Resources
1. The Art of Changing the Brain by James E. Zull
2. Fair Isn't Always Equal by Rick Wormeli
3. Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
4. The teachers I work with on my team and in my department, as well as the instructional coaches (not trying to suck up, really), have been invaluable as a resource for me in order to make steps towards fully implementing SBL effectively.
1. The Art of Changing the Brain by James E. Zull
- One part of the book that was an important take away for me was when Zull discusses the importance of activity and an enriched environment in developing more branches in our synapses, which leads to more connections between memory and input. I think about this more now in planning my classes and trying to get the students to look at a topic in different ways. I need to bring in different ways in order to introduce a topic, for the students to interact and process the information and for them to be engaged as much as possible in doing the learning. For example, if they are solving an equation algebraically they are also developing a picture of the equation and its solution on a graph.
- Another part that I took away from this book is the necessity for movement in the classroom. When Zull talks about the connection between happiness and movement and the release of dopamine, it made me think about ways to incorporate meaningful movement into my classroom. I struggled with making the movement meaningful mathematically but realized that I could also just make it purposeful in terms of the mechanics of the class. I have had students physically moving along a number line to represent adding integers which is mathematically meaningful but more often then not I am building in breaks into class for them to get up and move, or to place resources around the room so that they have to move in order to get their materials.
- One more part that stuck with me in this book was when he discusses making meaning by tapping into prior experiences but also engaging our emotions. I struggle with this because teaching math I usually get students when they think they know what type of mathematician they are formed by their prior experiences. Especially those students who have had negative experiences with math because of challenging material or because of a teacher's personal style not meshing with theirs it is hard to turn that around and making positive connections and for them to adopt a growth mindset opposed to their fixed opinions on their math abilities.
- The last part that I will share that I connected with was the story about the professor who was cramming his lessons full of material and really thinking about trying to impress his students and colleagues with his knowledge. He was confused in thinking the focus of the classroom was on him rather than on his students and what they were learning. This is a great reminder to me that I can have a pacing in mind for my unit but if the students aren't picking up the concepts and skills then it is all for nothing!
2. Fair Isn't Always Equal by Rick Wormeli
- One take away I had was when Wormeli defines differentiated instruction as doing what is fair for students I found that I was able to justify extending more opportunities to reach the target for a skill compared to his peers. I had one student who I should have given more instruction along the way but missed my chance and when he got the summative he wasn't able to answer more than half of the questions or even get started. I decided that although I should have picked up on where he was more throughout that it wasn't too late to give him those chances now even though the rest of the students had completed the unit. I arranged to meet with him a few times to reinstruct, practice and give another chance to demonstrate where his skills are once he showed me he was ready.
- Another section that made me reflect on my own practices was when Wormeli discusses using effort and behavior in the student's grade I found myself in his description of a teacher who used participation and work habits in order to tip the scales for a student's grade. If they were a good kid or if they tried hard I found myself wanting them to have the B+ instead of a B, when it really didn't reflect what they knew as a mathematician, what their skills were. I was worried about a student's motivation for practicing through their work in and out of class but I haven't found a huge change in student effort. I do like the direction that the school is going though in keeping track of two GPAs for a student, academic and habits. This gives more accountability to a student regarding developing their student skills, which really helps them to be a better person in our community and beyond.
- The last part that I found reflective and thankful for was when Wormeli talks about gradebooks and grouping assignments by standards. It made me reflective about how a few math teachers and I developed an excel spreadsheet in which we did this very thing. Had all the scores for a student's performance on a particular skill over a unit in one spot so that we could look at the trend over time and where they ended up with that skill at the end. I really found that useful and the old school teacher in me appreciated that it was on paper and easily accessible. This section also made me thankful for a school that has the access and initiative to try such innovative software like Jump Rope. It really is the embodiment of this ideal and makes the analysis of the information on student skills easier.
3. Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
- One of the parts of this book that I connected with was when they were talking about an experiment that tested whether people would donate more money to an organization if they provided more statistics or if they told the story of one effected individual. The study found that telling one person's story on average produced twice as much money in donations compared to the statistics that didn't made the donor feel emotionally connected to the cause. This made me think again about how to tap into a student's emotions when teaching them math, which to some would seem like an oxymoron. I don't have answers completely but I have found that the more I get to know students the more they are willing to take positive risks in the classroom and hopefully that means they are able to learn more.
4. The teachers I work with on my team and in my department, as well as the instructional coaches (not trying to suck up, really), have been invaluable as a resource for me in order to make steps towards fully implementing SBL effectively.