the book from the very start for its simplicity and straight forward and usable examples of how the learning strategies could be supported with technology. Finding other technology tools to use and ways to use them is something I like to do too. Perhaps I spend too much time sometimes just rambling around looking for interesting technology but there is some amazing stuff out there. The one problem I have is just deciding which ones to use sometimes and figuring out which ones will be best for my teachers to start using in order for them to start taking the fist steps.
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