# data[].attributes.body
ASCD has articles related to using technology for 21st Century learners.
This resource connects to characteristic 1.

# data[].attributes.body
Focusing on who students are as individuals—instead of on learning differences or other descriptors—starts with empathy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As educators strive to be inclusive of all children, one way to begin is to actively use person-first language, a form of linguistic etiquette in which we describe a trait or diagnosis as something a person has rather than as who they are-e.g., "a person with diabetes," not "a diabetic." This is a way to honor and welcome students with different abilities. Indeed, how we discuss and describe our students profoundly impacts their sense of inclusion in the classroom.

To begin using person-first language, we should initially try to understand its purpose and meaning. At its core, person-first language seeks to acknowledge the inherent and equal value of every individual, before attaching any other descriptors or identities the person may view as secondary or not intrinsic. Communicating using person-first language begins with empathy.

Countless individuals from various backgrounds, races, social groups, communities, or experiences are familiar with the isolation created by a lack of person-first language. This includes people who happen to have physical, emotional, cognitive, learning, or other differences.

Think about how you personally prefer to be viewed. Momentarily, let's imagine you have purple-colored eyes. Would you want to be known as "that purple-eyed person over there," or by your name and the core identity you choose for yourself? Would it seem awkward, exclusionary, demeaning, uncomfortable, or limiting if others always identified you as "that purple-eyed person"? Would you perceive it as most valid to mention your eye color only if eye color were the focus of the discussion?

Real-World Opportunities

Every day, educators experience numerous possibilities for applying person-first language. One common scenario is when we're referring to a person having a genetic pattern of trisomy 21. In this case, it's not appropriate to say the person is "Down's" or "Down." The correct term for the condition is "Down syndrome"-but the person's name should always be used first. One should say, "Mikaela has been diagnosed with Down syndrome," and not "Mikaela is Down's," or "That Down syndrome girl is Mikaela."

In this example, Mikaela is first and foremost a unique individual with many qualities and valuable contributions that are not necessarily linked to her genetic diagnosis. The fact that she happens to have Down syndrome is therefore not usually primarily relevant. It is a secondary aspect of her identity, and only she (or if she's a young child, her family or guardian) can and should determine its relevance.

In the same way, a person with a cognitive, congenital, or physical difference or a person with an identified learning difference, health condition, or need for certain assistive devices or communication tools is always an individual first, deserving to be referenced as such. Wholistic inclusion requires avoiding the anonymous or primary grouping of distinct persons under singular characteristics, labeled disabilities, or broad qualifiers.

A person is never "sped," "retarded," "a spaz," "nonverbal," "handicapped," "deformed," "mental," "slow," "wild," or so forth. Instead, when truly necessary to the discussion, someone may be referenced as "having a cognitive difference requiring modifications," "using a wheelchair," "living or diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes," "experiencing tics," "having cerebral palsy," or " managing a mental illness."

This is a simple practice that takes effort. Given the inherent offensiveness of some of the aforementioned language, such guidance may seem obvious. Yet while person-first language is a critical and often simple step toward a more authentic practice of inclusion, in reality consistent effort and ongoing open discussion are required for long-term success.

Perspective Matters

We should also try to take account of how people want to be referred to. For example, consider individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. There are as many preferences for terminology surrounding this particular diagnosis as there are individuals having the condition. Some believe autism is inherent to their core identity and therefore find no exclusion in being called autistic. Others may even take offense at the suggestion that primary reference of autism should be avoided. Still others perceive the diagnosis as only secondary to their personhood and therefore not relevant or appropriate to use as an initial introduction or reference.

[ Editor's note: Edutopia uses "autistic person" rather than "person with autism," having been persuaded by the argument that autism is not a disability and is a core element of who the person is.]

Such situations may carry the potential to feel confusing or overwhelming. However, it's important to remember that missteps and misunderstandings can be expected as a part of growing toward creating more inclusive language and thereby more inclusive communities. We're all constantly learning. Particularly because person-first language seeks to value the individual in each unique situation, those who work to incorporate it in their communication will always be learning.

Thus, when we encounter a new circumstance for which we do not know the appropriate person-first language to use, we can always simply ask.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Getting Started With Person-First Language | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As educators strive to be inclusive of all children, one way to begin is to actively use person-first language, a form of linguistic etiquette in which we describe a trait or diagnosis as something a person has rather than as who they are-e.g., "a person with diabetes," not "a diabetic."

# data[].attributes.body
Using teacher empathy to improve student behavior

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Important Questions to Ask Your Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discovering your students' answers to these questions can help you create positive conditions for learning.

# data[].attributes.body
Students who are going to share their new knowledge about a topic might use an audio tool like Soundtrap to create a podcast,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Your everywhere studio. Create and record easily with powerful tools and sounds, all in one place.

Get started

Vocal & mixing tools

Reverb, Distortion, EQ, Delay, Compressor, and more.

Virtual instruments

Beatmaker, software synths, drum kits, and 808 with Glide sounds.

Royalty-free sounds

Thousands of loops, samples, one-shots, and sound effects.

Collaborative studio

Make music online anytime, with anyone, on any device.

Industry quality sounds, every 2 weeks

New and exclusive sound packs are dropped every two weeks from trending genres like Phonk, Drill, Lo-Fi, K-Pop, and more. Our sound library has up to 24,000+ loops and hundreds of presets, designed and mixed by professional producers.

Latest Soundtrap Originals

Explore more sound packs from your favorite genres

Collaborate with anyone, from anywhere

Create and collaborate with your bandmates, friends, or other musicians in real-time through video and chat, directly in the studio. Leave comments on your shared projects and let auto-save keep you in the creative flow.

Mix and master for a chart-ready sound

Finalize your song with our mixing and mastering tools, suitable for beginners and pros alike. From auto-mixing to EQs, compressors, and more - access all the tools you need to take your song to the top 50!

More features

Vocal tuning

Achieve pro-sounding vocals from every take with our pitch correction software.

Automation

Tweak the volume, pan, and use the filter sweep effect with this powerful audio editing tool.

Patterns beatmaker

Make your own beats with ease. Sequencing a unique beat for your next track has never been easier.

Plug and play

Connect your own microphone, guitar, or any other instrument.

*Access to Vocal tuning and Automation available on the Music Makers and Complete plans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Make music together online. Free instruments, loops, drum kits, and vocal tuner in one studio. Record, edit, mix, and master your audio, no downloads - sign up for free.

# data[].attributes.body
How to help at-risk students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Victor Rios: Help for kids the education system ignores

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Define students by what they contribute, not what they lack -- especially those with difficult upbringings, says educator Victor Rios. Interweaved with his personal tale of perseverance as an inner-city youth, Rios identifies three straightforward strategies to shift attitudes in education and calls for fellow educators to see "at-risk" students as "at-promise" individuals brimming with resilience, character and grit.

# data[].attributes.body
Far greater preference in learning with video and YouTube for Generation Z

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson, the digital education company, today released the findings of its new report, "Beyond Millennials: The Next Generation of Learners," highlighting the similarities and differences between Generation Z (defined as ages 14-23) and Millennials (defined as ages 24-40). The survey found that Generation Z ranked YouTube and video as preferred methods for learning by significant margins over Millennials. In fact, YouTube was second only to teachers as a learning tool, and ranked well ahead of lectures, in-person activities with classmates, learning applications and books.

As Generation Z enters and settles into college, technology has already shaped their educational expectations, even more so than for the previous generation of traditional college students, Millennials. Generation Z expects experiences both inside and outside the classroom that are more rewarding, more engaging and less time consuming. Technology is no longer a transformative phenomena for this generation, but rather a normal, integral part of life.

"To understand the future of learning-and especially higher education-we have to understand not just how the future of work and skills is evolving, but how students are changing and what's on their minds," said Asha Choksi, vice president of global research and insights at Pearson. "Generation Z didn't have to adapt to new technologies like their predecessors--they have been immersed in it their entire lives. This has led to students demanding changes to education, including accelerated, flexible and adaptive education options and tools."

The research paints an interesting picture for educators and higher education leaders beyond Generation Z's educational preferences. By a margin of more than 20%, Generation Z respondents were more likely to say they want to make it to the top of their future profession one day versus Millennials. The group is also very altruistic- 60% of Generation Z respondents agreed that they want to help people less fortunate, compared to 48% of Millennials. Diversity was another important value, as more than 6 in 10 Generation Z respondents agreed that having diverse friends make them a better person, while slightly more than half of Millennials agreed with that statement.

Among other key takeaways:

As much as Generation Z has embraced technology for social engagement, they very much still value an on-campus education experience. Compared to Millennials, 45% of whom seek out as many online courses as possible, only 26% of Generation Z would prefer taking online courses.

Generation Z and Millennials both ranked teachers and professors as the top influencers for their personal development (78% and 80% respectively), higher than parents and their peers.

80% of Generation Z respondents and 74% of Millennials agreed that college either has a fair amount of value, is a good value or is an excellent value. Only 20% of Generation Z students and 26% of Millennials said college has "little value" or "no value at all."

This research was conducted by The Harris Poll, a global market research firm based in New York. Results are based on responses from a 30-minute nationally representative online survey of 2,587 respondents, 14 to 40-years old. Results were weighted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, household income, and education where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Survey respondents were selected based on their age, education, and quality of response from leading online research panels.

For more information, view the findings of the report- Beyond Millennials: The Next Generation of Learners .

About Pearson
Pearson is the world's learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. For more, visit www.pearson.com.
Contact: Scott Overland, (202) 909-4520
Scott.Overland@pearson.com
View original content with multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-research-finds-youtube-video-drives-generation-z-learning-preference-300694111.html

SOURCE Pearson Education, Inc.

Markets Insider and Business Insider Editorial Teams were not involved in the creation of this post.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Research Finds YouTube, Video Drives Generation Z Learning Preference | Markets Insider

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson, the digital education company, today released the findings of its new report, "Beyond Millennials: The Next Generation of Learners," highlighting the similarities and differences between Generation Z (defined as ages 14-23) and Millennials (defined as ages 24-40).

# data[].attributes.headline
 Differentiation starting in Kindergarten!

# data[].attributes.subject
 Differentiation starting in Kindergarten!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the not-too-distant past, the kindergarten classrooms at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Heflin, Ala., looked much the same as classrooms for older children.

Desks were arranged in rows. Children worked on worksheets. "There wasn't a lot of differentiation in your instruction," said Kristi Moore, a kindergarten teacher at the school, located halfway between Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta. "Most of all your children were taught the same way."

But in recent years, the school has tried to shift instruction in a way that they say works better for young children. And they credit the use of a comprehensive method of evaluating kindergarten students, called kindergarten entry assessment, as one of the tools that allowed them to do that.

Kindergarten entry assessments, which some states call "kindergarten readiness assessments" or "kindergarten entry inventories," are intended to guide a teacher's instructional practice. They may include direct assessment of children's skills, teacher observations, or both. They're intended to give teachers a well-rounded picture of the whole child, including his or her academic, social, and physical development.

While these assessments are becoming more widespread-boosted by federal support during the Obama administration-they're offering mixed results for teachers and for school districts.

Supporters say they're useful in supporting all elements of a child's development during their important early school days.

Others have criticized the assessments as an additional burden that doesn't let teachers know what they should do with all the data they're expected to collect. And the assessments also raise concerns for some that they'll be used for high-stakes purposes, like evaluating teachers or sorting children into educational tracks.

One School's Experience

Even as that debate continues the assessments are a reality in most states.

Schools such as Pleasant Grove Elementary offer an example of how these assessments can be used well, teachers there say. Moore and other educators said the assessment prompted them to put aside pacing guides and highly structured instruction that didn't allow time for other parts of child development, which the kindergarten entry assessment outlined as important.

The state department of education and its department of early-childhood education have given grants to seven Alabama schools, including Pleasant Grove, to continue this work.

And the teachers say they appreciate being able to adjust their methods as well. "Now you're free to differentiate your instruction all during the day," Moore said, incorporating reading, math, and other academics into more active, developmentally appropriate learning.

As Pleasant Grove demonstrates, "We clearly have found pockets of teachers and of schools where they really understand how to use these resources," said Richard Lambert, a professor in the department of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Lambert, who also serves as the director of the university's Center for Educational Measurement and Evaluation, has studied the use of kindergarten entry assessments in North Carolina and other states. He is also a consultant to the company Teaching Strategies, which created one of the most widely used assessment of this type, Teaching Strategies Gold. Nine states use this measure to evaluate kindergarten students, or as part of their state measure.

Lambert has conducted surveys of teachers in North Carolina and in other states. Getting teachers to use the information the tests yield and then to modify their teaching based on it is no small task, he said. Teachers are sometimes seeing these tests the way they see end-of-the-year tests, rather than as measures that are supposed to be capturing a child's growth over time.

There's also more variability among teacher evaluations of child skills than could be explained by just differences among children, Lambert said. That suggests that while some teachers understand how the measurement tool is supposed to work, others need more assistance in knowing just how to evaluate children.

Kindergarten entry assessments or inventories are not new, but they received a big push through the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grants, which required applicants to outline a plan of how they were going to use these assessments to promote school readiness. The assessments were required to measure "language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical well-being and motor development, and social-emotional development," the grant said.

The U.S. Department of Education also had a different grant program just to support state creation of kindergarten-entry assessments.

Researchers have raised questions about whether the assessments meet one goal of providing an academic boost for students. In 2016, the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands wrote a report saying that using kindergarten entry assessments did not produce statistically significant improvements on students' early reading or math skills.

But the students in that study would have started school well before the Education Department started giving money to states to create or improve their entry assessments.

Piloting Programs

In Virginia, about half of the state's school divisions are piloting a program called the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program. The state already requires incoming kindergartners to be measured on preliteracy skills. The kindergarten-readiness program adds evaluations of children's math, social, and self-regulation skills.

It also provides tools for teachers if children show that they are lagging in those areas, said Amanda Williford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, who developed the measure and is working with districts in implementing it.

"Self-regulation and social skills are just as important, and it's the same kind of skill as reading and math," Williford said. "It's learned in school, just like reading and math are. If a kid was struggling to read, we would never say they don't belong in our classroom."

Melita Ring, a kindergarten teacher at Amelon Elementary in Madison Heights, Va., said she likes having the one-on-one time with her students, and having resources to help students right at her fingertips.

"They're giving you that opportunity to not only teach the children who are struggling, but to learn other ways of doing so," Ring said.

Karma Hugo, the director of early learning for Washington state, said this fall marks the first statewide use of a kindergarten entry assessment, called Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills, or WaKIDS. The rollout has been rocky, she acknowledged, as teachers learned how to make meaningful use of the information.

But it has already borne useful results, Hugo said. For example, the findings helped some teachers realize they were asking more in terms of social-emotional growth of their young students than is appropriate for kindergarten-age students. Other findings have helped schools realize that their incoming students needed more math support.

"Many of the bumps that we've encountered have ultimately shined lights on opportunities for improvement," Hugo said.

Published in Print: October 11, 2017, as Kindergarten Assessments Start to Bear Fruit

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Back to Top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kindergarten Assessments Begin to Shape Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the not-too-distant past, the kindergarten classrooms at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Heflin, Ala., looked much the same as classrooms for older children. Desks were arranged in rows. Children worked on worksheets. "There wasn't a lot of differentiation in your instruction," said Kristi Moore, a kindergarten teacher at the school, located halfway between Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta.

# data[].attributes.body
This article discusses ways in which educators can help stop the wave of fake news that seems to be taking over our digital world!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
November 2017 | Volume 75 | Number 3
Citizens in the Making Pages 26-31

Renee Hobbs

In the summer of 2016, I found a startling announcement in my Facebook feed from WTOE 5 News, saying, "Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Issues Statement."

It looked so real that I was tempted to share it with my friends. But before I did that, I did some research to confirm the statement, and that's how I learned that WTOE 5 was not a real news outlet. Pope Francis did not endorse any American presidential candidate.

But in those heated days before the 2016 election, nearly one million people did share that particular story, making it one of the top so-called "fake news" stories of 2016 (Ritchie, 2016). And of course, there were hundreds of other examples of false and misleading information circulating online as the fake news phenomenon spread like wildfire, not just here in the United States, but in Germany, Italy, and around the world.

Since then, there's been a lot of talk among educators about the importance of teaching students to critically analyze news and information. The public is gaining awareness of our vulnerability to media manipulation. Researchers have found that most adults can't accurately judge the truth or falsity of an online news story because they assume that content that aligns with their existing beliefs is automatically true (Goodfellow, 2017).

So-called "fake news" is rising in visibility and influence due to the attention economy, a concept first developed by Herbert A. Simon in 1971. Many choices are available to us as both consumers and creators of media, and, sadly, it seems as if people have adopted a problematic post-truth attitude: If it's entertaining or meshes with their own views, who really cares if it's true? This makes it easy for creators of "fake news" in a world where digital content is cheap to produce. These sites use sensationalism (sex, violence, children, animals, and the mysterious unknown) to profit from viral sharing, where more clicks equals more revenue. And when articles include emotionally inflamed or intense words or images, they spread quickly and reach a larger audience.

Not only are we seeing more emotionally manipulative online content, but it is also more challenging to find and validate the source of the information we consume. Because most Americans get their news from social media, we experience content as unbundled snippets, without source information or context clues to assist in interpretation. These are all good reasons to implement media literacy education in middle and high schools.

New evidence reported in the American Educational Research Journal by Joseph Kahne and his colleagues shows that teens and young adults who have had some exposure to media literacy and civic education in school are better able to analyze news content for accuracy and bias, even when the story is in line with their existing political beliefs. Based on an online experiment with a nationally representative survey of young people, this study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that civic media literacy education can improve the degree to which students can distinguish between evidence-based and inaccurate online political claims (Kahne & Bowyer, 2017).

Teachers must take up the cause and help students analyze and evaluate the information they receive each day. In a post-truth world, media literacy matters. The future of our democracy depends on it.

Sorting Fact from Fiction

As many commentators have observed, the use of the term fake news conceals more than it reveals. Although I'm happy that many K-12 educators have increased interest in teaching students how to critically analyze media, I recommend that they resist using this particular term.

Learners are far better served by a more precise set of definitions and concepts, including terms like propaganda, disinformation, clickbait, hoaxes and satire, pseudoscience, sponsored content, and partisanship. These more precise terms need to be a fundamental part of English and social studies education in all American secondary schools.

Fortunately, educators around the world are banding together to develop resources to help educators at the secondary level teach media literacy. For example, the European Association for Viewers' Interests has developed a chart that helps people analyze and evaluate online content simply through the process of trying to identify the genre of the message (EAVI, 2017).

Tools like this chart can help students learn to critically evaluate media messages. Students can first review the 10 definitions on the chart, looking carefully at the legend to understand the terms. They can then go online to find relevant examples, checking a variety of sources, including content posted to social media platforms. For instance, when I scroll through my newsfeed on Facebook, I can find an example of sponsored content (such as a video that features Adult Swim's animated TV show, "Rick and Morty"). I notice a clickbait story urging me to learn more about a foolproof method for reducing wrinkles. There's also propaganda in the form of a dog rescue video shared with me by an old high school friend.

After identifying examples like this on their own social media accounts, students can work collaboratively to make educated guesses about the authors' motivation for any particular example. Who created this message? Were they creating this message to make money? To inform (or misinform)? As a form of political or social power? As a joke or a form of humor? Or because they truly are passionate about the issue?

Contemporary Propaganda

Of all the types of misleading news listed in the EAVI chart, propaganda is perhaps the most difficult for students to understand. Propaganda, which is generally defined as strategic communication designed to activate strong emotions, bypass critical thinking, and shape attitudes and behaviors, has long been an important form of social power. But for too many American students, the term is only associated with historical examples from the middle of the 20th century. As a result of biases and omissions in classroom instruction, some high school and college students wrongly think propaganda only happened in Nazi Germany!

Today, propaganda is everywhere, and it takes new digital forms that blur the lines between entertainment, information, and persuasion. Propaganda can be found on YouTube videos, websites, and TV news, and in movies, music, and video games. And it doesn't have to be solely negative; some forms of propaganda are actually beneficial. Think of the public service messages that remind you not to text and drive, for example. Well-designed propaganda activates strong feelings that motivate people to take action.

Teachers, librarians, and school leaders are using the pedagogy of media literacy education to teach about the different types of disinformation, including propaganda. For example, Susan Vernon, a high school English teacher from North Polk High School in Iowa, used Mind Over Media: Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda in working with her students. Mind Over Media is an online resource developed at the University of Rhode Island's Media Education Lab, which I direct. The website includes more than 1,000 current examples of contemporary propaganda from across the United States and around the world, on topics including politics and current events; food, nutrition, and health; immigration; environmental science; national and international affairs; crime, law, and justice; health and public policy; media and technology regulation; animal rights; and more. It also offers free lesson plans on exploring new forms of propaganda like viral media and sponsored content.

Students in Ms. Vernon's class first learned the definition of propaganda and reviewed four common techniques used in constructing it:

▪ Evoking strong emotions.

▪ Simplifying information and ideas.

▪ Appealing to audience needs.

▪ Attacking opponents.

The students then selected examples of propaganda from the Mind Over Matter website and evaluated them on a scale that runs from "harmful" to "beneficial." When evaluating each item, students had to make explicit their judgments and interpretations through classroom dialogue and by making comments using the online platform. After students evaluated a particular example, such as a meme related to genetically modified foods, the website's database showed them how others interpreted that example in similar (and different) ways, which created an opportunity for rich classroom discussion.

To become media literate, it is important to gain awareness of how and why we choose to accept some information as truthful and other information as false. Making judgments about the potential benefits and harms of online propaganda gives people structured opportunities to practice the art of interpreting and evaluating media. We get to see interpretations that are sometimes more diverse than those we find in our local communities.

"Young people are exposed to so much information that it is a struggle for them to form their own opinions about major topics that impact their world," says Steve Keim, a high school English teacher at Southern Huntingdon County High School/Middle School in Pennsylvania, who recently explored the topic of contemporary propaganda with his students through the Mind Over Media website. Keim believes that being able to identify propaganda and filter out quality information is a vital skill for these students to learn so they can avoid being manipulated by news outlets that crop up on their social media pages.

The Thanksgiving Meme

One fascinating artifact on the Mind Over Media website is a meme featuring a reproduction of a classic painting depicting the Puritans and American Indians in the first Thanksgiving celebration. The painting is accompanied by the phrase: "The irony of refusing aid and assistance to refugees/migrants while preparing to celebrate a holiday about receiving aid and assistance as refugees/migrants." Figure 1 shows the meme, which was shared widely online in 2016.

Figure 1. The Thanksgiving Meme

Source: Media Education Lab. Mind Over Media. Used with permission.

As the data graph under the photo shows, this meme has been interpreted very differently by users of the Mind Over Media website. Thirty-five percent of website users see it as beneficial, and twenty percent see it as harmful. The polarized results create a natural starting point for dialogue and reflection in the classroom: Why do some people think this meme is beneficial? Why do some see it as harmful?

To answer this question, multi-perspectival thinking is required. High school students interpret such propaganda in many different ways. One participant interpreted the Thanksgiving meme as somewhat harmful, noting, "This image calls upon old traditions in order to garner sympathy for the refugees from the Middle East war zones. This appeal to tradition is harmful and ignorant of the changing times. The Pilgrims were colonists while the migrants today are refugees under very different circumstances. It should be noted that the colonists caused mass genocide as well, so comparing the migrants of today to the colonists of the past does not exactly paint a pretty picture."

Another student saw the Thanksgiving meme as somewhat beneficial, writing, "The pilgrims were once migrants searching for a home, and now the world is faced by a new challenge of greater proportion but the same ethical question. The creator of this piece wants the viewers to compare the two situations at hand and have the [United States] apply the same hospitality to the refugees from the Middle East. Yet, that same hospitality didn't work out all that well for the Native Americans that showed kindness to the pilgrims."

Although their interpretations differ widely, both students are considering the potential intentions and motives of the author, wondering, "Who is the author, and what is his or her purpose?" Two major theoretical ideas of media literacy education that have been articulated by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (2009) are activated in this lesson: (1) all media messages are constructed and (2) people interpret messages differently based on their background, life experience, and culture. When students recognize the constructed nature of information, they begin to identify the different points of view that are embodied in the choices authors make. They recognize that meanings are in people, not in texts. Through classroom dialogue and discussion, students learn to appreciate the many different ways that media messages can be interpreted. This helps them activate critical thinking skills and cultivate respect for diverse interpretations.

Updating the Tradition

The critical examination of propaganda is not new. As far back as 1938, high school teachers were using instructional strategies to help build critical thinking about the propaganda of the time, which was disseminated through radio, newspapers, newsreels, and popular movies. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (1937-1942) developed curriculum resources and activities that demonstrated how high school students could take a close look at the content of a media message and search for evidence, verification, and the communicator's motives (Hobbs & McGee, 2014).

Now it's time to update the tradition of propaganda education for the 21st century. With social media sites and news outlets making it easy to "select" our exposure and create echo chambers and filter bubbles, people today may actually get less access to diverse points of view than in previous eras. Often, the true funder of fake news or propaganda is disguised or hidden, as in the use of sock puppets (organizations that deliver messages without revealing the funding sources that support them) or bots and trolls (social media users who amplify their voices by using computer programs or multiple accounts).

The quality of civic education and civic learning in public education must be continually responsive to the lived experience of the students we serve. If schools are to fulfill their social purpose of preparing students for life in a democratic society, education leaders will need to get creative about how to ensure students are thoughtful and intelligent about the information they consume, and that in the face of increasing polarization, they can tell the fake from the facts.

References

European Association for Viewers Interests. (2017). Beyond fake news: Ten types of misleading information. https://eavi.eu/beyond-fake-news-10-types-misleading-info

Goodfellow, J. (2017, February 6). Only 4% of people can distinguish fake news from the truth, Channel 4 study finds. The Drum. Retrieved from www.thedrum.com/news/2017/02/06/only-4-people-can-distinguish-fake-news-truth-channel-4-study-finds

Hobbs, R., & McGee, S. (2014). Teaching about propaganda: An examination of the historical roots of media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 6(2), 56-67.

Kahne, J., & Bowyer, B. (2017). Education for democracy in a partisan age: Confronting the challenges of motivated reasoning and misinformation. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 3-34.

National Association for Media Literacy Education. (2009). Core principles of media literacy education. Retrieved from https://namle.net/2009/06/02/the-core-principles-of-media-literacy-education

Ritchie, H. (2016, December 30). Read all about it: The biggest fake news stories of 2016. CNBC. Retrieved from www.cnbc.com/2016/12/30/read-all-about-it-the-biggest-fake-news-stories-of-2016.html

Simon, H. (1971). Designing organizations for an information rich world. In M. Greenberger (Ed.), Computers, communications, and the public interest (pp. 37-72). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Renee Hobbs is a professor of communication studies and director of the Media Education Lab at the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, where she co-directs the Graduate Certificate Program in Digital Literacy. Her latest book is Create to Learn: Introduction to Digital Literacy (Wiley, 2017). Follow her on Twitter.

KEYWORDS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching and Learning in a Post-Truth World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
November 2017 | Volume 75 | Number 3 Citizens in the Making Pages 26-31 Renee Hobbs In the summer of 2016, I found a startling announcement in my Facebook feed from WTOE 5 News, saying, "Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Issues Statement."

# data[].attributes.body
#3 Social Entrepreneurs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Colleges of education are in a Catch-22: They're needed more than ever to produce well-trained teachers as school districts struggle to fill certain positions. But fewer and fewer people are enrolling in their programs.

That's one of the findings in a comprehensive report of the state of teacher preparation by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, released today for the organization's 70th anniversary. The report examines the steps colleges of education have taken to revamp themselves in light of increasing challenges for the teaching profession.

Between the 2007-08 and 2015-16 academic years, there was a 23 percent decline in the number of people completing teacher-preparation programs. The largest decline-32 percent-has been at alternative programs (for people who already have a bachelor's degree) that are housed in colleges or universities. But all types of programs have seen drops.

The number of bachelor's degrees conferred in education declined by 15 percent between 2005-06 and 2014-15. Across all other major fields, the number of bachelor's degrees conferred increased over that period.

There are a number of possible explanations for the decline of interest in teaching programs. According to a survey by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, as noted in the report, deans of colleges of education said the No. 1 reason for the enrollment drop was the perception of teaching as an undesirable career.

That perception is likely based on complaints about a lack of professional autonomy and low wages, the deans said. In a remarkable sign of discontent, teachers walked out of their classrooms in a half-dozen states this spring, frustrated with low pay, crumbling classrooms, and years of cuts to school funding.

Almost half of college graduates who become teachers leave the profession within a few years, the report notes.

To address these challenges, colleges of education are repositioning themselves, the report says.

First, they're changing their curricula to better prepare candidates, most of whom are white, to teach a diverse student population. There is more of a focus on multicultural education, the report says, and more colleges are developing partnerships with school districts that serve low-income and minority students, so that teacher candidates can gain experience in those settings.

Renée Middleton, the dean of Ohio University's college of education, said the school has developed a "community focus" when preparing its teachers. For example, the region is facing an opioid crisis, so the college is making sure teacher candidates are prepared to deal with the effects in the classroom. Candidates are also trained in trauma-informed instruction, she said.

"Teacher education is not an island unto itself," Middleton said. "It takes all of us to deal with challenges."

Teacher-prep programs are also beginning to shift away from standardized exams for candidates, and toward performance-based assessments-which evaluate multiple measures of teaching, including student teaching, the report says.

Critics of standardized exams have said they fail to measure effective teaching skills, and that nonwhite candidates tend to pass them at lower rates. The report notes that by 2019, at least 21 states will use performance assessments as an option or requirement for initial licensure.

Also, colleges are placing a stronger emphasis on student teaching and developing closer partnerships with school districts, the report says.

Too Many Elementary Teachers?

The report notes that there is a mismatch between the majors that students choose and the personnel needs of school districts.

While there isn't a national teacher shortage, there are some perennial shortage areas, including special education, high school math and science, foreign language, and bilingual education.

However, the most popular major for aspiring teachers is elementary education. That field accounts for 21 percent of undergraduate education majors among all teacher-prep-program completers-whereas special education majors make up 9 percent. Just 4 percent of completers majored in English as a second language, and 2 percent majored in bilingual, multilingual, and multicultural education.

Better aligning districts' needs and colleges' outputs could solve teacher shortages, said Kate Walsh, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based research group that has at times clashed with colleges of education.

"As much as it makes sense for us to look to higher ed to respond, ... it's not in their self-interest to tell students who want to be a teacher, 'No, we have enough candidates,' " she said.

Instead, she said, one solution could be for accreditation groups to tell teacher-prep programs that they must produce enough candidates in certain fields to meet the needs of the profession.

And school districts have more authority than they might realize, she said.

"If you're not willing to place 100 elementary student-teachers because you don't need to hire them, the university will have no choice but to become more strategic and more selective about how to fill those spots," Walsh said. "It's so straightforward ... and it would solve supply and demand in a couple years if districts stood up and asserted [their needs]."

For their part, higher education officials say they try to inform candidates about the realities of the profession before they choose a major.

"When students declare their area of interest, their adviser talks to them about anticipated openings, shortages, hireability, and helps students make informed decisions-but we don't push them away from their area of passion," said Nicole Thompson, the co-director of the division of teacher preparation at Arizona State University's teacher college.

Still, she added, "the shortage [in Arizona] is fairly significant, so whoever we produce pretty much gets hired."

And Ohio University's Middleton said advisers do warn aspiring elementary teachers that they might have to move to another city or even another state to get a job. But there's only so much colleges of education can do, she said.

"We're giving [students] the data," Middleton said. "It's still their decision to major in it."

Colleges Must 'Be More Creative'

In states with persistent teacher shortages, like Oklahoma, Arizona, and Utah, policymakers have eased some of the requirements for becoming a teacher-at times bypassing colleges of education.

For example, the Oklahoma state board of education approved a record-setting 1,975 emergency certifications last school year. These certifications allow people without a teaching certificate to teach for one year, or allow a certified teacher to teach a new subject before getting recertified. And the board is on track to approve even more emergency certifications this year.

"It puts some pressure on this college to be more creative," said Gregg Garn, the dean of the University of Oklahoma's college of education. "How do we articulate the importance of really good preparation ... to be an extraordinary teacher?"

In addition to doubling down on teaching pedagogy and making sure student teachers are supported in the field, Garn said the college is trying to "take an innovative look" at how to retain teachers.

Part of that, he said, is setting them up for financial success. Oklahoma teachers, who walked out of their classrooms this spring in protest of low wages, are among the lowest paid in the nation. Teacher preparation can't change that, Garn said, but the college has unveiled debt-forgiveness and financial-literacy initiatives to help teachers manage their money.

"I want great professionals to come out of this [college], but I also want people to have a really good life," Garn said.

Web Only

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Back to Top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Enrollment Is Down at Teacher Colleges. So They're Trying to Change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Colleges of education are in a Catch-22: They're needed more than ever to produce well-trained teachers as school districts struggle to fill certain positions. But fewer and fewer people are enrolling in their programs. That's one of the findings in a comprehensive report of the state of teacher preparation by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, released today for the organization's 70th anniversary.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How can you create an authentic learning environment—one where students ask questions, do research, and explore subjects that fascinate them—in today’s standards-driven atmosphere? Author Larissa Paho

# data[].attributes.body
Resource for #5 learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A school district uses project-based learning to introduce students to a variety of careers starting in kindergarten.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Are you an educator who is thinking about taking the plunge into using Twitter in your classroom? Many of us think of Twitter as a place to share pictures of our latest meal or as the place where industry gurus post their greatest observations. It's common to wonder: how can we use Twitter in a meaningful way-especially in a classroom?

Why Use Twitter in Education?

The truth is, with 288 million monthly average users from all over the world, Twitter provides a social media world that is chock full of information and insights.

Teachers can use Twitter to connect with experts around town- or around the globe- to get perspectives that will enrich lessons.

Students can contact other students in foreign countries to enhance their understanding of how other people live, what they value, and what their challenges are.

Students can use Twitter for research, by searching for specific terms and following up on the findings.

Teachers can deepen their professional knowledge by connecting with leaders in the field.

Using Twitter provides another tool for communication between teachers and students and can increase interaction and engagement in the classroom.

Maybe you're intrigued with the idea of using Twitter, but aren't quite sure how to get started. Here are some key ways to use Twitter to teach and to learn.

Twitter Basics

Twitter is a free, online social media tool, found at Twitter.com. You can also download the app onto your computer, tablet or phone. Once you have your account set up, you can post, or tweet, your thoughts in messages of 140 characters or less. That tweet can include a link to another website, a video, or photo. You can also share something someone else has posted through a re-tweet.

One of the most confusing aspects of Twitter is the lingo. Twitter supplies a glossary of nearly all of the terms you'll come across, but here's a quick and dirty guide of the most commonly used ones.

Twitter handle/user name: This is your Twitter name. You get to choose what you want (as long as it's available) when you sign up for the account. Twitter allows multiple accounts so you can have a personal account under one name and a professional one for your work as an educator. For your educator account, consider a name that is related to the topic that you teach.

@ or the "at" sign: This is used to call out a specific name, as in @edudemic. When you use the @ in front of a name, it's called a mention, and the person you mention will receive a notification that their name was used in your tweet.

# or hashtag (the sign formerly known as pound): Is used to identify tweets on a similar topic. #applepie, for example, would find all tweets related to the favorite dessert. It's like a keyword indicator.

Follow: When you find Twitter users who shares information you like, you can follow them, meaning you click the follow button next to the name on their profile. Once you start to follow someone, his or her tweets will automatically appear in your Twitter home page. Likewise, if someone wants to see your tweets, they will follow you. Twitter notifies you when you have new followers.

Twitter's New Users FAQs provides more information, but these are some of the main aspects an educator needs to know to get an account up and running.

Making the Most of Twitter for Educators

Once your Twitter account is established, you'll want to fill your stream with useful information.

1. Decide whose tweets you want to follow.

Maybe start following tweets from your school, district, and other teachers. Add some relevant local, national, and international news sources. Find people discussing topics that are related to your lessons, i.e. history buffs, scientists, or mathematicians, etc. Add great sources focused on education like @edudemic.

2. Follow the Followers

Click on the profile page of an organization or person you follow, see who they follow to get more ideas. Twitter also can provide suggestions, based on your history, on new people to follow.

3. Narrow It Down

Once you've created a robust selection of who to follow, you may encounter the opposite problem-how to find what you need from a barrage of incoming tweets. A variety of apps and techniques can make this simpler.

Create a customized stream of up to the minute information: Twitter can serve as your daily newspaper, providing you with the tweets containing the most recent trends, experiments and best practices in education.

Make a list: Twitter lists (an option available on Twitter) allow you to put your followers as well as people you haven't committed to following into categories. Want to just read tweets about English as a second language? You can look at the tweets in that list. Want to see what's new and trending with Common Core? Create that list.

Use an app: Hootsuite is an app (free for personal use) that lets you create and save searches for tweets, schedule your own tweets, and create lists. Kissmetrics suggests additional apps to get you organized in Twitter. Although being a lurker is normally frowned upon in society, in Twitter, it's a great way to get started feeling comfortable with the app. You don't have to feel pressured to tweet right away. Sue Gordon, an educator and consultant, explained at a recent conference by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), that educators should start using Twitter by following a hashtag that interests them, one they're passionate about. If you do that, as that list expands, you'll develop your own customized resource for teaching and learning.

In Short

Twitter can bring a wealth of great information into your classroom. Accessing, curating and discussing that information can bring renewed energy to your students and to you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Use Twitter for Teaching and Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you an educator who is thinking about taking the plunge into using Twitter in your classroom? Many of us think of Twitter as a place to share pictures of our latest meal or as the place where industry gurus post their greatest observations.

# data[].attributes.headline
#9 Their cell phones are the hub of their social lives, with their apps of choice being Snapchat, Instagram, and Houseparty.

# data[].attributes.subject
#9 Their cell phones are the hub of their social lives, with their apps of choice being Snapchat, Instagram, and Houseparty.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teachers have long understood the importance of instilling good citizenship in their students, focusing on social etiquette and how to treat their peers with respect in the course of their daily lives. Today, though, it's just as important that students understand what kinds of behaviors are acceptable online. Instilling the principles of good digital citizenship can help students become smart, responsible, and respectful members of their online communities.

What Is Digital Citizenship?

We spend much of our lives today participating in virtual communities - like our social media networks, online forums, and even the comments sections of websites and blogs. Just as there are rules and norms that dictate what it means to be a good citizen in our real-life communities, there are ways to be a good "citizen" in the communities we interact with online. Being a good digital citizen means practicing online safety, treating other digital citizens with respect, and following the rules set for certain online communities.

Understanding how to practice good digital citizenship will only become more important in the following years, as our lives become further entwined with internet-based communities. Students today are already using online tools to facilitate the learning process - like participating in discussions in online forums - so exposing students at an early age to the "rules" of good citizenship is increasingly important.

If we don't instill the tenets of good digital citizenship in students early, they run the risk of developing poor - even dangerous - online habits. For example, students may put themselves at risk by sharing too much personal information online. They may also become a risk to others. Unfortunately, participating in online communities provides a cloak of anonymity that sometimes encourages bad behavior in students who would never otherwise exhibit cruelty in "real life." Poor digital citizenship may encompass cyberbullying, where students harass others using technology, like social media, texting, or email. While cyberbullying doesn't inflict physical harm, the fact that online bullying can occur 24/7 provides victims little reprieve from emotionally damaging comments and rumors.

Digital Literacy

Related to the concept of digital citizenship is digital literacy, which refers to how competently one can navigate and evaluate information in the digital sphere. Strong digital literacy skills mean online users can easily distinguish between legitimate news and research and unsubstantiated or misleading information. Poor digital literacy can make people feel lost when using the internet. A study by Rasmussen University found that 59% of respondents felt "overwhelmed" by the internet. Poor digital citizenship and poor digital literacy can both contribute to unsafe internet usage habits in students.

Tips for Encouraging Good Digital Citizenship in the Classroom

There are plenty of creative ways you can cultivate good online digital citizenship in students. Here are seven tips for encouraging good digital citizenship in the classroom:

1. Remind students that it's very hard to erase information on the internet, so they should be extra careful about what information and opinions they make public.

2. Create a student etiquette guide for online behavior that teaches students how to "play nice" on the internet.

3. Teach students about online "stranger danger" since it's very easy for online users to pretend to be who they are not.

4. Make sure students understand the difference between sharing and stealing online content. While it may feel like anything on the internet is up for grabs, copyright and intellectual property laws protect almost all online content.

5. Use online forums or social media networks to facilitate student discussions so students have a safe space to practice good digital citizenship.

6. Ensure your students know how to identify a "troll" - an online user whose goal is to provoke others or derail conversations - so they can avoid engaging with them.

7. Encourage students to step away from phone and computer screens during family dinners and when hanging out with friends; offline relationships are just as important as online ones!

You can also participate in Digital Citizenship Week to instill important lessons about using the internet safely and responsibly and treating other digital citizens with respect. Fill the week with fun lessons and activities to get your students engaged and excited about digital citizenship. For example, you can have your students create their own pledges - in the form of poems, raps, songs, etc. - to be good digital citizens, and then have them share their pledges with the class.

The Future of Digital Citizenship

Teaching good digital citizenship skills now means you're laying the foundation for a bright future for your students. Students who don't adopt good citizenship practices may struggle with future online assignments, and may even have trouble securing a job, as more and more careers revolve around technology. Instilling good digital citizenship early sets students up for success both in and outside of the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Students Good Digital Citizenship

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teachers have long understood the importance of instilling good citizenship in their students, focusing on social etiquette and how to treat their peers with respect in the course of their daily lives. Today, though, it's just as important that students understand what kinds of behaviors are acceptable online.

# data[].attributes.body
Great Resource

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
2. Fidgets

Fidgets are small objects that help keep students' hands occupied. You can buy these on Amazon or use objects like beaded bracelets or Rubik's Cubes. Teacher tip: Avoid flashy objects like fidget spinners, which can be a distraction to other students.

3. Silly Putty

Silly Putty, Play-Doh, or Sticky Tack can also keep students' hands occupied.

4. Velcro

Tape a strip of the rough side of Velcro under the student's desk. It gives them something to touch. Many other objects can work, such as emery boards or straws.

5. Gum or Chewable Necklaces

Chewing gum can help keep some ADHD students focused. In no-gum classrooms, necklaces with chewable pieces can also work. You can also wrap airline tubing or rubber bands at the ends of pencils for students to chew.

6. Doodling

Doodling can help many students focus, not just ones with ADHD. Some students also benefit if they can draw during storytime or a lesson.

7. Background Noise/Music

A fan in the back of the room can help some students focus. Letting them listen to music on headphones (as long as it doesn't interfere with what's happening in class) can also help. One teacher had success with an aquarium in the back of the room-students liked hearing the calming swish of the water.

8. Chair Leg Bands

Tie a large rubber band (or yoga band) across both front legs of the chair for students to push or pull against with their legs.

9. Bouncy Balls

Also known as yoga balls, stability balls, or exercise balls. These are potentially great for all students, not just ones with ADHD.

10. Swivel Chairs

Kids can twist a little bit from side to side. A rocking chair also works.

11. Wobble Chairs

Similar to swivel chairs or disk seats, these chairs let students rock within their seats. Teacher tip: Don't let students wobble too much-they may fall off!

12. Disk Seats

These sit on a chair and allow students to rock in their seats, which is not as dangerous as rocking the entire chair. Cushions can also work.

13. Standing Desks

Great for all students, not just ones who need to fidget. Learn how students brought standing desks into their classroom in " Using Stand Up Tables in the Classroom." If it's within your budget, you can also use treadmill desks.

14. Desks with Swinging Footrests

A built-in footrest can help reduce the noise that comes with foot tapping.

15. Stationary Bikes

Putting a stationary bicycle at the back of the classroom is a great way to help students be active.

16. Classroom Space for Moving Around

Clear an area at the side or back of the room to let students stand, stretch, dance, pace, or twirl.

17. Flexible Work Locations

Students don't have to do their learning at their desk-they can work at the windowsill or move from one desk to another. Having different learning stations can benefit all types of students. For ideas on setting up your classroom, check out " 7 Learning Zones Every Classroom Must Have."

Many thanks to our Facebook commenters who contributed to this list:

Amanda Becker, Amanda Nagy Magee, Angela L. García, Angela Peery, Barbara Linkus, Beverly Becker Wood, Bonnie Reeves, Brian Gagnon, Cherish A Eagen, Crissy Fleetwood, Debbi Allred, Don Myers, Dot McGee, Fin Scott, Helen Zukauskas, Holly Zuidema, Hollyann Moriarty Pierce, Jana Colvin, Jane Reed, Jennifer Preuss Schmidt, Jim Hansen, John N Kelly Sefcik, Judith Anderson, Katharine Healey Dalton, Laura Maslin Bradley, Laura Miranda, Laurie Baumbach Krivitz, Lindsay Russell Hyland, Lissa L. Rapoport, MaLinda Luker, Mandy Eller, MaryAnne Finch, Matt Winkler, Moe Margetts, Olivia Christine, Pat Melvin, Risa Blum Mendelson, Robyn Gunther, Sandra Churchwell Voss O'Brien, Sarah Holmes, Shannon Costella, Sylvia Morales Lopez, Tana Williamson, Tricia Musson Wright, Valerie Wilmot, and Virgil Miller

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
17 Ways to Help Students With ADHD Concentrate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fidgets are small objects that help keep students' hands occupied. You can buy these on Amazon or use objects like beaded bracelets or Rubik's Cubes. Teacher tip: Avoid flashy objects like fidget spinners, which can be a distraction to other students. Silly Putty, Play-Doh, or Sticky Tack can also keep students' hands occupied.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Most Effective Ways of Helping Students Love Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
The Most Effective Ways of Helping Students Love Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Traditionally, students have not always enjoyed their school experiences for one reason or another. It may have been the environment, the instructional method, or the relationship between the teacher and student themselves. Nevertheless, the point of power is in the present moment and every day is a chance to do something differently. How do we help students love learning in a way that lets them harbour a passion for it all throughout their lives?

In the struggle to teach kids the knowledge they need to thrive, your greatest allies are students themselves. Teachers have a much easier time getting their students to remember and build on their lessons if those students are actively engaged in the material and eager to learn more. But not all students display such a love for learning right off the bat, which is why the most effective educators are those who make their lessons easy to love.

Through the following strategies, you can show kids that learning is fun and valuable, leaving them fully engaged in everything you teach them. Help students love learning again, and always-it's one of the greatest gifts you can give them as an educator.

Cultivate Questions

Since the days of Socrates, we've known that the best way to learn about the world is to question it. So whether you're teaching a standard lesson, leading a field trip, or watching a film or performance with educational content, encourage your students to ask any questions that come to mind in the process. Then follow those questions up with additional questions, getting your students to think critically about the topic.

To illustrate this process, imagine that you're watching the film The Wizard of Oz as part of a history lesson. One of your students might ask, "Why does the movie start out in black and white, then change to color, then go back to black and white?" In response, you can say, "That's a really good question; why do you think that is?" You can then use additional questions to guide the student to the right answer. Consider asking, "Have you seen any other movies that are black and white? How old are those movies?" If any other students think they know the answer, invite them to tell the class. Together, the students have a good chance of figuring it out for themselves.

This method accomplishes two things. First, it helps students realize the complexity of the world, and how different types of knowledge are connected to each other. It shows them that a seemingly simple question can open up all sorts of new knowledge for them to learn. As a result, students will start asking more questions about everything they do, expanding their opportunities to learn.

Second, this method helps students realize how much they already know. Their past experiences have given them substantial knowledge of the world. All they have to do is connect this knowledge to new questions as they arise. This makes students feel intelligent and empowered, giving them the confidence to continue learning throughout their lives.

Pursue their Passions

Getting students to ask questions can help them feel more passionate about the topics they're learning. However, many of your students already have passions and interests which they are eager to learn more about. The better you are at finding out those interests and incorporating them into your lesson plans, the more engaged your students will be from the moment each lesson begins.

As an example, say that you're a science teacher trying to teach your students some basic facts about chemistry. Instead of just lecturing them about those facts, start off the lesson by asking students what their favorite foods are. Write those foods down on the board, and see if there are any common themes; for instance, if one student says pizza, another says macaroni and cheese, and a third says lasagna, the common theme is cheese. Ask your students why they think cheese tastes good. This provides a great jumping-off point to talk about the chemistry of cheese, teaching students how different chemicals react with each other to make their favorite ingredient taste great.

Besides asking students questions to find out what they're interested in, you can often tell just based on what students say and do. For example, say that you find a student at recess burning a leaf with a magnifying glass. While you shouldn't necessarily let them keep doing this as it's dangerous, you can use it as a jumping-off point for lessons about fire, the sun, physics, or any number of other topics. Considering bringing the leaf inside, showing it to other students, and asking them how they think it got burned. Odds are, they'll be surprised and excited to find out that it's possible to do this with a magnifying glass, and will want to learn more. (Just make sure that while you teach them, you make it clear they shouldn't do this unsupervised!)

Pose Puzzles

You're more likely to help students love learning if you ensure they feel safe while they do it, so don't make the stakes too high during school activities. That said, they also tend to engage more with activities that are challenging. To get the best of both worlds, incorporate more brain teasers, riddles, logic games, and other puzzles into the classroom.

The best puzzles ask students to put together different things they have learned. For example, if you're teaching about chemistry, tell students to imagine that they have been given a cup of milk and a cup of water. They need to empty each cup into a larger glass in such a way that the milk and water do not mix, and it will still be possible to differentiate them. Students will need to use their knowledge of chemistry to answer this question.

The benefit of puzzles is that they contain their own reward. Students who manage to solve a challenging or confusing question will instantly feel proud and accomplished, even if you don't offer them a prize for doing so. Students will want to feel this way again, so they will seek out more puzzles and challenges to solve, leading them to learn more at every opportunity.

Elevate Hands-On Experiences

Learning is always more fun if it's hands-on. So at every opportunity, you should give students a chance to apply what they've learned in practical ways. In science lessons, this is easy-just give students some safe but enjoyable experiments they can do, such as mixing two chemicals to see how they react. But you can also apply other kinds of knowledge in practical ways.

For example, if you're teaching a history lesson, have students come up with skits where they act like the historical figures you're studying. Not only do these activities help students feel more connected to what they're learning, but they also make the lessons easier to remember. After all, it's far easier to recall something you did than something you were told.

So there you have it-4 terrifically engaging ways you can help students love learning now and forever. The passion for lifelong learning exists in all of us, and all it takes is finding our own way to channel into what brings it alive. You don't have to model a love for learning in a specific way for every student. All you have to do is teach with enthusiasm and joyful curiosity, and your learners will end up feeling the same way. That's the real gift of teaching.

Additional Reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Most Effective Ways of Helping Students Love Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Traditionally, students have not always enjoyed their school experiences for one reason or another. It may have been the environment, the instructional method, or the relationship between the teacher and student themselves. Nevertheless, the point of power is in the present moment and every day is a chance to do something differently.

# data[].attributes.headline
They talk in images: Snappa is an app that allows students to explain their thinking using pictures, graphs, and infographics.

# data[].attributes.subject
They talk in images: Snappa is an app that allows students to explain their thinking using pictures, graphs, and infographics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Resize your best graphics in a flash

Never make the same stunning graphic more than once. In one click, you can turn your Twitter header into a Facebook cover, your Instagram post into a Pinterest pin, or a Facebook ad into a billboard ad.

Learn more about resizing images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Snappa - Create online graphics in a snap

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Snappa makes it easy to create any type of online graphic. Create & publish images for social media, blogs, ads, and more!

# data[].attributes.headline
 Computer Science is a Graduation Requirement

# data[].attributes.subject
 Computer Science is a Graduation Requirement

# data[].attributes.body
New Mexico is requiring high school students to take a computer science class for graduation requirements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Beginning next school year, students in New Mexico will be able to count computer science courses toward math and science graduation requirements.

With this new policy, which the Public Education Department announced late last month, New Mexico joins a growing group: Currently, 36 states allow computer science to count as a graduation requirement , according to , a nonprofit organization that has advocated for the integration of computer science into the K-12 curriculum.

The department's plan is similar to one proposed in a bill last year that New Mexico's governor, Susana Martinez, vetoed. But that computer science bill-and nine other bills that Martinez vetoed-ended up getting a second chance. The Democrat-led state legislature sued Martinez, a Republican, arguing that her vetoes were invalid, as she hadn't provided explanations within the designated time frame.

The Public Education Department made their announcement the day before the state Supreme Court decided in favor of the lawmakers. The 10 bills that Martinez originally vetoed-including the one regarding computer science-will now go into effect.

Like education leaders in other states, New Mexico Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski cited preparation for a changing workforce as the main driver of the department's decision to promote computer science. "Our kids are entering the 21st-centurymarketplace where more and more jobs require computer science skills," said Ruszkowski, in a statement.

Sign up to get Education Week's latest ed-tech news in your inbox.

Before students can count a computer science course toward their math graduation requirement, they must pass Algebra II and score proficient in the PARCC Geometry or Algebra II tests. (These restrictions aren't uniform across states-for example, Ohio, another state that allows computer science courses to count toward graduation credits, lets students swap out Algebra II for a computer science class .)

Similarly, high schoolers who want to use computer science classes toward science requirements must first demonstrate proficiency in the state's high school science assessment.

For students who have met those benchmarks, the following computer science courses can count toward graduation requirements, starting in the 2018-2019 school year:

Scientific Technologies, described by the department as "a science course that uses computer modeling to explore scientific concepts;"

Mathematical Modeling and Fractal Math, math courses that also employ computer modeling; or,

AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles.

As more states allow students to substitute computer science for certain math, science, or other academic courses, some have criticized the trend. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics released a statement in 2016 , cautioning that replacing high school math with computer science could "undermine students' math preparation." And when Ohio's law passed earlier this year, the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics raised concerns -to what extent would math principles and content be included in the now-equivalent computer science courses?

The Public Education Department is reviewing computer and information sciences curricula to determine what other courses would meet the criteria for graduation requirements, with plans to add to the current list, according to a statement from the department.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Mexico To Count Computer Science as Graduation Requirement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Beginning next school year, students in New Mexico will be able to count computer science courses toward math and science graduation requirements. With this new policy, which the Public Education Department announced late last month, New Mexico joins a growing group: Currently, 36 states allow computer science to count as a graduation requirement , according to , a nonprofit organization that has advocated for the integration of computer science into the K-12 curriculum.

# data[].attributes.body
They prefer to do hands-on and interactive projects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. Arts integration should be connected to a standard.

Common Core standards lend themselves beautifully to arts integration. Whether the arts are used as an entry point to a lesson to pique student interest or as a culminating project to assess student knowledge, standard alignment is essential. Several museums, centers, and education sites offer detailed lessons, across the disciplines and for various grade levels, which are aligned to standards and maintain an academic focus. For example, the Getty, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Kennedy Center are great places to begin exploring ideas of how the arts can tie to standards.

2. Arts integration projects should reflect learning.

In addition to alignment with standards, teachers should clearly identify and state the desired learning outcomes before students begin creating. Wording such as "students will understand" and "students will demonstrate" narrows the focus and outlines clear learning goals. Using arts in the classroom will free students to look at content from different perspectives while clear communication from the teacher in the beginning and continued dialogue through the process will ensure student focus on learning goals.

3. Arts integration should involve student choice.

Just as students have different learning styles or multiple intelligences, they gravitate toward different forms of the arts. Some will prefer visual art, while others prefer dance. Music will be some students' forte, while others are natural performers. Allowing them to create and express themselves through their choice of the arts makes learning personal and relevant. Offer options for self-expression through visual arts by painting, sculpting, graffiti, photography, or drawing; or through music by composing or performing in different genres. Those who love the spotlight may want to perform monologues, vignettes, dance pieces, or direct their classmates' performances, while others may be more inclined to write poetry or short stories. Some projects can cross the lines of different learning styles, such as film, graphic novels or comics, or musical theater. Instead of offering students a choice of two or three options, invite them to propose their own projects so that they're free to dream, create, and fully own their learning. For culminating or extended projects, students may collaborate and construct projects showcasing a variety of the arts. The sky is truly the limit.

4. Arts integration projects should have specific grading rubrics.

Developing a specific rubric can alleviate fears and uncertainty for both teachers and students. While your specific rubric may have more categories, projects involving the arts should include three basic categories for assessment:

Content: Content assessment includes how well the project reflects the standard and mastery of the content.

Process: The process evaluation includes the use of higher-order thinking skills, planning and organization, and overall student effort.

Product: The product assessment is where many teachers feel unqualified to offer feedback because of their lack of knowledge or experience in a particular discipline of the arts. Focus on whether the content is clearly reflected in the finished product and the quality of the product or performance when assessing the product.

A student reflection, whether written or spoken, can serve as a valuable tool when assessing what the student learned and how well the product ties to the content. Art, theater, and music teachers can be a great resource for content teachers feeling uncertain about assessment or arts integration in general.

5. Arts integration projects should be shared with others.

Learning best occurs when the student becomes the teacher, and while sharing a project doesn't seem like formal teaching, the experience offers a chance to showcase learned information. Exhibit projects not just in the classroom but throughout the school, especially for open house or other special events, or host a gallery walk to display the visual arts. Dance or small theater performances can be held for younger classes or during lunch. The local theater, coffee shops, county offices, or civic-minded businesses are often willing to display work or host school-sponsored readings of original works or dramatic interpretations. Allow students to shine in front of some type of audience.

Arts integration in the modern classroom serves as a gateway for student engagement, motivation, and creativity. Not only will students benefit, but teachers also reap the rewards of having students use critical thinking skills and flourish in learning content through relevant and individualized projects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Common Core standards lend themselves beautifully to arts integration. Whether the arts are used as an entry point to a lesson to pique student interest or as a culminating project to assess student knowledge, standard alignment is essential.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We're hardwired from birth to decode facial expression, posture, and tone of voice-and to work collaboratively.

# data[].attributes.body
Read the paragraph titled ¨Essential Attitudes¨

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Algorithmic Thinking

Students demonstrate algorithmic thinking whenever they create or use a well-defined series of steps to achieve a desired outcome. In our sixth-grade math class, for example, students identify and plot a set of ordered pairs on a coordinate plane to re-create a piece of art they've made. Students practice the algorithm for Punnett squares by refashioning themselves as cartoon babies, meticulously crossing their genotypes to create endless generations of children. In orchestra, students learn about the history of algorithmic music composition, from Mozart's dice music to Emily Howell, a computer program created by David Cope, to modern, all-robot bands.

While humans can get a bit more creative in following an algorithm than a computer can, it's important for students to be able to both communicate and interpret clear instructions for a predictable, reliable output.

Decomposition

Decomposition means breaking down a complicated problem into its components and working on one component at a time. In our seventh-grade humanities class, students dissect the American criminal justice system, identifying problems and proposing solutions that better represent a fair and balanced system. Toward the end of a basketball unit in fitness class, our sixth graders decompose a LeBron James dunk, using the NBA's public motion tracking data to plot and analyze motion graphs to better understand the offensive strategy.

With the power of decomposition, problems that seem overwhelming at first become much more approachable for students.

Abstraction

Abstraction refers to stripping away unnecessary details to develop a generic solution, or representing a complicated system with a simple model or visualization. In humanities class, students simulate their own ancient civilization by choosing natural resources and technologies and seeing how their populations fare over centuries, while ignoring complexities like government structures and religion. While learning about human anatomy, seventh graders team up to create 3D amusement parks based on a human body, representing blood cells with bumper cars and neural networks with ziplines-without stressing over details like molecular composition or energy production.

Learning what information is important and what can be left out is a critical skill for students to develop as problems grow in complexity.

Pattern Recognition

Students leverage pattern recognition by analyzing trends in data and using that information to work out solutions. Students in science class save the world by analyzing real-time earthquake data and identifying where seismic activity is clustered, forming their own hypotheses about how tectonic plates may be to blame. In math class, students optimize fantasy football teams by using proportional reasoning skills to draft players with the best performance data.

Applying a real-world context to your lessons helps students realize that the skills they're learning are not just relevant but vital beyond the classroom. Trevor Muir offers fantastic ideas and evidence on this approach in his TEDx talk on real-world learning.

Essential Attitudes

Solving problems as a computational thinker also requires some specific attitudes toward problem solving in general. We strive to empower our students with the confidence needed to tackle ambiguous problems, the tenacity to persist through challenges requiring iteration and experimentation, strong communication skills to facilitate collaboration and presentation, and a general curiosity across all disciplines that leads them to ask and answer big, scary questions. Chris O'Brien discusses developing these muscles in a school makerspace, and project-based learning in any classroom is a phenomenal way to foster this mindset in your students.

You may be thinking to yourself, "My students already do a lot of these things!" In fact, computational thinking is happening in many classrooms already, likely by many other names. Computational thinking is intricately linked with critical thinking, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning, and project-based learning. By employing the language of computational thinking across multiple disciplines, students can make powerful connections between their classes and beyond. Better yet, when faced with challenges that are difficult to categorize, students will have a rich toolkit to draw from that crosses traditional subject borders.

Bringing computational thinking into your classroom is simple, and can only help your students achieve the learning objectives you've already identified. Think about these skills and attitudes when planning lessons, and use this language throughout the year. Introduce some ambiguity in your projects, link lessons to real-world examples and evidence, and dream big-over time, your students may surprise you with the connections they make and their confidence in diving into new challenges.

Looking for a quick way to get started? Most of the above lessons and activities are available as free lesson plans on our curriculum website. And Google offers a great online course for teachers looking to bring computational thinking into their classrooms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students demonstrate algorithmic thinking whenever they create or use a well-defined series of steps to achieve a desired outcome. In our sixth-grade math class, for example, students identify and plot a set of ordered pairs on a coordinate plane to re-create a piece of art they've made.

# data[].attributes.body
Great way for Gen Z to talk in images, create, interact and communicate in bite sized pieces.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Thought starters

1. What type of questions are students asked to answer?

2. How do students reflect on the responses on the posters?

3. How could you adapt this strategy for use in your classroom?

School Details

Jhs 104 Simon Baruch
330 East 21st Street
New York NY 10010

Data Provided By:

Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Use Posters to Encourage Collaborative Thinking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A quick way to engage your students into a new lesson or topic is to have them develop posters. Give them questions to answer with the posters, and then have them reflect on their responses as well as the posters of other students.

# data[].attributes.headline
This is an ongoing list of tools that K-12 teachers, school leaders, and experts in the field have found particularly useful, some of which even can be implemented immediately. 

# data[].attributes.subject
This is an ongoing list of tools that K-12 teachers, school leaders, and experts in the field have found particularly useful, some of which even can be implemented immediately. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Education Week - Peter DeWitt's Finding Common Ground

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today's guest blog is written by Peter Kraft, CEO and Co-Founder of Evolution Labs, a company whose focus is to deliver well-rounded support and positive social and emotional outcomes to students from K-20
Today's learners are digital natives who are accustomed to accessing information through the use of internet-enabled devices. From mobile phones to laptops, rapid advancements in technology have increased access to virtually all online information at any time, drastically changing how students interact with content. With access to any media outlet at their fingertips, students have become more comfortable looking up information independently rather than seeking out assistance from a peer or adult. According to recent research studies, the majority of classroom instruction is facilitated using electronic devices, and recent data showcases 65 percent of children ages 3-to-18 years old access the internet at school.

This shift in ownership, where previously the adults in charge could filter content presented to children, has led to a greater need for educators to deliver information promptly and proactively to their students. If the education system relies solely on students to be the first to speak up when they have a social and emotional need, it becomes more unlikely that educators will reach them with the right information in time. Therefore, it is critical for schools to develop strategic plans that demonstrate an understanding of Generation Z learners' needs, interests, and comfort zones. For example, the Tennessee Department of Education developed a toolkit to help teachers understand the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL), and included a variety of best-practice examples for social teaching and instructional teaching methods.

Parallel to the integration of educational technologies has been a growing focus within K-12 systems to teach students the skill sets needed to leverage these digital innovations beyond the classroom effectively. This movement is referred to as the Framework for 21 Century Learning and is commonly defined using the 4C's: collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity.

The alignment of SEL programs to bolster this skillset is evident; when students are in tune with their emotions and the emotions of those around them, they can foster better social relationships that support positive school environments and are equipped to self-regulate to make responsible decisions.

The overlap of these three emerging trends (education technology, the rise of the 4C's skillset, and SEL programs) in the K-12 landscape is not a coincidence. As technology breaks geographic barriers to connect people across the globe, today's workforce has become increasingly diverse. Therefore, educators must prepare students to be socially aware of others perspectives to maintain relationships throughout an increasingly diverse working environment.

Social and emotional learning is also gaining traction as an approach to addressing mental health issues in children and adolescents. In a previous post on this blog, Peter DeWitt shared statistics about mental health and its increased prevalence in school-aged children. Middle-to-high school student suffer from high instances of mental health issues, childhood trauma, and violence against others or oneself. If schools do not have a strategic plan in place to address these concerns, then they are not taking advantage of their opportunity to intervene.
Challenge 1: The lack of a clear and universal definition for SEL, and a need to develop and define assessment/measurement tools.
While supporting students' social and emotional needs in school might not solve every problem, it can have significant positive effects and help steer students away from adverse outcomes. In fact, students feel more supported by simply knowing that they are surrounded by caring adults who want to meet their needs.
Challenge 2: A lack of time for educators to focus on and develop strategic implementation of SEL into existing instruction.
Although the evidence supporting integrating SEL into academic instruction in schools showcases positive outcomes, educators have identified challenges to its wide-scale adoption. Below are two of the primary roadblocks voiced by educators and ways in which leaders should begin thinking about overcoming these challenges.

The Collective for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is leading the discussion around SEL and its integration into academics. CASEL outlines five social and emotional competencies that a program must help students develop in order to be considered effective: self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making, and social awareness. Using this as the backbone for any SEL integration, leaders in education must identify the specific social and emotional needs of their student population and adapt instruction to meet these within their district.

As SEL gains traction and more content is published about successful implementations, there is a growing need to equip educators with the teaching practices required to foster these competencies. A combination of explicit instruction with opportunities for practice and support throughout all academic instruction has been identified by thought leaders as best practices moving forward. Therefore, school leaders must incorporate professional learning opportunities for educators to understand and strategize ways in which to incorporate SEL across their campus.

While overcoming these above challenges won't happen overnight, technology is playing a key role in helping educators by providing tools that help empower administrators, teachers, and parents with information they need to foster SEL and ease the way to collaboration. For example, the student data captured throughout a variety of classroom technologies can help administrators receive early warning indicators for emerging issues, leading to more-timely, and therefore effective, interference. Technology is not a cure-all for SEL, but when implemented as part of an initiative led by dedicated leaders, it can gain buy-in, help teachers feel supported, make content delivery more efficient, and help students consume content in a way they desire.
Connect with @EvolutionLabsEdon Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Final Thought
Educators have become quite skilled at " meeting students where they are" in various regards. From relating literature to relevant current events or taking the lessons learned from history and adapting them to real things happening in students' lives, there have been instructional innovations to make academics real and relevant. The same concept of meeting students where they are can be applied to the essential lessons that are " non-academic" in nature, from teaching students about the hazards of bullying to helping them find content that addresses pressing mental health concerns, the dangers of substance abuse, social media pressure, and many more lessons that impact overall wellness.

For Generation Z, " where they are" is online and, more often than not, on a mobile device. In 2018, even their parents may be more comfortable reading information from a cell phone than giving the school counselor a call. To meet the objective of reaching every student and demonstrating that we understand them, we should understand that it is the school's responsibility to reach students with SEL content anywhere and everywhere they take their devices. It all starts with a plan and, of course, great content. But if we don't make sure the content is received, we haven't done the job. A strategic plan makes all the difference.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL for Gen Z? The Responsibility of Meeting Students Where They Are.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today's guest blog is written by Peter Kraft, CEO and Co-Founder of Evolution Labs , a company whose focus is to deliver well-rounded support and positive social and emotional outcomes to students from K-20 Today's learners are digital natives who are accustomed to accessing information through the use of internet-enabled devices.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
All over the world, a. miraculous shift is happening in education, a shift from content to process. To make this easily approachable, we considered what kinds of activities any teacher could familiarize themselves with quickly in order to engage in this shift themselves. It was when we came across 30 Universal Strategies For Learning by TeachThought's Terry Heick that we knew we'd found something special. The activities he shares are geared toward the upper end of Bloom's taxonomy-exactly the kinds of universal learning ventures any global student can appreciate.

When we talk about placing learning at the higher end of Bloom's Taxonomy, we're really talking about challenging our learners to develop higher-order thinking and creation abilities. These 30 universal learning ventures provided by Terry do exactly that.

In his article, Terry stresses that the level of challenge provided by any activity we give students is a crucial consideration for us as teachers. It is, after all, about encouraging our learners' highest development as global citizens and lifelong learners:
" ... to improve learning in both self-directed and teacher-centered learning environments, it can be illuminating to look past the activities, projects, and courses to try to see what sort of brain-level actions learners are performing. Like push-ups, wind sprints, and weight training are physical actions that help train an athlete's body, what kind of cognitive actions train a learner's mind?"
The universal learning ventures below are aimed at self-directed learning development and exercising the HOTS end of Bloom's Taxonomy. Use some of them as an instant mindset shift, or as bigger projects that can evolve into creating a critical solution to a real-world problem. If you want to know more, read Terry's article 30 Universal Strategies For Learning on TeachThought.

30 Universal Learning Ventures for Your Learners

1. Challenge something

2. Make an observation

3. Draw a conclusion

4. Question something

5. Revise a question based on observation & data

6. Critique something

7. Explain the significance

8. Revise something

9. Transfer a lesson or philosophical stance from one situation to another

10. Improve a design

11. Identify a cause and effect

12. Compare and contrast two or more things

13. Create and test models and theories

14. Separate causes from symptoms

15. Identify the primary and secondary causes of a problem

16. Narrate the nuanced history of a concept, theory, idea, problem, or opportunity

17. Adapt something for a new need or circumstance

18. Make a prediction and observe what occurs

19. Examine an idea from multiple perspectives

20. Narrate a sequence

21. Study and visually demonstrate nuance

22. Identify and explain a pattern

23. Study the relationship between text and subtext

24. Elegantly emphasize nuance

25. Emphasize what others commonly misunderstand about an idea

26. Critically evaluate a socially-accepted idea

27. Extract a lesson from nature

28. Take & defend a position

29. Record notes during and after observation of something

30. Form a theory & revise it based on observation and/or data

Where Universal Learning Ventures Come Alive

The very best platform for applying these activities and others in your everyday teaching is on Wabisabi. It's a place for you to build excitement and appreciation for authentic learning every day. Enjoy real-time reporting against your standards, and sharing evidence of learning in media-rich creative student portfolios they build themselves. Additionally, you can make use of our resources section to supplement your practice, where you'll find dozens of quality guides and posters to enhance what you bring to your classroom.

Wabisabi is more than just a place to teach and learn-it's a community of like-minded educators from around the world committed to students achieving their highest levels of capability. Join the Wabisabi community today and see the possibilities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
30 Universal Learning Ventures That Will Challenge Any Student

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All over the world, a. miraculous shift is happening in education, a shift from content to process. To make this easily approachable, we considered what kinds of activities any teacher could familiarize themselves with quickly in order to engage in this shift themselves.

# data[].attributes.headline
Generation What? Connecting with Today's Youth

# data[].attributes.subject
Generation What? Connecting with Today's Youth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
December 1999/January 2000 | Volume 57 | Number 4
Understanding Youth Culture Pages 8-13

Carol Tell

Generation X, that nebulous population characterized by shopping malls, cynicism, and 1970s television reruns, has finally given way to the next generation, raised more on the Internet and video games than on The Brady Bunch and Schoolhouse Rock. Who are they? How are they represented? And what, if any, common experiences do they share and bring into the classroom?

Conflicting Reports

We don't need to revisit press coverage of recent school shootings to hear how teens are in trouble. Although generation gaps have always existed, and older generations have always disparaged the activities and interests of the young, the way we talk about teens has shifted. No longer symptomatic of society's ills, youth are seen as the root cause-at least in the minds of adults who fear and misunderstand them. As Henry Giroux, author of Channel Surfing, says, "Youth are no longer seen as at-risk anymore; they are the risk."

The Public Agenda's most recent report, Kids These Days '99: What Americans Really Think About the Next Generation, underscores that fear. According to the report, more than seven in 10 adults think that teens are "rude," "irresponsible," or "wild" (1999, p. 3). Moreover, adults say that teens lack values, character, and basic civility. This, despite the fact that the majority of teens surveyed feel that they have good relationships with their parents, strong religious beliefs, and good friends.

The education media also portray a new deterioration of teen values. For example, a recent issue of The American School Board Journal is titled Generation of Cheaters. The lead article, which gives results from a 1998 survey of 356 high school teachers, states that nine out of 10 teachers say that cheating is a problem, and half say that they encounter students cheating in most of their classes (Bushweller, 1999). According to teachers, this is because of an "erosion of ethics in a self-centered culture" (p. 25).

But others argue that these negative assertions simply do not measure up. Statistics show that juvenile crime has fallen, teen pregnancy has dropped, and teen drug use has declined (Seibold, 1999). Mike Males (1998), author of The Scapegoat Generation, attacks these myths head on: Youth are less violent, they take better care of themselves, they are less self-destructive, and they take fewer drugs than in past decades. Unfortunately, we focus on the sensational aspects of teens' lives, such as abnormal occurrences of violence. Males tells us, "School killings receive enormous attention not because they are routine, but because they are rare." In fact, Males argues, of the 52 million students, about 24 are murdered in school each year. He compares this with figures from the National Commission on Child Abuse and Neglect: Every year, as many as 3,000 kids are murdered by parents.

Henry Giroux also comments on this paradox:

What is missing in this perceived threat to childhood innocence is the contradiction between adult concern for the safety of children and the reality of how children are treated by adults on a daily basis. (In press)

"We tend to demonize youth," says Giroux. And because young people not only symbolize our future, but they also are our future, this demonization is peculiarly sad and pointedly destructive.

Media Representations

What may add to this disturbing representation of youth are the negative media portrayals, which show teens as uninterested in the world around them, materialistic, and anti-intellectual. Particularly offensive are stereotypes of young African American males, who are often depicted as hostile, criminal, violent, or valued only for their athletic ability.

At the same time, youth culture is everywhere in the media. And teens seem to be running the show, or at least running Hollywood, as the New York Times Magazine suggests in a cover story, "Teenseltown" (Hirschberg, 1999). Teenagers are big business in today's entertainment industry-thus, the overwhelming number of teen movies and television shows, from Drive Me Crazy to Dawson's Creek. The Fox and WB networks have typically catered to a teen audience, but now the faces and themes on the other networks are getting younger and younger. According to the New York Times, young actors can't even get a job if they look over 22. Some ask: Doesn't this represent a proliferation of exuberant youth culture into the mainstream?

Giroux argues that for youth culture to thrive, it must find a medium that allows self-representation and an authentic exploration of youth values and concerns. Instead of offering teens self-expression, the media (and ultimately those who own the media) control what is aired. In addition, they create shows that are generally not about real teenage lives, but are adult fantasies of what teens' lives might be like. As one Virginia 12th grader commented, "The shows focus on the social lives of teens. The typical teenager is portrayed as someone who just likes to have fun." Our current obsession with teenage culture is not a result of the younger generation's influence, Giroux says, but of the older generation's inability to grow up.

The networks also recognize that teenagers are a desirable market. Even music, often seen as the one mode of resistance left for teens to define themselves, rebel, and communicate freely, is an industry. Author Jonathan Epstein points out that

[teen] resistance is expressed through means made available to them through consumerism and the mass media. While pockets of actual resistance do occasionally appear. . . they are quickly swallowed up into the corporate music machine and as such can no longer be viewed as genuine resistance. (1998, pp. 16-17)

Of course, for decades, popular music-and certainly popular musicians-have succumbed to the consumerism of the "corporate music machine."

But one facet of popular culture that teens do seem to control is the medium on which they were raised: Computer technology.

Technology Culture

How has technology influenced youth culture? "Technology is youth culture," says author and media critic Jon Katz. "These kids are building a revolution. Technology is part of their ideology, their language, everything they do."

Often, educators think of technology as an instrument with which they teach a traditional curriculum-math, science, writing-in an effective, even more interesting way. Most schools and districts are doing their best to keep up with technology trends. For example, the North Carolina State Board of Education has mandated that starting in 2001, students must pass a computer literacy exam to earn a diploma. In addition, more and more schools are learning to produce online newspapers.

But for today's teens, technology is more than a set of skills or a tool for learning. Sally Beisser, assistant professor in the Effective Teaching Program of Drake University, Iowa, says that technology is about communication. Teens talk in chat rooms to students whom they have never met and e-mail their school friends, relatives, friends who have moved away, even siblings. Although e-mail may not have replaced malls, school hallways, or movie houses, it has certainly become another "place" for students to gossip, exchange homework, flirt, and connect with their peers. Not surprisingly, when teens misbehave, parents still ground their kids-not from going outside, but from going online.

On the Internet, teens can communicate, learn, and come together around issues that interest them. They have even developed their own language. Part of the appeal may have to do with the fact that they do not have to communicate face-to-face. Adolescence can be an awkward time, when the body changes in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable. Personalities and identities are also in constant flux. At a time when teens need to explore a range of interests for themselves, the Internet offers a relatively safe avenue for exploration.

But many adults do not see it that way. They worry about the easy accessibility of pornographic, violent, or other potentially dangerous material on the Web. Shouldn't teenagers be outside getting exercise and talking to their friends? And what about these chat rooms? Many parents and educators fear what teens are doing online, with their doors shut, in secret.

Technology and Secret Lives?

Both Life (Adato, 1999) and Newsweek (Leland, 1999) published cover stories with almost the exact same titles: "The Secret Lives/Life of Teens." Both magazines suggested that using technology-an activity that teens appear to do by themselves-is one cause of a growing alienation and isolation that characterize today's youth. As J. Leland says in Newsweek, "A parent who might eventually notice a stockpile of Guns & Ammo or pornographic magazines has fewer clues to a child's online activities" (1999, p. 46).

Are computers making teens more alienated and dangerous? Or is the Internet just another way for kids to communicate? Jon Katz believes the latter. Instead of providing an isolating and mind-numbing experience, technology is a creative and exciting tool that gives teens freedom-to express themselves, to get information, and to learn. And if teens do have "secret lives," it is only because adults refuse to enter into them. The responsibility is on parents and educators to know what their youth are doing, not the other way around. Instead, Katz argues, too many adults have been either "hostile or oblivious" to teen cyberculture.

This hostility extends into the classroom, Katz says, which creates a greater disconnect between how kids learn and communicate in their free time and how they are taught in school. On the Internet, young people are allowed to say what they want, when they want, and to whom they want. Because their identities are often anonymous, their ideas are taken seriously. But in many cases, when students get to school, they feel that they have fewer rights, fewer freedoms, and less respect.

"Techie students" in particular sense the hostility that their teachers feel toward computers, which leads to a greater sense of alienation and frustration. For example, most schools still value what happens on the football field more than what happens on the home computer. Katz believes that these attitudes need to change. "Why is it healthy to throw a ball at other people on a field and unhealthy to play a game on the Internet?" Katz asks. "Culture is also a Web page."

The fear of the Internet and the possibility of what teens will stumble upon lead to issues of censorship-trying to block out pornography sites, for example, or to restrict chat room access. Katz argues that rather than focus solely on censorship, educators would do better to teach students how to use the Internet, how to read and evaluate Web sites, and how to surf safely. But because too many adults are reluctant to understand technology and its appeal for young people, kids are being "orphaned by the system," says Katz. That abandonment is both irresponsible and dangerous.

Henry Giroux takes it one step further. He is hesitant to praise cyberspace as the ideal sphere where teens can engage and unite in a meaningful way. Although teens do have freedom to explore and communicate, that freedom is still limited. The Internet is not really theirs. "Who owns the Internet?" asks Giroux. "It is still about corporate culture, about making money. . . . The Internet is limiting because it frames the range of possible responses" that students can have.

Thomas Jefferson High School

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, is a competitive magnet school of about 1,600 students. The school offers a comprehensive college preparatory program that emphasizes the sciences, mathematics, and technology. The students are bright, motivated, serious about their futures, and technologically adept.

When students talk about the Internet, they are, not surprisingly, at ease, articulate, and almost nonchalant. Even a bit predictable. They recognize that computers shape their lives and their education and that they are more comfortable on the Web than many adults. "We're the first generation to have the Internet," 12th grader Ray Hohenstein says. "We have a family computer at home, but I taught my mom how to use it."

But because the school emphasizes technology and the teachers appreciate and encourage its use, students dismiss the notion of having "secret lives" on the Internet. "Technology is just something we do. We don't think about it," says Geeta Kulkarni, 11th grade. Even communication is no big deal. She feels that e-mail is "OK," but for "serious conversations" she prefers the telephone or face-to-face contact. However, her 7th grade sister uses it all the time.

In science class, a group of boisterous 9th graders consider what most represents their generation. The Internet? Computers? They shout out an answer almost in unison: "Abercrombie and Fitch!" This pricey clothing store chain is the trend at their school. But as soon as they say it, they smile mischievously. Many roll their eyes. One girl says proudly that she doesn't own any clothing from the store, and the boy sitting next to her examines her shirt label, just to be sure.

Interestingly, students of all grades were most sincere not when they talked about clothing or technology, but when they talked about their teachers. More than what or how they teach, the students valued their teachers for treating them as individuals. As 12th grader Martina Castro puts it, "Education has nothing to do with numbers. Teachers need to connect with us as human beings." Geeta Kulkarni echoes, "Teachers are best when they treat you like a person, when they become a friend."

In the age of the Internet, at a school that focuses on technology, what do students want most from their teachers? Human connection.

Reconnecting with Youth

This desire confirms the findings of author Patricia Hersch, whose book A Tribe Apart focused not on "fringe" youth but on ordinary teenagers from a variety of backgrounds. The distinguishing feature of today's youth is not technology, she says: "It is 'aloneness.'" Because of the social changes of the past 25 years, teens today have spent more time alone than any other generation. They are missing a coherent sense of community.

"If people want to understand youth culture, they need to look at adult culture," Hersch insists. And many parents of teenagers are still trying to figure out who they are. In addition, "parents" no longer represent a homogeneous group: They are different ages, they have different family structures, and they embody differing belief systems. Morality varies from one house to the next. "Other generations have marched through time together," says Hersch. "Teens today are getting conflicting messages of how to model behavior." Henry Giroux agrees:

What is largely missed in current commentaries on the condition of contemporary youth is that what is changing, if not disappearing, is the productive social bonds between adults and children. (In press)

If alienation is the defining characteristic of this generation, then technology may be more a response to alienation than its result. What can educators do to reconnect with today's youth? Jon Katz suggests that rather than look down on students for adopting computers as their newest mode of communication, educators need to get over their fear and skepticism-for the sake of their students. Katz suggests closing the gap between what the school curriculum offers and what students do at home. Offer courses in computer gaming, for example, or teach students how to approach violent or sexual imagery on the Web. More than anything else, teachers need to guide the process. Kids are educating themselves in many cases, and they feel disconnected because school is no longer central in their lives.

Most of all, everyone agrees that we must stop looking at youth as the problem. In The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager (1999), Thomas Hine points out that many issues burdening teens today are the result of their disassociation from the adult world. Rather than try to understand "youth culture" as something distinct from "adult" or "mainstream culture," perhaps we should see the two as interdependent and, in many ways, inseparable. What teens say that they want is to be taken seriously and to feel connected to the larger community.

"Our generation is hopeful," student Ray Hohenstein says. "We have lots of ideas about how to improve our world." If we feel compelled to label the next generation, maybe that label should include the word hope.

References

Adato, A. (1999, March). The secret lives of teens. Life, 38-48.

Bushweller, K. (1999, April). Generation of cheaters. The American School Board Journal, 186(4), 24-32.

Epstein, J. S. (Ed.). (1998). Generation X, youth culture, and identity. In Youth culture: Identity in a postmodern world (pp. 1-23). Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Giroux, H. (In press). Stealing innocence. Journal of Composition Theory.

Giroux, H. (1998). Teenage sexuality, body politics, and the pedagogy of display. In J. S. Epstein (Ed.), Youth culture: Identity in a postmodern world (pp. 24-55). Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Hine, T. (1999). The rise and fall of the American teenager. New York: Bard Books.

Hirschberg, L. (1999, September 5). Teenseltown. New York Times Magazine, pp. 42-49, 74-79.

Leland, J. (1999, May 10). The secret life of teens. Newsweek, 45-50.

Males, M. (1998, April 29). Five myths, and why adults believe they are true. New York Times. Teens: A special report [On-line]. Available: www.nytimes.com/specials/teens/male.html

Public Agenda. (1999). : Kids these days '99: What Americans really think about the next generation. New York: Author.

Seibold, D. (1999, April). The kids are all right. Our Children, 8-12.

Carol Tell is Associate Editor of Educational Leadership.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Generation What? Connecting with Today's Youth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
December 1999/January 2000 | Volume 57 | Number 4 Understanding Youth Culture Pages 8-13 Carol Tell Generation X, that nebulous population characterized by shopping malls, cynicism, and 1970s television reruns, has finally given way to the next generation, raised more on the Internet and video games than on The Brady Bunch and Schoolhouse Rock.