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Helping teachers face down fake news and cultivate smart, discerning consumers of online information

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Helping teachers face down fake news and cultivate smart, discerning consumers of online information

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THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: NATURE WORKS EVERYWHERE!

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THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: NATURE WORKS EVERYWHERE!

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We help teachers teach young people how Nature works.

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We help teachers teach young people about nature with free resources such as lesson plans, videos, Virtual Field Trips, and interactive garden tools.

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How to Keep Your Students Calm and Focused This Holiday Season

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How to Keep Your Students Calm and Focused This Holiday Season

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From Smart Classroom Management

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As the holiday season ramps up, students become antsier.

They can feel the midyear break just around the corner.

And their excitement builds day by day.

The weather, the music, the traditions. The decorations, the lights, the commercials.

Despite how much your school may try to avoid the reminders, it all has a way of spilling over into the classroom.

Causing excitability, restlessness, and misbehavior.

If you're not careful, the two weeks or so before vacation can be a stressful grind to the finish.

But it doesn't have to be this way. In fact, with just a few strategies it can be a time of calm and focus and even accelerating improvement.

Here's how:
1. Take your time.
Your students are strongly influenced by your temperament. Thus, the more excitable they are due to outside forces, the more important it is for you to stay calm and take your time.

Pause frequently. Speak in a softer voice. Move efficiently and with graceful ease. Breathe fully, in and out, and keep your body loose and relaxed.

Although your students may bring rambunctiousness and commotion with them from home, you control whether they keep it or surrender it out into the ether.
2. Provide more breaks.
Mental and physical breaks become more essential the closer you get to vacation. So get your students up and moving frequently, every thirty minutes or so.

Lead them in a series of stretches, yoga poses, exercises, or slow deep breathing. Let them walk over to say hello to a friend and even chat for a few minutes.

Include more time and opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas though pair-share and group work.

By providing the means through which they can shake out their restlessness, they'll return to their more focused responsibilities refreshed and prepared to learn.
3. Focus on details.
One of the negative byproducts of over-excited students is that their work becomes sloppy and less precise. Following directions and performing routines also tend to suffer.

The antidote is to be more specific and detailed in your instruction. Add an additional modeling exercise. Ask another checking-for-understanding question.

Double down on the nitty-gritty and the chassis won't get so loose.

And if anything ever fails to meet your high-bar standards, back up to the previous transition, reestablish your expectations, and start over again.
4. Increase the challenge.
The tendency is for teachers to lighten up as vacation nears. Without even realizing it, they find themselves accepting less and asking less because they happen to be in the midst of a holiday season.

But this sends the message that it's okay to be less attentive and have shoddy work habits, that a certain amount of misbehavior is expected.

Although you should always push the envelope on what you ask of your students-every day of the year-the closer you get to an extended break the more critical this becomes.

Because it keeps your students on task, focus-driven, and striving to the end.
Subtle But Powerful

Effective classroom management requires you to be mindful of the moment, the time of day, and the season of the year. It takes a proactive view and a shrewd approach to potential landmines that lie ahead.

If you simply go about your business, the two weeks before holiday break can be filled with headaches, apprehension, and added stress.

But with just a few adjustments, a few tweaks to your pace, timing, instruction, and disposition, you can maintain your own sense of peace and enjoyment this holiday season.

You can subtly but powerfully alleviate the negative excitement and energy, the silliness and distraction, the impatience and impulsiveness.

And keep your class calm and focused all the way to the final bell.

If you haven't done so already, please join us. It's free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

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How To Keep Your Students Calm And Focused This Holiday Season - Smart Classroom Management

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As the holiday season ramps up, students become antsier. They can feel the midyear break just around the corner. And their excitement builds day by day. The weather, the music, the traditions. The decorations, the lights, the commercials. Despite how much your school may try to avoid the reminders, it all has a way of ...

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Self-inflicted injuries surge among tween and early teen girls

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Self-inflicted injuries surge among tween and early teen girls

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However, rates of self-harm among boys and young men between the ages of 10 and 24 remained stable throughout the years 2001 through 2015, the researchers said.

"Suicide is preventable," said Melissa C. Mercado, lead author of the study published Tuesday in JAMA and a behavioral scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "These findings underscore the need for the implementation of evidence-based, comprehensive suicide- and self-harm-prevention strategies."

Suicidal vs. non-suicidal injuries

Young people have higher rates of nonfatal self-inflicted injuries, according to Mercado. She and her co-authors looked at first-time nonfatal injury visits among people 10 to 24 years old at 66 hospital emergency rooms from 2001 through 2015.

"The data used for this study did not allow for the distinction between suicidal and non-suicidal intent of the self-inflicted injuries," Mercado wrote in an email.

A total of 43,138 ER visits for self-inflicted injury were reported at those hospitals during the study period for kids, teens and young adults, the researchers found, and they used mathematical adjustments to estimate national rates.

The study does not include firearm injuries, hangings, "recreational" overdoses, jumping from heights or car accidents.

Despite gaps, the study still indicates that "we certainly have a more troubled population," said Carl Tishler, an adjunct associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University.

Overall, the annual rate of self-inflicted injuries among both males and females ages 10 through 24 increased from 201.6 per 100,000 to 303.7 between 2001 and 2015.

But among males, self-inflicted injury rates remained stable, the researchers found.

Females alone contributed to the upward trend. The annual rate of self-inflicted injuries among females 10 through 24 rose from 245.5 per 100,000 in 2001 to 434 per 100,000 in 2015, an increase of 8.4% each year.

Poisoning -- such as an overdose of medication -- was the most common method of injury for girls, though self-inflicted injuries with a sharp object increased during the study period.

Before 2009, the annual rate of ER visits for females with self-injuries showed no dramatic change. It was after 2009 that a significant uptick occurred, particularly among the youngest girls.

For girls between 10 and 14, annual rates of self-inflicted injury swelled from 109.8 per 100,000 in 2009 to 317.7 per 100,000 in 2015, an increase of nearly 19% each year.

The data themselves cannot explain why rates have increased among females in recent years, Mercado said, but the new findings are consistent with previously reported trends. Tishler agrees that the new findings are aligned with past research, yet he said the new study is "confusing."

Gaps in the data

The increasing rates of self-inflicted injuries among young girls may be related to "non-suicidal self-injury," said Tishler, who was not involved in the new study. Girls sometimes cut themselves just to see whether they feel something," he said. In these cases, self-harm may arise from psychosis caused by drugs, schizophrenia or severe depression and so may not be an intentional suicide attempt.

"There's quite a bit of debate in the field," Tishler said, adding that some people say self-harm is "definitely a precursor to suicide or suicide attempts, and others say it's a separate entity."

"Clinically, we see both. You can't say it's one or the other," he said. The question is whether the self-harm will lead to "a kind of crescendo effect, where it escalates to much more severe self-injury."

The answer is not always obvious when talking with a patient, and the new research does not offer any insight, he said.

Troubles for girls include pressure, exerted through the "internet and everything else, for kids to try to act older than their age," he said. After seeing a movie in which a high school-age person cuts themselves, younger teens or tweens may want to do it, too.

He also speculates that home violence may have increased in recent years. Past studies indicate that children, particularly those under age 12, are more at risk for suicide and suicide attempts after witnessing domestic violence.

Other factors that raise the risk of suicide among children include chronic illnesses and a family history of depression or anxiety, Tishler said. Changes in prescription drug use -- beginning or ending antidepressants, for example, changing ADHD drugs or just changing doses -- may place children at risk for self-destructive behavior.

"I think it's grossly underestimated as to the size of the problem," Tishler said, adding that he was still glad the new study was published, even if "it doesn't tell us too much."

Dr. Gregory Plemmons, an associate professor of pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, agreed.

'More nontraditional overdoses'

Plemmons, who was not involved in the new research, said the increase in self-injury among younger girls in recent years is "fairly similar" to what was found in his own previous study.

Acknowledging how difficult it is to "actually measure what is going on," he said, "obviously, not all of these visits may represent true suicidal behavior."

He suggested that rates of self-harm might be rising among young teens and tweens because girls are heavier social media users than boys, because girls are now entering puberty at slightly younger ages or because social contagion is happening: Like an infection, suicidal thoughts may spread among groups of young girls.

Plemmons said it would be interesting to know whether there were other demographic trends -- such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity or geography -- and to get a handle on poisoning trends.

"Anecdotally we are seeing more nontraditional overdoses (aspirin, clonidine and other drugs, in addition to the usual over-the-counter meds)," Plemmons wrote in an email. "Also, while social media has often been blamed as a factor, through its use we are also finding out sooner than in times previous about real-time attempts." Teens may post on Facebook that they've taken an overdose or may text a friend.

Although it could be argued that some of this increase is out of a desire for attention, "it must be taken seriously," Plemmons said.

What should parents do?

"Suicide ideation appears to be increasing among youth, and given that suicide death rates in youth are also increasing, any concern or thought of wanting to hurt one's self needs to be taken seriously," Plemmons said. "It's also crucial for parents to think about household safety as well -- what types of medications are in the home, are firearms present, and if so, secured."

Tishler said parents would be wise to "unobtrusively" check their children for scars or marks. It's also possible for parents to "glean some information" from their children's friends.

Listening to backseat discussions while chauffeuring kids to and from soccer practice is also important. A parent may hear something unexpected.

"Kids say, 'Mom or Dad, this is none of your business!' But they're talking loud enough for you to hear, because of course they want you to hear," Tishler said. "If you sense that there's a problem, I think it's important to talk to the child's teacher, the child's counselor at school, and if you're still worried, have a child see a mental health professional for an evaluation."

Almost one in five teenagers between 15 and 19 has considered suicide, and almost 10% have attempted it, according to the CDC. Among Americans between 10 and 24, suicide was the second-leading cause of death in 2015.

Meanwhile, across all age groups, there is approximately one suicide every 12 minutes, Mercado said.

She added that some proven strategies for preventing suicide among youth include "strengthening access to and delivery of suicide care, creating protective environments, promoting youth connectedness, teaching coping and problem-solving skills, and identifying and supporting at-risk youth."

"Suicide is a public health problem that has far-reaching consequences," she said. "Suicide impacts friends, family members, co-workers, communities and society."

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self-inflicted injuries rise among teen girls  - cnn

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Self-harm rising among tween and teen girls

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However, rates of self-harm among boys and young men between the ages of 10 and 24 remained stable throughout the years 2001 through 2015, the researchers said. "Suicide is preventable," said Melissa C. Mercado, lead author of the study published Tuesday in JAMA and a behavioral scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Library of Congress Launches Three New Learning Apps

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Library of Congress Launches Three New Learning Apps

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The apps are designed for K-12 students and cover subjects such as American history, government and civics.

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The apps are designed for K-12 students and cover subjects such as American history, government and civics.

Kate Roddy Staff Reporter

...

The Library of Congress. (Getty Images)

The Library of Congress on Friday announced the release of three new digital learning apps for K-12 students that explore subjects like American government and civic participation.

Eagle Eye Citizen, which was developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, teaches middle and high school students how to analyze sources of information and apply historical data to events, building the students' civic understanding and historical thinking skills.

In addition to the app's problem sets for American history, government and citizenship, teachers and students are able to build their own interactive challenges with resources from the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress also collaborated with Indiana University's Center on Representative Government to develop Engaging Congress, an app consisting of game-based learning activities on representative government and its current challenges in society.

Representatives from Indiana University are unveiling the app and demonstrating how it works on Nov. 17 and 19 during the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) annual conference in San Francisco.

The final app, KidCitizen, was developed by Muzzy Lane Software and features a series of interactive episodes where children can observe primary source photographs from the Library of Congress, explore the concepts of government and civics, and connect this information back to their own lives.

The KidCitizen episodes are intended to create an active and social learning experience for K-5 students, drawing on students' abilities to draw meaning from academic content and fostering visual literacy and historical inquiry.

According to the Library of Congress, the institutions and organizations chosen for these projects provided extensive research and testing for the apps and developed support resources for instructors.

"We are delighted to see the creative ways in which these three interactives support students' investigations of government, legislation and the role each of us can play in participating in our nation's civic life," Lee Ann Potter, director of educational outreach at the Library of Congress, said in a statement.

"Primary sources are uniquely powerful teaching tools, and the Library's education staff learned a great deal by watching the selected organizations use historical artifacts to illuminate key aspects of national institutions and citizen engagement," Potter added.

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Library of Congress launches three new learning apps

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The apps are designed for K-12 students and cover subjects such as American history, government and civics. Kate Roddy Staff Reporter ... The Library of Congress. (Getty Images) The Library of Congress on Friday announced the release of three new digital learning apps for K-12 students that explore subjects like American government and civic participation.

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Don't Just Teach Kids to Code Teach them to Question Facebook and Google

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Don't Just Teach Kids to Code Teach them to Question Facebook and Google

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It’s shameful that our children are still so computer illiterate. Let’s give them the skills to take on the tech giants, and create a more democratic internet.

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Three years ago, before the Brexit dreams of renewed imperial glory and Vimto for all took wing, England took an uncharacteristically bold step into the future. Michael Gove was in charge of the Department for Education, and he appeared to make good his promise to revolutionise the teaching of computing in schools. He damned the subject known as information and communication technology (or ICT), which its detractors - with a good deal of justification - said was too often reducible to showing kids how to use PowerPoint. "About as much use as teaching children to send a telex or travel in a zeppelin," said Gove. The new thing, he enthused, was computer science, and a drive to ensure that schools would now show their pupils "not just how to work a computer; but how a computer works, and how to make it work for you".

Five-year-olds were to be shown how to code; those aged seven to 11 would be introduced to "sequence, selection, and repetition in programs". In 2015, after a long period of groundwork, it was announced that a new GCSE in computer science was to be introduced. At last, there seemed to be an institutional recognition that the future - or, in reality, the present - could not just be based around such Gove-ite articles of faith as the 12 times table, the ability to spot "fronted adverbials" and old-fashioned classroom discipline, but HTML and JavaScript.

And so to reality, and a country increasingly hit by schools cuts, with a decaying government so consumed by leaving the EU that it seems not to hear any complaints, let alone listen to them. Ten days ago, the reality of the teaching of computing in schools was laid bare by a report from the Royal Society, and it was not pretty. More than half of England's schools are still not offering computer science GCSEs. At the last count, the proportion of the country's pupils who actually sat the exam was a miserable 11%. There is a pronounced gap between rural and urban areas. To cap it all, there is still a lack of girls studying computer science: only 20% of GCSE candidates in the past year were female, and only 10% of female students decided to carry the subject on at A-level.

Thanks to long years of education being kicked around by politicians, the pressures wrought by targets and inspections and the effects of the public sector pay cap, there is an on-going recruitment crisis in teaching as a whole, with computing among the most obvious casualties. England is meeting only 68% of its computer science teacher recruitment targets, partly because of the handsome career prospects available in the private sector (the same picture applies in Scotland, where the number of computing teachers has fallen by 25% since 2005). In the absence of even half-decent training, existing teachers say they do not have the right support to get on top of the new subjects: according to a YouGov survey published last month, 67% of primary and secondary school teachers believe they cannot teach coding because of a lack of "skills and teaching tools", and just under 40% say they do not have access to the right hardware and software.

Earlier this year, one teacher summed up the essential problem: "I'm learning as I go along with the kids." You cannot teach maths, Spanish, physics or basic grammar on that basis. Why should a subject as exacting as computing be any different?

Largely to education's detriment, the parts of the Gove revolution that were more easily accomplished are in place, but this one is foundering, and the upshot seems to suit our state of national disrepair to a T: by the time your child is 11, he or she might be studying the second world war for the third time, but coding will too often remain neglected. It's good to know about the blitz, for sure, but it will not make you better suited to the future, either as a country or an individual.

So it is that a tragedy unfolds. Outside the classroom, a deep cultural change is afoot. If you have the money and inclination, you can acquaint your kids with programming skills via such inspired inventions as the Kano computer kit, a crowdfunded wonder that snaps together like Lego, and allows its users to start to master the basic processes of coding. Across the country, there is a growing network of Code Clubs largely built on the goodwill of volunteers.

Two weeks ago, I took my eight-year-old daughter to one, run on Saturday mornings. She has since built her first elementary website, variously focused on Stig of the Dump and the computer game and entertainment franchise Five Nights at Freddy's. For the two hours we were there, a thought glued itself to my mind: why isn't school more like this?

Just to make this clear: this is not fundamentally about creating an army of professional programmers, any more than teaching people Spanish or Mandarin is reducible to encouraging people to be full-time linguists. A grasp of coding is a classic generalisable skill: it fosters an understanding of logic, advanced problem-solving, and the processes needed to turn ideas into functioning systems. As automation and AI gain pace and threaten whole chunks of the labour force, the people who possess such talents increasingly stick out. They work in manufacturing, financial services, retail, the media and more - and in the midst of the most challenging economic environment this country has probably ever faced, they seem to be among the few people who might hold the key to some kind of viable future. And at the moment, the fact they exist feels more like a matter of accident than design.

The importance of computing education also cuts straight to what is arguably the biggest cultural issue of our time: our increasingly lamentable collective relationship with the internet, and what that means for our lives. The idea that Facebook and Google are coming close to killing the internet's last residue of anarchic democracy by colonising the online world is a cliche, but only because it's true. Their dominance depends on the way that most people now blindly obey their diktats in the same way that my generation gawped at the TV - not least the young people who are immersed in the social media world, and often find themselves vulnerable to its worst excesses. The only way you can even start to reverse all that is by prising off the digital facade and encouraging people to remake the online world as they want.

And then there is the gender issue. It rather pains me to say this, but for as long as computing remains largely outside the classroom, its take-up will be vulnerable to the crass cultural pressures that too often make it a male preserve. Fund it properly, make a point of bringing in women computing experts to illustrate the fact that their specialism is for everybody, and you might just achieve miracles - starting, perhaps, with the upending of the tech world's current addiction to testosterone.

The Royal Society report recommends £60m of new spending over the next five years, and the recruitment of 8,000 new computing teachers in English secondary schools. The aims are laudable enough, but they sound like only the start. Averting our eyes from the future is in danger of becoming a deep national trait. Before it's far too late, we need a new generation that can hack, code, and find out what might lie beyond the Facebook era. Without them, we will sink.

* John Harris is a Guardian columnist

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Don't just teach kids to code - teach them to question Facebook and Google | John Harris

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Three years ago, before the Brexit dreams of renewed imperial glory and Vimto for all took wing, England took an uncharacteristically bold step into the future. Michael Gove was in charge of the Department for Education, and he appeared to make good his promise to revolutionise the teaching of computing in schools.

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An In-Depth Analysis of Cultural Perspective Taking

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Walk a Mile in Their Shoes-An In-depth Analysis of Cultural Perspective Taking[1]

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8 Reasons Why Kindness Should Be Taught in Schools

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8 Reasons Why Kindness Should Be Taught in Schools

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Most people have heard the phrase "random acts of kindness," which refers to a selfless act of giving resulting in another's happiness. Terms like this are increasing in popularity around the world, as more people identify a deficiency in their lives that can only be fulfilled by altruism.

It seems we just can't get enough of those addictive, feel-good emotions, and with good reason.

Scientific studies have shown that kindness has a great number of physical and emotional benefits and that children require a healthy dose of warm fuzzies in order to flourish as healthy, happy, well-rounded individuals.

Patty O'Grady, PhD, is an expert in the area of neuroscience, emotional learning, and positive psychology with special attention to the educational arena.

She believes that "kindness changes the brain by the experience of kindness. Children and adolescents do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can reproduce it. Kindness is an emotion that students feel and empathy is a strength that they share."

Teaching kindness in schools results in the following:

Happy children. The good feelings we experience when being kind are produced by endorphins. Endorphins are chemicals that activate brain regions associated with pleasure, social connection and trust. It's proven that these feelings of joyfulness are contagious, encouraging more kind behavior by the giver and recipient.

Increased peer acceptance. Research has determined that kindness increases our ability to form meaningful connections with others. Kind, happy children enjoy greater peer acceptance because they are well-liked. Because of an even distribution of popularity, better-than-average mental health is reported in classrooms that practice more inclusive behavior.

Improved health and decreased stress. It's widely documented that being kind can trigger a release of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin can significantly increase a person's level of happiness and reduce stress. It also plays a significant role in the cardiovascular system, helping protect the heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing free radicals and inflammation. (Those speed up the aging process.)

Greater sense of belonging and improved self-esteem. Studies show that people experience a "helper's high" when they do a good deed - a rush of endorphins that creates a lasting sense of pride and well-being and an enriched sense of belonging. Even small acts of kindness are reported to heighten our sense of well-being, increase energy and give a wonderful feeling of optimism and self-worth.

Increased feelings of gratitude. When children are part of projects that help less-fortunate others, it provides them a real sense of perspective and helps them appreciate the good things in their own lives.

Better concentration and improved results. Kindness helps children feel good; it increases serotonin, which plays an important part in learning, memory, mood, sleep, health and digestion. Having a positive outlook allows them greater attentions spans and enables more creative thinking to produce better results at school.

Less bullying. Two Penn State Harrisburg faculty researchers, Shanetia Clark and Barbara Marinak, say, "unlike previous generations, today's adolescents are victimizing each other at alarming rates." They argue adolescent bullying and youth violence can be confronted through in-school programs that integrate "kindness - the antithesis of victimization." Many traditional anti-bullying programs have little impact because they focus on the negative actions that cause children anxiety. Teaching kindness and compassion in schools not only fosters the positive behavior that creates warm and inclusive school environments, but also helps children feel that they belong. It's documented that the effects of bullying can be significantly reduced by integrating kindness-based programs in schools.

Reduced depression. Dr. Wayne Dyer, internationally renowned author and speaker, says research has discovered that an act of kindness increases levels of serotonin (a natural chemical responsible for improving mood) in the brain. It's also found that serotonin levels are increased in both the giver and receiver of an act of kindness, as well as anyone who witnesses that kindness, making it a wonderful natural antidepressant.

Maurice Elias, a professor in Rutgers University's psychology department, says that "as a citizen, grandparent, father, and professional, it is clear to me that the mission of schools must include teaching kindness. Without it, communities, families, schools, and classrooms become places of incivility where lasting learning is unlikely to take place.

"We need to be prepared to teach kindness, because it can be delayed due to maltreatment early in life. It can be smothered under the weight of poverty, and it can be derailed by victimization later in life. Yet despite these and other travails, the receipt of kindness and the ability to show kindness through service are both growth enhancing and soul cleansing.

"Kindness can be taught, and it is a defining aspect of civilized human life. It belongs in every home, school, neighborhood, and society."

It's become quite clear that modern education must encompass more than just academics. For children to develop into happy, confident, well-rounded individuals, matters of the heart must be taken seriously and nurtured as a matter of priority.

References
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/sel-teaching-kindness-maurice-elias
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-r-hamilton-phd/kindness-benefits_b_869537.html http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positive-psychology-in-the-classroom/201302/the-positive-psychology-kindness http://phys.org/news191601357.html http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0051380

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8 Reasons Why Kindness Should Be Taught in Schools

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Most people have heard the phrase "random acts of kindness," which refers to a selfless act of giving resulting in another's happiness. Terms like this are increasing in popularity around the world, as more people identify a deficiency in their lives that can only be fulfilled by altruism.

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Music Training Changes Children's Brain Structure & Boosts Decision Making Network

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Music Training Changes Children's Brain Structure & Boosts Decision Making Network

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In as little as two years of learning, music can change the structure of the brain’s white matter and boost networks implicated in decision making in children, USC researchers report.

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Summary: In as little as two years of learning, music can change the structure of the brain's white matter and boost networks implicated in decision making in children, USC researchers report.
Source: USC.
If the brain is a muscle, then learning to play an instrument and read music is the ultimate exercise.
Two new studies from the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC show that as little as two years of music instruction has multiple benefits. Music training can change both the structure of the brain's white matter, which carries signals through the brain, and gray matter, which contains most of the brain's neurons that are active in processing information. Music instruction also boosts engagement of brain networks that are responsible for decision-making and the ability to focus attention and inhibit impulses.

The benefits were revealed in studies published recently in scientific journals, including one in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

The results are from an ongoing longitudinal study that began in 2012, when the institute, based at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, established a partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) to examine the impact of music instruction on children's social, emotional and cognitive development.

The neuroscientists have been monitoring the brain development and behavior of children from underserved neighborhoods in Los Angeles, including some learning to play music with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles at HOLA.

To examine the impact of music training on their brains, the scientists have used several scientific techniques, including behavioral testing, structural and functional MRI scans, and EEG to track electrical activity in the brains.

Initial results published last year showed that music training accelerates maturity in areas of the brain responsible for sound processing, language development, speech perception and reading skills.

"Together these results demonstrate that community music programs can offset some of the negative consequences that low socioeconomic status can have on child development," said Assal Habibi, the lead author and an assistant research professor of psychology.

A growing body of research has shown that poverty can greatly disrupt or hinder brain development for children, affecting their performance in school.
A developmental crescendo
For the latest studies, the neuroscientists tracked and monitored changes in 20 children who had started learning to play and read music through the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Youth Orchestra Los Angeles program at HOLA at age 6 or 7. The community music training program resembles one that Los Angeles Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel had been in when he was growing up in Venezuela, where it was known as El Sistema.

The Youth Orchestra Los Angeles students in this study learned to play instruments, such as the violin, in ensembles and groups, and they practice up to seven hours a week.

The scientists also compared the musicians to peers in two other groups: 19 children in a community sports program, and, as a control group, 21 children who were not involved in any specific after-school programs.
Sounding off
In the Brain and Creativity Institute study, children receiving music instruction, compared to peers, demonstrated changes in thickness and volume of brain regions that are engaged in processing sound.

These regions, called "auditory association areas," are located just above the ears. Cortical thickness is a reliable measure of brain maturity. Children who have received music training showed differences in the thickness of the auditory areas in the right versus the left hemisphere, a sign that music training impacts brain structure. In addition, children learning to play and read music showed a stronger robustness of the white matter, a sign of stronger connectivity in the corpus callosum, an area that allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.

"There has been a long suspicion that music practice has a beneficial effect on human behavior. But this study proves convincingly that the effect is real," said Antonio Damasio, University Professor and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute.

In a study published two weeks ago in the journal PLoS One, the neuroscientists at the institute found that when the young musicians were performing an intellectual task, they demonstrated greater engagement of a brain network that is involved in executive function and decision-making.

For the task, known in psychology research as the "color-word Stroop task," children were presented with a word whose meaning at times matched its color.

For example, the word "blue" appeared in blue font. In some instances, however, there was an incongruency, such as the word blue appearing in a red font. To test their impulse control and decision-making abilities, children were asked to ignore the written words and instead name the color of the word. Children completed the task while undergoing an MRI scan, which tracked the differences in brain responses between children learning music and those who were not.

"We have documented longitudinal changes in the brains of the children receiving music instruction that are distinct from the typical brain changes that children that age would develop," Habibi said. "Our findings suggest that musical training is a powerful intervention that could help children mature emotionally and intellectually."

About this neuroscience research article

BCI co-directors Antonio Damasio and Hanna Damasio were co-authors of the Cerebral Cortex study along with BCI research associate Ryan Veiga; Beatriz Ilari of the USC Thornton School of Music; and Anand Joshi, Justin Haldar and Richard Leahy of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Co-authors of the PLOS One study published on Oct. 30 included Jonas Kaplan, graduate student Matthew Sachs and Alissa Der Sarkissian, a research assistant at BCI.

Funding: The study was supported by the Brain and Creativity Institute Research Fund.

Source: Emily Ortman - USC
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Craig T. Mathew, Mathew Imaging.
Original Research: The first study will appear in Cerebral Cortex.

Full open access research for "Increased engagement of the cognitive control network associated with music training in children during an fMRI Stroop task" by Matthew Sachs, Jonas Kaplan, Alissa Der Sarkissian, and Assal Habibi in PLOS ONE. Published online October 30 2017 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187254

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

Abstract Increased engagement of the cognitive control network associated with music training in children during an fMRI Stroop task
Playing a musical instrument engages various sensorimotor processes and draws on cognitive capacities collectively termed executive functions. However, while music training is believed to associated with enhancements in certain cognitive and language abilities, studies that have explored the specific relationship between music and executive function have yielded conflicting results. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, we investigated the effects of music training on executive function using fMRI and several behavioral tasks, including the Color-Word Stroop task. Children involved in ongoing music training (N = 14, mean age = 8.67) were compared with two groups of comparable general cognitive abilities and socioeconomic status, one involved in sports ("sports" group, N = 13, mean age = 8.85) and another not involved in music or sports ("control" group, N = 17, mean age = 9.05). During the Color-Word Stroop task, children with music training showed significantly greater bilateral activation in the pre-SMA/SMA, ACC, IFG, and insula in trials that required cognitive control compared to the control group, despite no differences in performance on behavioral measures of executive function. No significant differences in brain activation or in task performance were found between the music and sports groups. The results suggest that systematic extracurricular training, particularly music-based training, is associated with changes in the cognitive control network in the brain even in the absence of changes in behavioral performance.

"Increased engagement of the cognitive control network associated with music training in children during an fMRI Stroop task" by Matthew Sachs, Jonas Kaplan, Alissa Der Sarkissian, and Assal Habibi in PLOS ONE. Published online October 30 2017 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187254

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Music Training Changes Children's Brain Structure and Boosts Decision Making Network

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Summary: In as little as two years of learning, music can change the structure of the brain's white matter and boost networks implicated in decision making in children, USC researchers report. Source: USC. If the brain is a muscle, then learning to play an instrument and read music is the ultimate exercise.

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Learning to Connect the Dots: Developing Children's Systems Literacy

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Learning to Connect the Dots: Developing Children's Systems Literacy

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from Solutions for a Desirable & Sustainable Future

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Examples of Ways to Differentiate Instruction

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Examples of Ways to Differentiate Instruction

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TeachersFirst: Examples of ways to differentiate instruction

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TeachersFirst's Thinking Teachers who write our resource reviews often have suggestions that have worked in their classrooms. Open the reviews to the "more" view to see ideas for using specific resources as tools to differentiate for a variety of learners.

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How School Leaders Can Attend to the Emotional Side of Change

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How School Leaders Can Attend to the Emotional Side of Change

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"It's a conservator's occupation," Evans said. "Tons of what we do in school are about values that don't, we hope, change. It's not just about things that do change."

These tensions inherent to the system mean that what educators most need is not constant change, which can be off-putting and stressful if sustained for too long, but creativity. There is value in much of what schools currently teach, but there's also plenty of room for creative teaching strategies to reach all students.
CHANGE BEGETS CONFLICT
One of the most difficult things about leading change in schools, according to Evans, is that there often aren't clear structures to deal with conflict or disagreement. Leaders usually try to sell change as though it will be good for everyone, but that isn't true. At first, there are winners and losers. In other professions people hash out these types of conflicts, addressing them head-on, but that's rarely the case in schools. The maxim, "it's not personal, it's business," doesn't work in schools because teaching is a very personal profession.

"In school, everything is personal, which is how we want it," Evans said. Many of the most powerful aspects of school community, relationship-building and support develop out of a work environment that is, and must be, personal. "But when it's only personal it's very hard to talk about, is it working out, is it not working." The result is a lot of conflict avoidance.

Evans draws on the work of Roland Barth, who describes the difference between congeniality and collegiality. Barth says congenial relationships are personal and friendly. Positive interactions with colleagues are a crucial part of why teachers come to school each day. And congeniality is a requirement for the even more important, and elusive, collegial relationships that indicate the educators in the building are working together.

"If you take the congenial out of the school, you strip it of all the connective tissue that makes it a decent place to be," Evans said. "But you can be the most congenial school in America and not talk about teaching and learning."

Evans acknowledges that creating a school culture that encourages productive conflict, the hashing out of ideas and differing opinions, is particularly hard because the qualities that make someone a great teacher -- nurturing, extending beyond themselves, pulling out the best in people -- are not typically the characteristics of someone who is skilled at adult conflict. And yet, Evans encourages change leaders to think about structures that allow adults to disagree constructively. Without a forum for disagreement, grumbling about change moves underground and can undermine the whole project.

But no matter how productively colleagues can disagree or how much they work to improve, schools are only one part of the achievement puzzle. Evans wants education leaders, policymakers and the public to be aware that educators can only change so much about a child's life. What happens outside of school and at home is as important, if not more important, for educational outcomes than anything within the control of teachers.

"The correlation between money and scores is tighter than it has ever been," Evans said. How well students will perform on standardized tests is much more correlated to income than what school they attend. "It's possible to be a school that's doing lots of really amazing things for kids and see slower progress than anyone who is busting a gut hopes for."

While Evans doesn't pull punches about the challenge of effectively leading and implementing lasting changes in schools, he has seen it happen. He's well aware that most school leaders have an "overloaded change agenda," and that they are trying to implement it on a ridiculously short time line. He advises leaders to choose one big thing to change at a time, and to think carefully about what other things will compete for colleagues' time.
COPING WITH THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHANGE
Evans shared several tips on how to manage change.

Have a set of non-negotiables. There will always be resistance from staff, but when they understand what is negotiable and what isn't, it's much easier to move on and actually start making change. "As long as people imagine that if we keep talking about this it won't really happen, they don't have any motivation to do anything," Evans said.

Change requires the deft use of both pressure and support. Without pressure no one will change; without support all the resistance will go underground, where it often lives in schools. Getting buy-in is important, but it can't hold up action. "Buy-in is an end state, not a beginning condition," Evans said. "The bigger the change you want to promote and the more loss it will cause, the less likely people will voluntarily bereave themselves to get into it."

Evans cites a headmaster he worked with at an elite private school who struck a good balance between pressure and support. The headmaster decided that in order to attract more students the school would start a mini-term between semesters, but he wanted staff input on how to do it well. At first all the meetings focused on whether they should do a mini-term, but the headmaster quickly stepped in and made it clear the school was implementing the change -- that was a non-negotiable.

"Almost all of us would rather work with someone who disagrees with us, but who is clear, than with someone who seems to agree with us, but isn't clear," Evans said. That's why it's important for the leader to draw clear lines and then back them up. He also noted that far too often the people tasked to lead change in schools don't actually have the authority to apply pressure, which isn't fair or effective.

Leaders need to tell teachers they are asking to change what, how and why. Evans has watched many leaders explain what staff will be expected to do and how they will do it without offering any explanation of why it is important. "The why is far and away the most important because this is what bears on the motivation of people," he said. However, it's also what causes loss, a necessary condition to begin making change. Evans advises leaders be direct and honest about why change is imperative, but to do so in ways that don't demonize or humiliate those who are experiencing a loss. Leaders can't let them off the hook, but they can be respectful.

Recognize that flexibility is required. Evans likes to cite a retired school superintendent from Massachusetts, Matt King, who says there's a difference between problems and dilemmas. Problems can be solved, but dilemmas are revisited. The issues educators face in schools are more akin to dilemmas than problems with easy fixes.

"Most things we're trying to fix in American education were once the solution to something else," Evans said. The issues are often cyclical and require patience. And, because the work is difficult and stressful, it's even more important that change leaders celebrate small successes and compliment staff along the way.

"The evidence is clear that the most productive, the most successful, the most engaged and happiest people are those who have someone who cares about their development, and people who get to do every day what they're best at instead of dwelling on what they need to change," Evans said.

A positive school climate helps teachers feel like change is possible. And when school leaders can help teachers build on their strengths, instead of only remediating weaknesses, everyone will feel more competent and able to continue pushing for change.

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How School Leaders Can Attend to the Emotional Side of Change | KQED

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"It's a conservator's occupation," Evans said. "Tons of what we do in school are about values that don't, we hope, change. It's not just about things that do change." These tensions inherent to the system mean that what educators most need is not constant change, which can be off-putting and stressful if sustained for too long, but creativity.

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55 Digital Tools & Apps for Formative Assessment Success! 

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55 Digital Tools & Apps for Formative Assessment Success! 

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There is no shortage of formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning. We didn't just add any old tool to this list. Here are the criteria we used for those that made the cut:

Supports formative instructional strategies and ways to activate learners to be resources for themselves and peers

Is free or awful close to it (under $10 per year, where possible)

Allows both students and teachers to take the activator role when possible (sometimes teachers need to get things started)

Before you dig into the tools, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish with your students. "How to pick the right digital tool: Start with your learning goal" by Erin Beard can help you wrap your head around goals and guide you in choosing the best tool for the task. "27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning" can help you decide what strategies work best for you and your students.

Record audio and video

Create quizzes, polls, and surveys

1. Crowdsignal Lets you create online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use smartphones, tablets, and computers to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports.

2. Edulastic Allows you to make standards-aligned assessments and get instant feedback.

3. FreeOnlineSurveys Helps you create surveys, quizzes, forms, and polls.

4. Gimkit Lets you write real-time quizzes. And it was designed by a high school student!

5. Kahoot! A game-based classroom response system that lets you create quizzes using internet content.

6. MicroPoll Helps you create polls, embed them into websites, and analyze responses.

7. Naiku Lets you write quizzes students can answer using their mobile devices.

8. Obsurvey Designed to make surveys, polls, and questionnaires.

9. Poll Everywhere Lets you create a feedback poll or ask questions and see results in real time. Allows students to respond in various ways. With open-ended questions, you can capture data and spin up tag clouds to aggregate responses.

10. Poll Maker Offers unique features, like allowing multiple answers to one question.

11. ProProfs Helps you make quizzes, polls, and surveys.

12. Quia Lets you create games, quizzes, surveys, and more. Access a database of existing quizzes from other educators.

13. Quizalize Helps you create quizzes and homework.

14. Quizizz Guides you through designing quizzes and lets you include students in the quiz-writing process.

15. Quizlet Lets you make flashcards, tests, quizzes, and study games that are mobile friendly.

16. Survey Hero Designed to build questionnaires and surveys.

17. SurveyMonkey Helpful for online polls and surveys.

18. SurveyPlanet Also helpful for online polls and surveys.

19. Triventy Lets you create quizzes students take in real time using individual devices.

20. Yacapaca Helps you write and assign quizzes.

21. Zoho Survey Allows you to make mobile-friendly surveys and see results in real time.

Brainstorm, mind map, and collaborate

Present, engage, and inspire

Generate word or tag clouds

1. EdWordle Generates word clouds from any entered text to help aggregate responses and facilitate discussion. Word clouds are pictures composed of a cloud of smaller words that form a clue to the topic.

2. Tagxedo Allows you to examine student consensus and facilitate dialogues.

3. Wordables Helps you elicit evidence of learning or determine background knowledge about a topic.

4. WordArt Includes a feature that allows the user to make each word an active link to connect to websites, including YouTube.

Get real-time feedback

Foster family communication

1. Remind Lets you text students and stay in touch with families.

2. Seesaw Helps you improve family communication and makes formative assessment easy, while students can use the platform to document their learning.

3. Voxer Lets you send recordings so families can hear how their students are doing, students can chat about their work, and you can provide feedback.

Strengthen teacher-to-student or student-to-student communication

Keep the conversation going with live chats

1. Backchannel Chat A teacher-moderated version of Twitter.

2. Chatzy Supports live, online chats in a private setting.

Create and store documents or assignments

1. Google Forms A Google Drive app that allows you to create documents students can collaborate on in real time using smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

2. Piazza Lets you upload lectures, assignments, and homework; pose and respond to student questions; and poll students about class content. This tool is better suited for older students as it mimics post-secondary class instructional formats.

Learn more

There are several resources for learning more about formative assessment and responsive instruction strategies. Consider our formative practices workshops, where school and district teams can gain a better understanding of the role formative practice plays in instruction and the four foundational practices to use in the classroom. Or for a quick start, download our eBook "Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice."

Jump in, try new tools and methods, and have fun!

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75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

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There is no shortage of formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning.

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Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students

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Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students

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Promoting Change through Relationships

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AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

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Teachers in middle level schools face overwhelming demands and challenges in their classrooms. They are expected to know content and pedagogy, develop engaging lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners, and use a variety of instructional strategies that will boost student achievement while they simultaneously develop positive relationships with, on average, 125 students each day who are experiencing the personal, social, and cognitive challenges and opportunities of early adolescence (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1995; Schmakel, 2008).

Teaching is complex and cannot be reduced to discrete tasks that can be mastered one at a time. Teachers must "win their students' hearts while getting inside their students' heads" (Wolk, 2003, p. 14). As Haberman (1995) suggested, this winning of the hearts occurs through very personal interactions, one student at a time. This perspective is supported by research suggesting that teachers who develop such relationships experience fewer classroom behavior problems and better academic performance (Decker, Dona, & Christenson, 2007; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003).

How can teachers engage students through enhanced personal interactions while simultaneously managing classroom climate and instruction? The purpose of this article is to suggest specific strategies that integrate knowledge and skills from education, counseling, and psychotherapy to help teachers develop a strong management system based on the development of personal relationships with students. These techniques are specifically adapted for use by teachers and more clearly delineate the nature of developing relationships and deepening them for the purpose of making education more effective.
Classroom management and relationship building
Research indicates that teachers' actions in their classrooms have twice as much impact on student achievement as assessment policies, community involvement, or staff collegiality; and a large part of teachers' actions involves the management of the classroom (Marzano, 2003; Marzano & Marzano, 2003). Classroom management is critically important in the middle grades years when students are more likely to experience declines in academic motivation and self-esteem (Anderman, Maehr, & Midgley, 1999). Research indicates that these declines can be linked to the classroom, and particularly to teacher-student relationships (Furrer & Skinner, 2003). When surveyed about their goals, adolescents have claimed that academics and the completion of their education are important to them. However, repeated studies of sixth through ninth graders have shown interest in academics, motivation for academics, and academic achievement levels decline dramatically during early adolescence, and especially during seventh grade (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1995).

One of the keys to effective classroom management is the development of a quality relationship between the teacher and the students in the classroom. Marzano, Marzano, and Pickering (2003), in a meta-analysis of more than 100 studies, reported that teachers who had high-quality relationships with students had 31% fewer discipline problems, rule violations, and other related problems over a year's time than did teachers who did not. This significant statistic justifies further investigation into developing relationships.

A critical component of developing relationships is knowing and understanding the learner. Teachers must take steps to learn and understand the unique qualities of middle grades students, who are at a crucial time in their development. Although they are good at disguising their feelings, they have been described as actually craving positive social interaction with peers and adults; limits on behavior and attitudes; meaningful participation in families, school, and community; and opportunities for self-definition (Wormeli, 2003). Teaching middle grades students is unique in its demand for unconventional thinking; therefore, middle grades teachers must be willing to break the rules and transcend convention. The strategies that will be described for dealing with the most difficult of students are in many ways just that-unconventional.

Teachers who adopt a relationship-building approach to classroom management by focusing on developing the whole person are more likely to help students develop positive, socially-appropriate behaviors. The characteristics of effective teacher-student relationships are not related to the teacher's personality or whether the teacher is well liked by the students. Instead, the relationships are characterized by specific behaviors, strategies, and fundamental attitudes demonstrated by the teacher (Bender, 2003) This approach involves taking personal interest in students; establishing clear learning goals; and modeling assertive, equitable, and positive behaviors (Hall & Hall, 2003; Rogers & Renard, 1999).

Research indicates that the most effective classroom managers do not treat all students the same. Effective managers employed different strategies with different types of students (Brophy, 1996; Brophy & McCaslin, 1992). Teachers with effective classroom management skills are aware of high needs students and have a repertoire of specific techniques for meeting some of their needs (Marzano & Marzano, 2003).

Adelman and Taylor (2002) reported that 12% to 22% of all students in schools suffer from mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, and relatively few receive mental health services. The Association of School Counselors noted that close to one in five students has special needs and requires extraordinary interventions and treatments beyond the typical resources available to classroom teachers (Dunn & Baker, 2002). It is often these very students who create the most daunting challenges for teachers.
Strategies for building relationships
According to Wolk (2003), "Teacher-student relationships permeate the classroom, with relationships both helping and hindering learning and affecting everything from curriculum to choice of teaching methods." Wolk asserted that for most teachers, "their relationships are their teaching" (p. 14). Current literature on building relationships as a means to manage classrooms includes recommendations such as using gentle interventions, finding time for bonding, avoiding punishments, and building activities that ensure success for all students (Hall & Hall, 2003).

These strategies, though helpful, may still leave teachers struggling with the most difficult students. Ideas from the fields of counseling and psychotherapy can be applied to these classroom struggles. Rogers and Renard (1999) asserted that we need to understand the needs and beliefs of our students as they are-not as we think they ought to be" (p. 34). What follows are specific strategies from the fields of counseling and psychology that teachers can apply in classroom settings when dealing with difficult students. The strategies of empathy, admiring negative attitudes, leaving the ego at the door, and multicultural connections will be explored.

Building empathy

Probably the most important aspect of a positive helping relationship is empathy on the part of the helper (Garfield, 1994; Goldfried, Greenberg, & Marmar, 1990; Luborsky, Crits-Christoph, Mintz, & Auerbach, 1988; Orlinsky, Grawe, & Parks, 1994; Sexton & Whiston, 1994). In actual practice, empathy on the part of the teacher results in the student feeling understood. Empathetic relationships are especially important for difficult adolescents (Bernstein, 1996; Mordock, 1991). Unfortunately in education, empathy is a concept largely misunderstood and even trivialized as a form of affection or caring. To the contrary, caring and empathy are not at all the same. Adler (1956) defined empathy as "seeing with the eyes of another, hearing with the ears of another, and feeling with heart of another" (p. 135). The end result of having been shown empathy is that the person "feels understood." This is crucial to reaching and relating to young adolescents (Hanna, Hanna, & Keys, 1999).

Many teachers simply assume they understand the student's problems and dilemmas, and mistakenly try to communicate their understanding in ways that only distance the student. For example, a female middle grades student once told a disappointed teacher that things were really hard at home and studying was difficult. The teacher responded by saying, "Well, you have to get past it and study anyway. I have been teaching for a long time, and there isn't any excuse I haven't heard." The student, of course, had no indication that the teacher understood at all and was actually discouraged by the teacher's unempathetic response. If this teacher had taken the time to show that she understood the student's dilemma, she would have learned that the parents of the student were verbally fighting with each other every day, threatening each other with divorce, and arguing over custody of the children. They also fought about the father's drinking.

The teacher could have easily encouraged the student with an empathetic response such as, "It must be really difficult trying to study while listening to your parents fighting and wondering what is going to happen with your family." Such a response would have communicated understanding to the student that she would have found valuable and that would have enhanced the level of respect she had for the teacher. Such a response also would have encouraged the student to communicate with the teacher so that the teacher and student could brainstorm ways to keep the student on task with her various assignments.

Admiring negative attitudes and behaviors

At first glance, this approach would seem to violate all that we know about behavior modification, but it is based on a well established area of research called "positive psychology" (Seligman, 1999). This approach looks upon negative student behavior as a skill he or she has been practicing and refining for many years. Most of these skills have their beginning in the student's family life. In the case of a manipulative female teen, for example, being manipulative might have been the only or best way of getting her needs met in her family. It is to be entirely expected that she would bring these same skills to school in an effort to meet her needs there as well.

Rather than engage in a power struggle with such a student, a teacher should acknowledge the skill that the student has worked so hard to develop-and then redirect it. Give her credit for all of the years she has practiced the skill. This will also lead to an increase in the student's perceived empathy from the teacher. After acknowledging the skill, reframe the skill and then redirect it. It is important that this skill be applied with sincerity. Any hint of sarcasm could lead to further alienation between the student and the teacher.

Let us extend the example of a manipulative, young adolescent girl. She is engaged in a behavior that, in all likelihood, annoys both adults and her peers. However, there is a skill that may be present in the girl that can be reframed as the "ability to influence people." Rather than address the girl's manipulations as such, mention to her, "I have noticed that you have the ability to influence people, is that true?" She will probably reply with something like, "What do you mean?" The teacher can respond by saying, "Well, I have noticed that you can get people to do what you want them to do. Am I wrong?" It would help if the teacher used specific examples. At this point, the student will likely look at the teacher somewhat suspiciously and smile, saying, "Well that's true sometimes, I guess." The teacher can then respond, saying, "You have a valuable skill there. If you used it in other ways, you may find more successful ways of getting your needs met. This skill could be valuable in certain careers, such as corporate management, sales, or even counseling." The young adolescent is usually quite surprised to hear something that she has previously been criticized for now being admired and looked upon as something potentially valuable.

Another example of the application of this approach would be the case of a young adolescent who consistently displays the infamous "bad attitude." Quite at variance with the usual characterization of the bad attitude, we look at it as a skill that is often practiced and has a particular goal. The goal is to display and announce defiance and, to a certain degree, independence. Instead of fighting the attitude, punishing it, or even ridiculing it, try admiring it, putting aside any disgust or exasperation. "Wow," the teacher might say, "You sure do have an impressive attitude. It is very well constructed, and I can tell you have been working on it for years." One's first thought on reading this might be to conclude that such an approach is simply crazy. However, a large percentage of young adolescents respond to this tactic with a smile and a greater willingness to continue the discussion. Admiration is extremely rare in the lives of young adolescents, and we dare say, much rarer than love. To receive it from an adult is precious indeed, and it often inspires immediate loyalty and respect toward a teacher. When communicated genuinely and honestly, it also increases the level of perceived empathy from an adult.

Disruptive behaviors, when displayed by a student who takes charge in his or her own way, can sometimes be reframed as great leadership skills. The teacher can ask the student to use those abilities to help lead the class. In the case of the disruptive class clown, the reframe would be along the lines of admiring the student, then reframing the clown act as natural comedic skill. A possible redirect could consist of a challenge to the student to use that skill in a creative way and in an appropriate setting that can be set up by the teacher according to the personality of the student.

Leaving the ego at the door

It is readily apparent that to follow this relationship approach, a teacher or school administrator must have the capacity to suspend the flaring up of his or her own impulses, issues, and negative reactions. Young adolescents are highly skilled at reading teachers and identifying the things that make them impatient, rigid, angry, and upset. Young adolescents often share insights with each other about what annoys teachers and school administrators. The ability to manage one's own issues as they arise is one of the counselor's most demanding skills. It also marks the difference between the effective and the ineffective counselor (Van Wagoner, Gelso, Hayes, & Diemer, 1991). It is also an assessment of truly effective relationship-based teaching. Once a professional gives in to emotions such as anger, exasperation, or displeasure, his or her ability to function becomes impaired to a degree. It seems no one knows this better than some young adolescents, who may be quite aware of the effects they have on adults.

When a teacher takes the comments and manipulations of students personally, interpersonal chaos is likely to follow. Thus, it is a good idea for a teacher to learn to suspend his or her own issues as they arise-to "place them on the shelf," so to speak, to be addressed later. One of the hidden advantages of working with young adolescents is that they have much to teach us about our own reactions and habitual ways of interacting. All too often, the student becomes the teacher of lessons that may not be learned in any other context (Hanna, 2002). Suspending one's own reactions is a skill, to be sure, and it is a skill that can be improved with practice.

Leaving the ego at the door of the classroom is perhaps the most valuable suggestion we have to offer, along with showing empathy. Without this, however, empathy may never get a chance to emerge. Young adolescents closely watch the reactions of adults to see if they practice what they preach. For example, if Tom, a seventh grade student, erupts in class one day because he is being teased for being a "suck-up," a very typical teacher response is, "Just try to ignore what the other kids are saying." However, if a teacher or counselor tells a student to "ignore" the taunts or insults of another and then reacts angrily to being disrespected, the student, like most of us, will have little respect for what amounts to hypocrisy. Demanding respect is not as effective as earning it, and how the teacher comports himself or herself has much to do with how he or she is viewed and respected by students. To successfully build relationships and apply the skills mentioned in this article, leaving the ego at the door can be viewed as a prerequisite. At various times, leaving the ego at the door can be connected to issues of culture as well.

When a disruptive young adolescent routinely pushes a teacher's buttons, that teacher has an ideal opportunity to apply the practice of leaving the ego at the door. It is human nature for teachers, or anyone for that matter, to get upset when an adolescent pokes fun at a personally sensitive topic or issue. This is especially true when it comes to the topic of authority. Many teachers believe that they must have absolute authority in the classroom. They also believe that this authority comes automatically with their status as the teacher and does not necessarily have to be earned. When students question this authority by being non-compliant or engaging in disruptive behaviors, they may easily trigger an emotional reaction from the teacher see Dooner, et al., in this issue. For example, Sammy, an eighth grade student, might say, "Why should I listen to you? You're just a middle school teacher. Why don't you have a good job?" The unexamined response that a teacher might give is this: "You have no right speaking to me like this. I know a lot more than you do, and I know you have detention today. See me after school." Because teachers do have authority and certain privileges afforded to them by their position, anger and frustration often lead to the abuse of power in punitive ways. This usually happens when the adult does not take the opportunity to examine his or her own vulnerabilities on a regular basis. When the disruptive adolescent repeatedly insults or disobeys the teacher, the teacher's ego takes over, demanding respect.

If the teacher had taken the time to examine his or her own vulnerabilities, he or she might have said, "You sound like my mother. She didn't think I should become a teacher either. She wanted me to wear a starched shirt and tie every day and work in a big law firm. But I tell her I get to be a part of the lives of more than 120 seventh graders-including yours, Sammy. What more power do I need?" Then the teacher can turn the topic around to question the student by saying, "What does your family say to you about what you hope to do someday?"

When a teacher is self-aware of vulnerabilities, such as the need for power, he or she is more likely to respond strategically rather than emotionally. For example, a teacher who knows he is sensitive to students questioning his authority can anticipate that middle grades students will, in fact, question his authority. Such awareness can lead to the use of empathy or the admiration of negative behaviors, as previously discussed. In essence, the key to leaving one's ego at the door is awareness.

Multicultural connections

Developing relationships with students who come from culturally different backgrounds can be challenging and requires specific skills from new and experienced teachers alike (Nieto, 1999a, 1999b, 2008). The recommendations for forming relationships made earlier in this article are essential when cultural differences are present. That is, having empathy, admiring negative behaviors, and leaving one's ego at the door can go a long way toward bridging the gap between culturally or linguistically different (CLD) learners and the teacher.

The challenges within the cross-cultural encounter lie in overcoming the additional barriers that prevent teachers from letting down their guard to empathize and develop stronger relationships with students. These barriers exist due to a fear of the culturally different, a lack of knowledge about the differences and similarities between cultures, persistent negative stereotyping, and general intolerance. To overcome these barriers and develop multicultural competence, a teacher must overcome his or her fears and unresolved issues regarding cultural difference. This can be achieved by gaining deeper knowledge about himself or herself and the culturally different student. (Bradfield-Kreider, 2001).

Practices from the field of counseling have great promise for enhancing relationships in the culturally diverse classroom. In counseling, multicultural competence consists of being acutely aware of cultural attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and skills of both the counselor and the client (Arredondo, 2003). Training new counselors involves an examination of how the new counselors feel about themselves and culturally different clients. Such competencies can easily be used as a guide for classroom teachers who want to enhance their relationships with CLD students.

It is important to help teachers become aware of how their racial and cultural heritages may impact their classroom climates. This awareness helps prepare teachers to identify and work through any existing intolerance they may have for students who come from different ethnic, racial, class, or religious backgrounds. It is equally important for teachers to be aware of their negative and positive emotional reactions to CLD students. For example, if the disruptive adolescent described in the previous scenario happens to come from a racial or ethnic background that is different from that of the teacher, checking one's ego becomes more complicated. It is, therefore, vital for the teacher to be aware of his or her cultural and personal biases and the connections between the two. Then, when challenges to authority occur, the teacher who is aware of his or her "stuff" is better equipped to respond in more strategic ways. Such self-examination helps teachers leave their egos at the door and ultimately develop empathy for those they teach.

For teachers to engage in successful intercultural interactions, they must maintain an astute approach to learning relationships and be aware of the ways schooling helps to reinforce social class differences (Hipolito-Delgado & Lee, 2007). Marginalization refers to the historic and systemic ways in which people are adversely affected by racism, poverty, and other forms of oppression (Green, Conley, & Barnett, 2005). Teachers who are vested in educating students who come from such backgrounds should develop relationships by making meaning of the curriculum as it relates to their lived experiences outside the school. Taking this approach allows teachers to share their own personal experiences about hardship, triumph, and failure, regardless of the similarities or differences with the student's life.

Programs such as Facing History and Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org) and Rethinking Schools (www.rethinkingschools.com) provide curricular materials that are designed to provide these kinds of shared self-examination experiences in the classroom. Facing History and Ourselves engages students from diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism and prejudice to promote a more informed and tolerant citizenship. Through study and discussions of current and past historical events, students are encouraged to analyze their own thinking, see the world from more than one perspective, and place themselves in someone else's shoes as they examine events from history around the world. Together, students and teachers struggle to form judgments about human behaviors. Curricular materials expose students to such topics as violence in Northern Ireland, genocide in Cambodia, AIDS victims in Africa, anti-Semitism in London, or Mexican immigration struggles in California. Even though many of these events may occur miles away in different states and different countries, many of the core issues are still the same. When teachers use curriculum and content that hold personal meaning to them and their students, barriers are more likely to break down for everyone, and relationship building has a better chance.

One strategy from Teaching History and Ourselves is called the Life Road Map (www.facinghistory.org), which allows teachers and students to develop a map of their lives by creating sequences of events, including important decisions and inspirations. This strategy would be useful to a teacher with students who have recently immigrated to the United States. It would promote an appreciation for one's own culture and for the cultures of others that are represented in the classroom. It also would provide a forum for sharing difficulties that teachers and students have faced, some of which will be a result of culture and race.

A similar strategy, developed by Rethinking Schools, provides a template for teachers and students to write a poem called "Where I'm From" that reveals information about their lives outside school (Christensen, 2002). Students are encouraged to include information in the poem by studying items found in their homes, in their yards, and in their neighborhoods and the names of relatives, foods, and places they keep in their childhood memories. For a teacher with students from a variety of cultures in one classroom, these poems could be read aloud and posted to provide a powerful way of building relationships and community in the classroom. For both of these strategies, it is critical that the teacher participate by completing the assignments and sharing them as well.
Conclusion
Efforts to improve education must focus on the single most important component: the classroom teacher (Ingwalson & Thompson, 2007). Teachers in middle level schools must be well prepared to face the challenges of working with young adolescents; and critical components of teacher preparation are the knowledge and skills from education and related fields that will enable them to develop effective, and often unconventional, management systems in their classrooms. This effort must begin with a new paradigm in which teachers view classroom management as an ongoing exercise in building relationships.

For dealing with the most challenging of students, teachers can learn and apply strategies used in the field of counseling and psychotherapy, such as building empathy, admiring negative attitudes and behaviors, and leaving one's ego at the door. It seems particularly important to provide specific strategies for dealing with what can often be the problems that prevent us from persevering in the important work of helping students learn. In the area of classroom management, it is critical that teachers find ways of building relationships with all students, from the most motivated to the most difficult. To borrow the words of Rogers and Renard (1999), when we enter into understanding human needs and relationship-driven teaching, "amazing things can happen" (p. 34).

Extensions
Identify three obstacles that interfere with your ability to make meaningful connections with your students.

Think of an educator from your past with whom you did not connect. What would you say to that educator about building relationships with students?

References

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Arredondo, P. (2003). Applying multicultural competencies in white institutions of higher education. In G. Roysircar, D. S. Sandhu, & V. B. Bibbins (Eds.), A guidebook: Practices of multicultural competencies (pp. 229-242). Alexandria, VA: ACA Press.

Bender, W. L. (2003). Relational discipline: Strategies for in-your-face students. Boston: Pearson.

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Bradfield-Kreider, P. (2001). Personal transformations from the inside out: Nurturing monoculture teachers' growth toward multicultural competence. Multicultural Education, 8(4), 31-34.

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Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. (1995). Great transitions: Preparing adolescents for a new century. Waldorf, MD: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Christensen, L. (2002). Where I'm from: Inviting student lives into the classroom. In B. Bigelow (Ed.), Rethinking our classrooms volume 2: Teaching for equity and justice, (p. 6). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Decker, D. M., Dona, D. P., & Christenson, S. L. (2007). Behaviorally at-risk African-American students: The importance of student-teacher relationships for student outcomes. Journal of School Psychology, 45(1), 83-109.

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Hipolito-Delgado, C. P., & Lee, C. C. (2007). Empowerment theory for the professional school counselor: A manifesto for what really matters. Professional School Counseling, 10, 327-332.

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Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003). Classroom management that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Mordock, J. B. (1991). Counseling the defiant child. New York: Crossroad Publishing.

Nieto, S. (1999a). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Nieto, S. (1999b). The light in their eyes: Creating a multicultural learning community. New York: Teachers College Press.

Nieto, S. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (5th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Orlinsky, D. E., Grawe, K., & Parks, B. K. (1994). Process and outcome in psychotherapy. In A. E. Bergin & S. L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (4th ed.) (pp. 270-376). New York: Wiley.

Rogers, S., & Renard, L. (1999). Relationship-driven teaching. Educational Leadership, 57(1), 34-37.

Schmakel, P. O. (2008). Early adolescents' perspectives on motivation and achievement. Urban Education, 43, 723-749.

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Sexton, T. L., & Whiston, S. C. (1994). The status of the counseling relationship: An empirical review, theoretical implications, and research directions. The Counseling Psychologist, 22(1), 6-78.

Van Wagoner, S. L., Gelso, C. J., Hayes, J. A., & Diemer, R. A. (1991). Countertransference and the reputedly excellent therapist. Psychotherapy, 28, 411-421.

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Mary Ellen Beaty-O'Ferrall is associate professor of education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education in Baltimore, MD. E-mail: mebo@jhu.edu

Alan Green is an associate professor of clinical education and school counseling program lead at the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. E-mail: alangree@usc.edu

Fred Hanna is professor and director of the School of Applied Psychology and Counselor Education at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. E-mail: fred.hanna@unco.edu

Originally published in Middle School Journal, March 2010

Copyright © 2010, Association for Middle Level Education

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Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students

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Teachers in middle level schools face overwhelming demands and challenges in their classrooms. They are expected to know content and pedagogy, develop engaging lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners, and use a variety of instructional strategies that will boost student achievement while they simultaneously develop positive relationships with, on average, 125 students each day who are experiencing the personal, social, and cognitive challenges and opportunities of early adolescence...

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Are These the Seven Pillars of Classroom Practice?

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Are These the Seven Pillars of Classroom Practice?

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Nick Rose presents a septet of reliable reviews that time-pressed teachers can bet their house on being useful in the classroom.

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There are two main problems with the idea that teachers should be reading research. The first is that they don't have time to do it (see bit.ly/UnreadResearch). Studies by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have examined methods of encouraging teachers to engage with academic research but report that time pressures - and a lack of opportunities for teachers to work together - appear to undermine the initiatives.

So, if we genuinely want teaching to be a research-informed profession, we should reduce the number of hours we expect teachers to work - and ultimately set aside some time for teachers to read and apply research to their practice.

The second problem is actually finding research related to the questions we have as teachers. Searching through academic journals can be a frustrating and often fruitless investment of time and effort. Too often, even when something looks promising, it's rare to find clear guidance on how it might be successfully implemented in our classrooms. So instead we become rather passive consumers of the latest "big idea", which is sometimes presented to us like a magic bullet for all our woes.

One example would be the much misunderstood concept of growth mindset. Following the bestselling book and supportive studies on the subject, many schools enthusiastically began delivering growth mindset-inspired lessons and assemblies. But in contrast to the sometimes heavy-handed approach seen in schools ("growth mindset, good; fixed mindset, bad"), the successful interventions in the studies involved carefully targeted, often imperceptibly subtle and deliberately short-lived messages. This makes them extremely difficult to replicate at scale, though you wouldn't guess that from the extraordinary (and unjustified) influence the "mindset meme" has had in schools. Even Carol Dweck, the author of so much of the research, has been critical of the way many schools have attempted to apply her ideas (see bit.ly/DweckCritical).

It's not just schools that get taken for a ride on the "latest research" bandwagon. A recent publication in Harvard Business Review purported to claim that only one type of headteacher can turn around schools and that they tended to have a history or economics background. This story was picked up by a number of news outlets, despite the fact that the HBR piece contained no details regarding the methodology. Analysis by Education Datalab tried to replicate the findings using publicly available data and found no relationship between subject background and lasting improvements to schools (see bit.ly/EduDatalab).

This might seem an odd introduction to an article encouraging teachers to engage with research. But despite my concerns, there are some research reviews that I think all teachers should know about. None of them represents magic bullets, but each of the seven examples on the following pages have been written for teachers and have implications for school leadership and classroom practice.

In a field of research plagued with the problems I have outlined and more, these are the seven research reviews you could bet your house on being useful and reliable.

1. Finding out what does and does not work

Coe R, et al (2014) What Makes Great Teaching? Review of the underpinning research, Centre for Evaluation and The Sutton Trust bit.ly/GreatTeachingReview

Early in my career, I became frustrated by things I was expected to plan into my teaching that had no evidence base indicating that they actually helped my students to learn. Aspiring to become a more evidence-informed practitioner doesn't mean giving up professional judgement - quite the opposite, it means challenging and cultivating that judgement so that even more of our students can experience success in school.

As well as reviewing a range of evidence-supported approaches to teaching and professional feedback, the CEM/Sutton Trust report What makes great teaching? also identifies a number of ineffective practices - things teachers and school leaders almost certainly should stop doing.

Some teachers might think this sounds a bit negative, but I suspect most will see the advantage of identifying things that might be adding to workload and stress, while not helping students.

Some of these ineffective practices will likely be familiar to readers of Tes: things such as planning different resources and activities for different learning styles ( bit.ly/StylesProblems) or grading lesson observations ( bit.ly/ObservationFlaws). But others - such as trying to address issues of confidence before you teach content; the limitations of group work; or the mistake of thinking active learning must involve physical or social activity, rather than reading or listening - might surprise some readers.

2. Getting a better understanding of intelligence

Nisbett RE (2013) "Schooling makes you smarter: what teachers need to know about IQ", American Educator bit.ly/SchoolingMakesYouSmarter

Carol Dweck's research into mindsets is intimately tied to people's understanding of intelligence. Perhaps one of the reasons why schools struggle to implement it effectively is because many teachers might not have a clear understanding of the complex relationships between genetics, IQ and education ( bit.ly/PowerOfPotential). Science rejects the deterministic view that intelligence is fixed at birth, but equally doesn't support the naïvely optimistic "you can do anything if you just try hard enough" rhetoric that Dweck herself has criticised.

In "Schooling makes you smarter", Richard Nisbett provides a teacher-friendly summary of decades of research into intelligence. For example, many teachers might not be aware that two types of intelligence are measured by IQ tests: fluid intelligence, which is related to working memory capacity (see point 4, page 40) and involves things such as being able to solve problems in the absence of much prior knowledge; and crystallised intelligence, which consists of the store of knowledge (facts, concepts, vocabulary) we possess. Both types can be increased ( bit.ly/ThePlasticBrain).

Another counter-intuitive point is that we can use the heritability of intelligence (the extent to which variation in intelligence is influenced by genetic differences) as a measure of social equity.

A high heritability means genetic rather than social and economic differences (eg, quality of diet or education) are the main influence in the differences between people's intelligence. Where heritability is low, social and economic differences are likely the strongest influence. Schools and teachers cannot tackle all of these societal inequalities on their own, of course, but great schools and great teachers play a vital part in helping children reach their full intellectual potential.

3. Focusing on retrieval

Dunlosky J (2013) "Strengthening the student toolbox: study strategies to boost learning", American Educator bit.ly/StudentToolbox

Since Hermann Ebbinghaus' pioneering studies in the 19th century, psychologists have recognised forgetting as an important part of learning. Students will forget much of even a brilliant lesson, but research has identified that forgotten material is not truly lost - students re-learn it quicker and retain it for longer each time they return to it.

More recent research by Robert Bjork identifies an important difference between the retrieval strength of a memory and the storage strength ( bit.ly/TruthAboutMemory). Put simply, the ease with which a memory can be accessed or retrieved (usually with the assistance of contextual cues or recency of learning) is different from the more permanent, entrenched trace in long-term memory. This often undermines a student's "judgement of learning". For example, a student re-reading some revision notes might mistake the feeling of familiarity with the material with their ability to genuinely recall the material without the cues and context provided by the notes.

John Dunlosky presents a straightforward summary of the research into study skills and independent learning. A key finding is that, rather than re-reading or using techniques such as highlighting, testing your memory tends to help us learn new material better. Frequent but low-stakes quizzes and tests are a great way to model the techniques that students can use in order to revise more effectively.

4. Getting clued up on memory

Clark RE et al (2012) "Putting students on the path to learning: the case for fully guided instruction", American Educator bit.ly/PathToLearning

A foundational model for learning involves the relationship between long-term memory, which has a vast capacity for storing facts and concepts organised into what psychologists call "schemas", and working memory, which has a very small capacity and relies upon these schemas to organise information into meaningful chunks in order to process new learning effectively. This tried-and-tested model underpins the modern science of how we learn and has a number of important implications for teaching.

We've evolved, and are motivated, to learn some things readily through play ( bit.ly/BusinessOfPlay). But the hard-won cultural and scientific advances of the last few thousand years didn't (and don't) come easily. For example, while our first spoken language is naturally learned without effort or instruction, reading is a relatively recent cultural advance that, though building on the core ability of spoken language, benefits from explicitly being taught.

"Putting students on the path to learning" explores how easily working memory can become overloaded when learning new, ideas. Carefully structured sequences of learning allow the foundations of a subject or topic to be consolidated in long-term memory; this helps students to later go on to tackle complex and novel problems.

5. Realising that changing pupil 'attitude' is not a fix-all

Gadsby B (2017) Impossible? Social mobility and the seemingly unbreakable class ceiling, Teach First bit.ly/ClassCeiling

Decades of research into human motivation provides lots of examples showing that tackling attitudes doesn't necessarily change behaviours. For example, attitudes towards organ transplants don't appear to affect willingness to join a pool of potential donors; and attempts at encouraging smoking cessation through direct persuasion rarely changes people's smoking behaviour. This means that the way some schools approach mindsets will likely have little influence on pupil outcomes.

Changing behaviour is really hard. Think about occasions when you've tried eating more healthily, taking more exercise or using your car less. You may readily agree that it's important and you really want to do it, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll successfully change your behaviour without support.

Another example of this is the idea that students, especially those from low-income backgrounds, have low aspirations that schools need to raise if they are to succeed. The EEF summarises the impact of aspiration interventions as "+0 months", indicating that, on average, interventions that aim to raise aspirations fail to produce a positive effect on student outcomes.

The evidence suggests most young people actually have high aspirations, and that underachievement stems not from low aspiration but from a host of social and institutional barriers that hold them back (see page 50).

The recent Teach First campaign Challenge the Impossible examines the available evidence regarding what it calls the "class ceiling" in an accessible way and explores the range of ways that this affects the life chances of young people. Good grades are necessary, but not sufficient, it appears; students from poorer backgrounds face hurdles at every phase of education - from early years to apprenticeships or postgraduate study.

Rather than thinking of the attainment gap as being caused by some deficit of character, aspirations or mindset, it might be more helpful to consider the range of barriers that undermine the aspirations and attainment of young people from low-income backgrounds ( bit.ly/AspirationNation).

6. Recognising what constitutes a sure bet

Rosenshine B (2012) "Principles of instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know", American Educator bit.ly/PrinciplesOfInstruction

One of the problems with the latest research is that the conclusions are necessarily tentative and there's a good chance that the next researcher might identify something that contradicts it. This leaves teachers with a problem when trying to identify evidence-informed approaches to developing their teaching: is it worth embarking on something involving lots of time and effort, only to discover that researchers change their minds in a year's time?

One way around this problem is to look for findings that have been triangulated. For example, if we find an outcome in well-controlled, but quite artificial, laboratory experiments and we find the same result in authentic classroom settings, despite all the noisy variables involved, then that likely makes it a good bet to try to implement it in your classroom.

In this paper, Barak Rosenshine reviews different bodies of research, including cognitive science and classroom studies, to identify where the science and practice appear to tell us the same thing about how we might take a research-informed approach to improving our teaching. If you have time to read only one research summary this year, I would recommend this one.

7. Discovering the secrets of transferring learning

Deans for Impact (2015) The Science of Learning bit.ly/TheScienceOfLearning

In contrast to claims by some educationalists, advancements in information technology haven't rendered "knowing" obsolete: children learn by connecting new learning to what they already know. But "knowing stuff", while a necessary foundation, does not mark the limit of our ambitions for student learning; we also want children to be able to apply their learning to novel situations and problems.

Since Edward Thorndike's experiments in the 1920s, psychologists interested in education have considered the issue of transfer. The problem involves how individuals learning in one context often fail to transfer learning to another, similar context. For example, as a science teacher I might find that students struggle to mark out an appropriate scale on the axis of a graph, but discover that the same students appear to do this task quite well in their maths lessons.

The issue is that they know this stuff in maths, but don't readily or automatically transfer this knowledge to apply it in the different context of my lessons.

The question of how to help students transfer their learning to new situations, whether inside or outside the classroom, is one of the areas summarised in the Deans for Impact Science of Learning review. If you encounter the same issue as I've had when trying to encourage students to apply and transfer their knowledge and skills, the practical suggestions in this review are worth experimenting with.
Nick Rose is a former leading practitioner for psychology and research and now works as a researcher for Teach First. He tweets @Nick_J_Rose. Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow Tes on Twitter and Instagram, and like Tes on Facebook.

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Are these the 7 pillars of classroom practice?

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There are two main problems with the idea that teachers should be reading research. The first is that they don't have time to do it (see bit.ly/UnreadResearch). Studies by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have examined methods of encouraging teachers to engage with academic research but report that time pressures - and a lack of opportunities for teachers to work together - appear to undermine the initiatives.

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Reimagining the Role of School Libraries in STEM Education

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Reimagining the Role of School Libraries in STEM Education

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Creating a Hybrid Space for Exploration

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Wellington College Students Have Created a Set of Bird and Bat Boxes

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Wellington College Students Have Created a Set of Bird and Bat Boxes

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Get the latest local news straight to your inbox every day

BIRDS and bats will have a place to stay in Crowthorne thanks to a group of Year 11 pupils.

As part of their Community Action programme the Wellington College students have created a set of bird and bat boxes for the Walter Recreation Ground and Circle Hill.

The project came about when Councillor Gail Robertson, a trustee of the Walter Recreation Ground Charity, asked the college students for their help in producing some new homes for local wildlife and the college was only too happy to help.

The students worked with staff in both teaching and gardening departments to build the boxes, and the project saw additional bird and bat boxes being built for the college site also.

On behalf of the trustees of the Walter Recreation Ground Charity, Cllr Gail Robertson thanked the students for their hard work and enthusiasm in making bird and bat boxes.

Cllr Robertson said: "I am sure the birds and bats cannot wait to start nesting in the comfort of their new homes! Thank you once again for your enthusiasm and terrific effort."

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New homes for wildlife thanks to Crowthorne students

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Get the latest local news straight to your inbox every day BIRDS and bats will have a place to stay in Crowthorne thanks to a group of Year 11 pupils. As part of their Community Action programme the Wellington College students have created a set of bird and bat boxes for the Walter Recreation Ground and Circle Hill.

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Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads

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Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads

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Four years after Apple introduced its popular tablet, many districts are switching to laptops.

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For an entire school year Hillsborough, New Jersey, educators undertook an experiment, asking: Is the iPad really the best device for interactive learning?

It's a question that has been on many minds since 2010, when Apple released the iPad and schools began experimenting with it. The devices came along at a time when many school reformers were advocating to replace textbooks with online curricula and add creative apps to lessons. Some teachers welcomed the shift, which allowed their students to replace old poster-board presentations with narrated screencasts and review teacher-produced video lessons at any time.

Four years later, however, it's still unclear whether the iPad is the device best suited to the classroom. The market for educational technology is huge and competitive: During 2014, American K-12 schools will spend an estimated $9.94 billion on educational technology, an increase of 2.5 percent over last year, according to Joseph Morris, director of market intelligence at the Center for Digital Education. On average, he said, schools spend about a third of their technology budgets on computer hardware.

Meanwhile, the cost of equipment is going down, software is improving, and state policies are driving expectations for technology access. "It's really exciting," said Douglas Levin, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, "but at the same time it's really challenging for schools to have confidence when they make a decision."

iPads have so far been a gadget of choice at both ends of the economic spectrum: in wealthier schools with ample resources and demand from parents, and in low-income schools that receive federal grants to improve student success rates. Last fall, enthusiasm for the Apple device peaked when Los Angeles Unified Schools, the second largest system in the nation, began a rollout out of iPads to every student.

However, the L.A. district quickly recalled about 2,100 iPads from students. At the end of the school year, leaders announced that schools would instead be allowed to choose from among six different devices, including Chromebooks and hybrid laptop-tablets. L.A. schools weren't the first to falter: At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, Guilford County Schools in North Carolina halted an Amplify tablet program, and Fort Bend, Texas, cancelled its iPad initiative.

Hillsborough took a different approach. During the 2012-2013 school year, the district executed a comparative pilot, giving iPads to 200 kids and Chromebook laptops to an almost equal number. As other schools rushed into programs they would later scrap, Hillsborough took a more cautious approach, hedging its bets and asking educators: How can we get this right?

***

In June 2014, seventh-graders filed into Jennifer Harmsen's Hillsborough Middle School social studies class. They sat in a u-shaped forum of desks. Native American artifacts hung on the walls and a world map mural enveloped a corner of the room in blues and greens.

Students pulled Chromebooks from their book bags, opened them, and got to work. They watched a video lesson covering topics like aqueduct architecture and Roman numerals. When they finished, Harmsen directed them to put the devices in "listening mode," and they snapped the lids down.
iPads have so far been a gadget of choice at both ends of the economic spectrum.
After receiving teacher and student feedback from the 2012-2013 school year, Hillsborough sold its iPads and will distribute 4,600 Chromebooks by the fall of 2014. The students in Harmsen's class had been on Hillsborough's iPad pilot team, and Harmstead admits she was a little disappointed when the district chose to go with Chromebooks. She said being on the pilot iPad team transformed her classroom approach after 24 years of teaching and made her a digital-education advocate. But now that she's spent a full year using the new device-a pared-down laptop that stores files on the Internet-she agrees with the decision.

Other iPad pilot teachers came to see the benefits of laptop capabilities, too. "At the end of the year, I was upset that we didn't get the iPads," said seventh-grade science teacher Larissa McCann. "But as soon as I got the Chromebook and the kids started using it, I saw, 'Okay, this is definitely much more useful.' "

While nobody hated the iPad, by any means, the iPad was edged out by some key feedback, said Joel Handler, Hillsborough's director of technology. Students saw the iPad as a "fun" gaming environment, while the Chromebook was perceived as a place to "get to work." And as much as students liked to annotate and read on the iPad, the Chromebook's keyboard was a greater perk - especially since the new Common Core online testing will require a keyboard.

Another important finding came from the technology support department: It was far easier to manage almost 200 Chromebooks than the same number of iPads. Since all the Chromebook files live in an online "cloud," students could be up and running in seconds on a new device if their machine broke. And apps could be pushed to all of the devices with just a few mouse clicks.

Hillsborough educators also tend to emphasize collaboration, and they found that Google's Apps for Education suite-which works on either device-was easier to use collaboratively on Chromebooks.

"Our goal was [to find out] not really which device was better, per se, but which device met the learning goals," Handler said.
***
Although Hillsborough ended up settling on Chromebooks, the laptop versus tablet debate is far from settled nationwide. The education market is currently split fairly evenly between the two types of devices, said Phil Maddocks, a market analyst at Futuresource Consulting. The laptop market is varied, but iPads account for the vast majority of tablets used in schools.
Students saw the iPad as a "fun" gaming environment, while the Chromebook was perceived as a place to "get to work."
David Mahaley, a head administrator and active classroom teacher at Franklin Academy in Wake Forest, North Carolina, has had iPads in his classrooms for four years. The AP human geography course he teaches is paperless. His students use the iPad to annotate text, share with other students for collaboration, and even create e-books. He says the device makes his teaching job easier and gives the students more opportunities for digital creativity. He's encouraged other educators in the Wake Forest school system to use the 1,650 iPads for everything from learning materials to classroom assessments.

"I don't own Apple stock or anything like that; I see the iPad as a great tool that we've been able to exploit," said Mahaley. "I come at it as a practitioner." Still, he acknowledges that different schools have different priorities, and the iPad might not be the best choice for students of every age and learning style. "You'll probably never find the answer of what is the right device," Mahaley said. "First you have to ask: What do you want the device to do for your children?"

***

To make the decision even more complicated, companies are constantly updating their products. In September, Baltimore County, Maryland, will pilot a new hybrid laptop-tablet in 10 elementary schools. Over the last year, teachers and students there have had the chance to experiment with more than a dozen different devices, said Lloyd Brown, director of the information technology department. When Baltimore leaders asked if teachers wanted a tablet or a laptop, the answer was, "Both."

At Hillsborough, the Chromebooks are currently being supplemented by 3,000 Nexus tablets, handed out by Google as part of a new pilot program. Susan Fajen's fourth-grade classroom is now littered with devices. Students work together in pairs, elbow to elbow, one holding a tablet, the other typing on a laptop.

During the past year, Fajen's kids used tablets to record their voices for a project on tall tales, and to design parade balloons before making them in papier-mâché. But for word-processing projects, like blogging, the kids took out their laptops. Fajen paused when asked which device was better. "It's hard to choose," she said.

Money is, of course, a limitation. The Chromebook is the least expensive of the devices in question, with a retail price starting at $279. iPads start at $399. There are many hybrid and convertible tablet/laptops available, but one of the most popular, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, starts at $799. And the HP EliteBook Revolve 810 Notebook, chosen by Baltimore County Public Schools, starts at $1,299. That's almost 4 1/2 times the retail price of a Chromebook, though schools do get bulk purchasing discounts and negotiate with the vendors for cheaper prices.

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, a large urban district with 320,000 students, schools are promoting a "bring your own device" model. "We can't keep up with the trends in personal devices," said Paul Smith, supervisor of network services. Miami-Dade delayed its technology rollout after hearing of the Los Angeles iPad recall last fall; this year, it will have provided about 48,000 laptops: Ninth-grade history students will take them home, while seventh-grade civics students will each have a device in class. Some elementary students will have laptops on carts in their classrooms. Still, the system doesn't have enough money to give a laptop to every student. So, leaders are urging parents to buy computers and will try to fill any gaps with district-issued devices.

"We're doing as much as we can to move it from a school responsibility to home," said Debbie Karcher, head of information technology for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. For now, only parents who work within the school system are eligible for credit-union loans to buy devices at the district's bulk rate pricing. (About 30 percent of Miami-Dade schoolchildren have a mother or father employed by the district.) But Karcher believes that the declining cost of technology will make money less of an issue for most parents in a relatively short time.

"If you look back at the calculator, you almost had to be a millionaire to buy the first Texas Instruments," Karcher said of the bulky scientific devices once needed in high school math and science classes. "Now it's not even a technology we talk about anymore. I kind of see this going the same way."
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet affiliated with Teachers College, Columbia University.

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Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads

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For an entire school year Hillsborough, New Jersey, educators undertook an experiment, asking: Is the iPad really the best device for interactive learning? It's a question that has been on many minds since 2010, when Apple released the iPad and schools began experimenting with it.

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Thinking through the consequences of the proliferation of powerful tools and technologies

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Thinking through the consequences of the proliferation of powerful tools and technologies

Ian Schick/AP

What are some of the fast-changing elements of the " maker movement" currently reshaping part of the American economy? In an item here a few days ago, I went through some of major developments in recent years affecting the maker movement and looked at where some experts think it's heading in the future. Now, I want to consider some of the intriguing challenges and dilemmas (educational, legal, moral, and ethical) all this will increasingly pose in the years to come.

Before I continue, here's a quick recap. I'm writing in these two posts about what panelists at the recent Conference on World Affairs in Boulder had to say about the maker movement (the common term used to describe the widespread diffusion of the spaces, tools, and collaborative application of knowledge to create enterprises, especially physical products). I noted Jules Pieri's conclusion that the availability of makerspaces, the rise of crowdfunding, and the role of local retailers are essential elements of the growing importance of makers.

And all the panelists agreed on the centrality of easily accessible 3-D printing technology, the rapid evolution of which is already sparking revolutionary thinking in synthetic biology (according to the futurist Jamais Cascio), meaning that the printing of human body parts and food may be just around the corner. These rapid changes in 3-D printing are what give rise to many of the challenges and dilemmas the CWA panelists spent time considering.

Educational Challenges: One interesting line of discussion involved the kind of education that people will need to thrive in this rapidly changing world. At each panel, a worried parent approached the microphone during the Q&A period and asked for advice on how to steer children through these rapidly shifting waters. Some were concerned about very young kids, others about those of college-age.

The consensus answer was that the emphasis should be on collaboration (learning with others, working with others-both keys to much of the advancement of the maker culture), learning how to think (specific subject matter is less important, with an important exception noted below), and being able to think in a systemic way (seeing how things fit together).

For young kids, the panelists said, the goal should be to get them started early. Will O'Brien, a tech entrepreneur, noted that he got into computers very early. His father worked at IBM, so computers were a family preoccupation. When O'Brien was 10 years old, his brother was in college, writing programs in BASIC. So, Will started to write in BASIC, too-mostly making computer games. That early influence proved important, as O'Brien went on to become a serially successful executive in computer-game and other tech companies.

O'Brien gave his own kids tablet computers very early. "When my son was 6 months old, I gave him an iPad and let him bang around on it, interface with it. When he was a year old, I gave him a thing called a MaKey MaKey (pronounced makie-makie)." The product's website describes it as "a simple invention kit for beginners and experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between." Its creator, Jay Silver, raised over $568,000 on Kickstarter to help launch the product. The kit makes experimentation easy. It has alligator clips that you can attach to anything-a banana, Play-Doh, whatever. O'Brien's son became immersed in creating a banana piano, making his own music on bananas. "I think it's very important," he said, "to expose kids to the building blocks."

The consensus on what's important for older kids and adults is concise: coding. All the panelists agreed on that, and clearly that viewpoint is already widespread. In our American Futures travels, we see coding classes almost everywhere. In this post just last week, Jim Fallows described Bitwise, a tech incubator in Fresno, California, that runs a program to teach coding skills to people at many stages of life, preparing them for job opportunities that require these tech skills.

The CWA panelist Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, pointed to a free programming language and online community called Scratch from MIT's Media Lab that, he said, is "like Lego for coding." Using Scratch, people learn programming skills while they create their own interactive stories, games, and animations. "It's a good way to learn-in fact, one of the best tools we have today for how to learn," Shostak said.

Educating ourselves and those younger for this changing world is far from the only challenge all this raises. Reflecting on 3-D printing technology and its predicted applications in synthetic biology, panelists identified a wide range of concerns:

Legal issues: In an age when anybody can print out a 3-D copy of almost anything, what happens to intellectual property? Cascio noted that you can go to your computer or smartphone and download 123D Catch, an app that will allow you to take a photo of something and then turn that photo into a digital file that you can print out with a 3-D printer. So, for example, you could make your own copy of some sculptor's work that you see in a local art studio window. Is that fair? Is that economically just?

Issues of equity, fairness, and inequality: Panelists worried about the uneven distribution of emerging technologies around the world and asked: How do we take the whole world with us on this journey as opposed to just a small portion of it? How do we all progress? Different scenarios emerged from the discussion:

Scenario 1: We simply don't all progress together. These technological developments become an engine for greater and greater disparities of power and wealth around the globe.

Scenario 2: People in the developing world become the beneficiaries of innovations emerging from the advanced world. The latter become the beta testers, turning over to the former those breakthroughs (like 3-D printed food?) that are promising. An precedent is how cell-phone networks allowed the developing world to leapfrog over the infrastructure costs of wired communication.

Scenario 3: Better living for everyone and broad inclusion in wealth-creation will occur by having open networks, open communication, open-source programming, software, and making. Open source, Jamais Cascio says, "is the zenith of the notion of combining collaboration and creation-the 'making with the many.' What you're doing is literally putting it out there for others to use, and to remake and reshape it." He pointed to the open sourcing of the SARS genome, which was sequenced and put online for anybody to see, as being one of the critical factors leading to a treatment for SARS being developed far faster than anyone expected. "When you have a complex problem, when you have a complex threat, collaboration is one of your better tools for response."

Issues of ethics, morality, and criminality: In my post last Friday, I quoted Cascio's observation that with our emerging ability to 3-D print human organs and use synthetic biology in astonishing new ways, we may be acquiring capacities "reserved to the deity," but "what we haven't been developing as swiftly is the wisdom to know what to make and what not to make."

The interesting question, as several panelists observed, is whether we are developing a moral and ethical framework as quickly as our technological capacities are evolving. Is our current moral and ethical framework compatible with the maker movement?

Ints Kalnins/Reuters

One view is that it's not-that people involved in creating and making things get removed from these bigger concerns by the need to develop ideas quickly, to beat potential competitors to market, and they don't think about the ripple effects of their actions. As Jules Pieri says, in the makers' entrepreneurial ecosystem, speed is everything. "It's always, go go go! They're not on the planet to think about the big issues." Thinking through the potential consequences of creating product x, y, or z is not high on their agenda.

Cascio agreed. He pointed to the "Internet of Everything," which is being propelled forward by hackers and makers, who are the ones imagining and designing the networking of everyday things, but (in his view) haven't done a very good idea of thinking through security aspects. Cascio cited several examples, including that of a computer virus intentionally introduced into a digital picture frame by a mischief-maker.

And, of course, the arrival of synthetic biology into the hackerspace raises all sorts of scary scenarios involving accidents and bad intentions, both serious mischief and criminal behavior. Cascio asks: "Who's going to use these technologies to break things? Who's going to use this for crime? Who's going to use this as a way of changing their status?" Who's going to do the wrong thing in pursuit of profits?

"What happens," he asked, "when people take something that is legal, and something that gives them power-and then put them together to come up with something that is terrifying for some people?" Cascio pointed to a company ("it's basically one guy") called Defense Distributed that has come up with an open-source 3-D print model for firearms. "Basically, you can get everything except the firing pin. It works. And with the open-source distribution of this 3-D print gun design, you've in one stroke wiped out any gun-control law in the world."

So, there are plenty of reasons for concern and alarm, in that view.

On the other hand, Pieri also sees signs of hope. Where? In the Millennial generation. "They think about legacy, about the future. It's natural to them to think positively. They expect more from business in terms of who's behind it, the sustainability of an enterprise, the legacy that they are creating with their purchases. ... So, they're thinking of their impact. That's something older generations didn't think about until they were near death."

Cascio agrees. While he sees many dangers and risks on the horizon, he says it's not all doom and gloom. "The maker movement may be one of the better engines for developing a set of ethical guidelines, because we don't have the kind of experience that can really teach us. We have myth. We have classic traditions, and religions, and ancient philosophies that are useful and need to be examined and embraced. But, the kind of power-the kind of ability to create and recreate-that we increasingly have access to, will necessitate moving beyond what we were thinking about 2,000 years ago. It will necessitate a re-examination of where our responsibilities lie-and to whom we are responsible. And from contact I've had with people in the open-source bioscience movement ... I see that people really are really thinking hard about the responsibility we have to fellow humans, to ecosystems, to the planet, and to the future."

If you want to hear these CWA panel discussions for yourself, audio recordings are available here (for "Makers: The Movement that Captures the Imagination") and here (for "Market Disrupters: Makers, Shakers, and Sharers").

John Tierney is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a former professor of American government at Boston College. He is the author of Organized Interests and American Democracy (with Kay L. Schlozman) and The U.S. Postal Service: Status and Prospects of a Government Enterprise.

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The Moral Questions Raised by the Rise of Maker Culture

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Thinking through the consequences of the proliferation of powerful tools and technologies What are some of the fast-changing elements of the " maker movement" currently reshaping part of the American economy? In an item here a few days ago, I went through some of major developments in recent years affecting the maker movement and looked at where some experts think it's heading in the future.

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How to Become & Remain a Transformational Teacher

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How to Become & Remain a Transformational Teacher

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However talented, no one is a natural-born teacher. Honing the craft takes significant care and effort, not just by the individual, but also by the school at large. Though experience does matter, it matters only to the extent that a teacher -- regardless of how long he or she has been in the classroom -- commits to continued professional development to refresh his or her status as a transformational teacher. Along those lines, even after a decade in the classroom, I don't claim to be beyond criticism -- not in the least. Still, I wish to offer some advice on constantly striving toward perfection, however elusive that goal will always remain.

Constantly Share Best Practices

As a first step, work toward recognizing that, no matter how long you've been in the classroom, there will always be someone else who's more effective at a certain facet of teaching. When I was a first-year teacher, a veteran colleague inquired how I'd engaged such strong student interest in the American Revolution, something that he'd struggled with achieving. I shared my lesson plan, which culminated in a formal debate about whether the colonists had acted justly in rebelling against British rule. Moving forward, I felt more confident and comfortable about asking that colleague for help with providing quality written feedback, which he excelled at doing.

Find a Trusted Mentor

No matter how much experience you have, it's crucial to find and rely on a trusted confidant. As a new teacher, I spent countless hours chatting with colleagues about best practices and where I feared that I might have fallen short. Not once did they pass judgment on me, or suggest that whatever I had done (or failed to do, in certain cases) was beyond repair. Instead, they offered thoughtful advice on how I might do things differently. No matter the subject, I value hearing fresh perspectives from new and veteran teachers about becoming even better at my job. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas.

Commit to Classroom Observations

I do my best to observe other teachers in action. This year, I benefited from watching a colleague inject humor into his English classroom to cultivate a more relaxed but effective learning environment. In turn, I tried to strike a similar balance in my history classroom, which helped students feel less afraid of sharing ideas and learning from mistakes. I'm equally grateful for observing a colleague teach French to students whom I also instruct. She possesses a gentle firmness that learners respond to, but more importantly, students know that she cares about them -- and they don't want to let their teacher or themselves down.

Change Things Up

I also observe other teachers to see how they change things up, especially when I get too comfortable in a routine. It's certainly easier to teach the same books and content each year, but it's also incredibly boring, which can lead to burnout. This summer, I'm working to revamp some of my American history curriculum to fall more in step with what students are learning and doing in their American literature class. For example, when juniors are studying the Cold War in my class, they'll be reading Alan Moore's in their English class -- an award-winning graphic novel highlighting many Cold War-era fears and tensions. For both classes, students will complete a yet-to-be-determined project to showcase their understanding.

Model the Usefulness of What You Teach

In line with changing things up, I'm always looking for new ways to model the usefulness of what I teach. More than ever, I find that students want to know how they can apply what they learn in the classroom to the real world. In American history, I continue to de-emphasize rote memorization in favor of activities requiring clear, analytical thinking -- an essential tool for whatever students end up pursuing in college or as a career. On most assessments, I allow students to bring a notecard. It seems less important in the age of Google to assess how much students know. Instead, I'm significantly more concerned with how much sense they can make of all this information so readily available to them. In all of my classes, I also make it clear that knowing how to write well will play a significant role in their future success.

Caring Beyond What You Teach

To motivate my students toward success, I strive to show that I care about them beyond the classroom. I do my best to chaperone trips, watch sporting events, and attend plays and other student-run productions. I advise the Model United Nations Club, which allows me to share my passion for diplomacy and fostering change. I also coach cross-country to help students see that I value maintaining a healthy body just as much as developing an inquisitive mind. The most transformational teachers that I know have a deep understanding of how their role transcends far beyond any subject that they're teaching. Such teachers have the most lasting impact on their students long after graduation.

How else can one become a transformational teacher? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

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How to Become and Remain a Transformational Teacher | Edutopia

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However talented, no one is a natural-born teacher. Honing the craft takes significant care and effort, not just by the individual, but also by the school at large. Though experience does matter, it matters only to the extent that a teacher -- regardless of how long he or she has been in the classroom -- commits to continued professional development to refresh his or her status as a transformational teacher.

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Children in England Sign Over Digital Rights Regularly & Unknowingly

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Children in England Sign Over Digital Rights Regularly & Unknowingly

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Children are being left to fend for themselves in the digital world, regularly signing over rights to their private messages and pictures unknowingly and with scant advice from parents or schools, according to England's children's commissioner.

Almost half of eight- to 11-year-olds have agreed impenetrable terms and conditions to give social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram control over their data, without any accountability, according to the commissioner's Growing Up Digital taskforce.

The year-long study found children regularly signed up to terms including waiving privacy rights and allowing the content they posted to be sold around the world, without reading or understanding their implications.

Children's commissioner Anne Longfield said children needed a specialist ombudsman to represent their rights to social media companies and recommended a broader digital citizenship programme should be obligatory in every school from ages four to 14.

Instagram, the photo sharing social media site used by more than half of 12- to 15-year-olds, and 48% of eight- to 11-year-olds, had terms and conditions that none of the young children in the taskforce's focus group could fully understand. Only half of the eight- to 11-year-olds could even read the terms, which ran to more than 5,000 words on 17 pages of text.

Privacy law expert Jenny Afia, a partner at Schllings, rewrote the terms so they could be more easily understood by children, including advice that "[Instagram] is allowed to use any pictures you post and let others use them as well, anywhere around the world. Other people might pay us to use them and we will not pay you for that".

Instagram can share with other companies any personal information about users, "such as your birthday or who you are chatting with, including in private messages.

"We can force you to give up your username for any reason," the re-written terms and conditions say.

Children found the new terms far easier to understand, with many shocked at the extent of the app's rights. Several said they would delete or reconsider using the app. "I'm deleting Instagram because it's weird," one 13-year-old told the group.

"They write like this so you can't understand it, because then you might think differently," another 13-year-old girl said.

Afia said: "The situation is serious, young people are unwittingly giving away personal information with no real understanding of who is holding that information, where they are holding it and what they are going to do with it."

She said the simplified terms would have the same, if not stronger legal standing that the current phrasing of the terms. "At the moment there is a very good case to say a child is not giving informed consent," she told the Guardian.

"If a child had a dispute with Instagram, the first argument would be that they did not give consent because they did not understand it."

Afia said that it was concerning companies might appear not to want children to read their terms. "Children thought differently about using the services," she said. "We want more awareness, which we hope will lead to pressure to improve the services.

Children reported futile attempts to report concerns about social media, even when behaviour might be illegal, such as underage sexting or stalking. One cited a social media account that persistently asked 13-year-old girls to send naked photos.

"Someone was asking loads of the girls in my school for nudes, everyone reported it about 100 times and the account is still there," one girl told the taskforce. "They have literally done nothing about it. Also he sent indecent images of himself which I swear is illegal and nothing happens."

Children said they were often tricked into seeing lewd pictures. "You'll click on a hashtag like #beautygiveaways and then see, like, a dick pic," one 12-year-old girl said.

Instagram's EMEA head of policy Michelle Napchan said the app prioritised giving clear information about safety and privacy policies that could be accessed from mobile phones. "We recognise in many cases, when people need help, they want it when they're using the app," she said.

"That is why we go beyond our terms and guidelines to offer in-app safety and privacy help - from reporting, to industry-leading comment tools and self-help resources. We have also produced a guide for parents to help them talk to their teenagers about internet safety."

The company requires users to be over the age of 13 and it says it has a trained team of reviewers that oversee the removal of inappropriate posts 24/7.

Longfield said children now spent half their leisure time in an environment which had very little regulation, controlled by a small number of powerful organisations.

"It is wholly irresponsible to let them roam in a world for which they are ill-prepared," she said. "It is vital that children understand what they agree to when joining social media platforms, that their privacy is better protected, and they can have content posted about them removed quickly should they wish to."

Longfield said she hoped the government would extend the power of the children's commissioner's office to give it independent oversight of the number and type of complaints that social media providers are receiving from young people.

"When it was created 25 years ago, the internet was not designed with children in mind," she said.

The taskforce - which also included the BBC's children director, Alice Webb, and Liam Hackett, founder of the anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label - also revealed a sharp rise in internet use by children as young as three.

Children aged between three and four spent an average of eight hours and 18 minutes on the internet a week, almost an hour-and-a-half longer than the average in 2015. By their early teens, children spend more than 20 hours a week online, the taskforce said.

The taskforce recommended the appointment of a specialist digital ombudsman who could act as a mediator between children and social media companies over the removal of sensitive content. It also said the government should consider implementing legislation protecting children's privacy and data online, similar to what is being proposed by the EU.

Sarah Champion, the Labour shadow cabinet minister who recently wrote a report recommending an overhaul of sex education to put more emphasis on digital risks such as online grooming, said: "This report is yet more evidence that the government aren't doing enough to equip children with the skills and knowledge to stay safe online.

"We have to recognise children are growing up immersed in a digital world. We owe it to them to do all we can to educate and support them to the risks they face in the virtual world, just as we do in the real world."

A government spokesman said it was investing £4.5 million in a new computing curriculum, which included e-safety. "The internet has given children and young people fantastic opportunities, but protecting them from risks they might face online or on their phones is vital," the spokesman said.

"The UK is a world leader in internet safety, but there is more to do, and we will carefully consider this report as part of our ongoing work to make the internet a safer place for children."

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Children in England sign over digital rights 'regularly and unknowingly'

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Children are being left to fend for themselves in the digital world, regularly signing over rights to their private messages and pictures unknowingly and with scant advice from parents or schools, according to England's children's commissioner.

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John Hattie & His High Impact Teaching Strategies

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John Hattie & His High Impact Teaching Strategies

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Pupils choose their own subjects and motivate themselves, an approach some say should be rolled out across Germany

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Anton Oberländer is a persuasive speaker. Last year, when he and a group of friends were short of cash for a camping trip to Cornwall, he managed to talk Germany's national rail operator into handing them some free tickets. So impressed was the management with his chutzpah that they invited him back to give a motivational speech to 200 of their employees.

Anton, it should be pointed out, is 14 years old.

The Berlin teenager's self-confidence is largely the product of a unique educational institution that has turned the conventions of traditional teaching radically upside down. At Oberländer's school, there are no grades until students turn 15, no timetables and no lecture-style instructions. The pupils decide which subjects they want to study for each lesson and when they want to take an exam.

The school's syllabus reads like any helicopter parent 's nightmare. Set subjects are limited to maths, German, English and social studies, supplemented by more abstract courses such as "responsibility" and "challenge". For challenge, students aged 12 to 14 are given €150 (£115) and sent on an adventure that they have to plan entirely by themselves. Some go kayaking; others work on a farm. Anton went trekking along England's south coast.

The philosophy behind these innovations is simple: as the requirements of the labour market are changing, and smartphones and the internet are transforming the ways in which young people process information, the school's headteacher, Margret Rasfeld, argues, the most important skill a school can pass down to its students is the ability to motivate themselves.

"Look at three or four year olds - they are all full of self-confidence," Rasfeld says. "Often, children can't wait to start school. But frustratingly, most schools then somehow manage to untrain that confidence."

The Evangelical School Berlin Centre (ESBC) is trying to do nothing less than "reinvent what a school is", she says. "The mission of a progressive school should be to prepare young people to cope with change, or better still, to make them look forward to change. In the 21st century, schools should see it as their job to develop strong personalities."

Making students listen to a teacher for 45 minutes and punishing them for collaborating on an exercise, Rasfeld says, was not only out of sync with the requirements of the modern world of work, but counterproductive. "Nothing motivates students more than when they discover the meaning behind a subject of their own accord."

Students at her school are encouraged to think up other ways to prove their acquired skills, such as coding a computer game instead of sitting a maths exam. Oberländer, who had never been away from home for three weeks until he embarked on his challenge in Cornwall, said he learned more English on his trip than he had in several years of learning the language at school.

Germany's federalised education structure, in which each of the 16 states plans its own education system, has traditionally allowed "free learning" models to flourish. Yet unlike Sudbury, Montessori or Steiner schools, Rasfeld's institution tries to embed student self-determination within a relatively strict system of rules. Students who dawdle during lessons have to come into school on Saturday morning to catch up, a punishment known as "silentium". "The more freedom you have, the more structure you need," says Rasfeld.

The main reason why the ESBC is gaining a reputation as Germany's most exciting school is that its experimental philosophy has managed to deliver impressive results. Year after year, Rasfeld's institution ends up with the best grades among Berlin's gesamtschulen, or comprehensive schools, which combine all three school forms of Germany's tertiary system. Last year's school leavers achieved an average grade of 2.0, the equivalent of a straight B - even though 40% of the year had been advised not to continue to abitur, the German equivalent of A-levels, before they joined the school. Having opened in 2007 with just 16 students, the school now operates at full capacity, with 500 pupils and long waiting lists for new applicants.

Given its word-of-mouth success, it is little wonder that there have been calls for Rasfeld's approach to go nationwide. Yet some educational experts question whether the school's methods can easily be exported: in Berlin, they say, the school can draw the most promising applicants from well-off and progressive families. Rasfeld rejects such criticisms, insisting that the school aims for a heterogenous mix of students from different backgrounds. While a cross adorns the assembly hall and each school day starts with worship, only one-third of current pupils are baptised. Thirty per cent of students have a migrant background and 7% are from households where no German is spoken.

Even though the ESBC is one of Germany's 5,000 private schools, fees are means tested and relatively low compared with those common in Britain, at between €720 and €6,636 a year. About 5% of students are exempt from fees.

However, even Rasfeld admits that finding teachers able to adjust to the school's learning methods can be harder than getting students to do the same.

Aged 65 and due to retire in July, Rasfeld still has ambitious plans. A four-person "education innovation lab" based at the school has been developing teaching materials for schools that want to follow the ESBC's lead. About 40 schools in Germany are in the process of adopting some or all of Rasfeld's methods. One in Berlin's Weissensee district recently let a student trek across the Alps for a challenge project. "Things are only getting started," says Rasfeld.

"In education, you can only create change from the bottom - if the orders come from the top, schools will resist. Ministries are like giant oil tankers: it takes a long time to turn them around. What we need is lots of little speedboats to show you can do things differently."

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No grades, no timetable: Berlin school turns teaching upside down

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Anton Oberländer is a persuasive speaker. Last year, when he and a group of friends were short of cash for a camping trip to Cornwall, he managed to talk Germany's national rail operator into handing them some free tickets.

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10 Ways to Promote International Mindedness 

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10 Ways to Promote International Mindedness 

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International schools are ideally placed to develop and encourage greater global consciousness.

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International schools are ideally placed to develop and encourage greater global consciousness. Dr. Chris Muller explores how best to exploit this opportunity.
A wonderful starting point

Students in today's international schools, growing up to be global leaders of the future, will require a remarkable insight into people and cultures across the world, and an unprecedented concern for the well-being of the world community. Around the world, many educational systems are gearing themselves toward catering to a greater global consciousness.

International schools represent a phenomenon that is able to take the lead in setting an example to educate students toward international-mindedness, through an education that reduces ethnocentrism, increases knowledge of other cultures, and promotes a concern for global environmental issues.

Towards international mindedness

International-mindedness is a view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility to its members. It is an awareness of the inter-relatedness of all nations and peoples, and a recognition of the complexity of these relationships. Internationally-minded people appreciate and value the diversity of cultures in the world and make an effort to learn more about them.

They exhibit personal concern for people all around the world, and this manifests itself in a sense of moral responsibility to other people, and a commitment to the values of a community. They are aware of the long-term consequences of human behavior on the environment and on global society.

If parents, teachers and others involved in the educational process aim to educate students toward an internationally-minded approach to life, then we need to develop a more sophisticated view of what is going on in schools to support the process.

By exploring the various dimensions of schools that may contribute toward promoting international-mindedness, the concept of educating toward this purpose will be clearer for other schools aiming to achieve such a goal. It will highlight attitudes of students related to their sense of connection to, interest in, and responsibility for, the global community and the behaviors associated with this perspective, thus directing toward the affective change that might result from practices in the classroom and the broader school environment.

This, in turn, would empower schools to reconsider how they cater to and recognize international learning. In the words of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, "I do think the 21st century is about a more global view. Where you don't just think, yes my country is doing well, but you think about the world at large".

The role of schools

The following are selective aspects that require focus in a school striving to educate students towards international-mindedness and global citizenship.
1. Live the school's philosophy and values
An explicit and shared set of values, one that clarifies the context in which a school operates and subsequently sets out an appropriate vision, gives a framework from which all community members can receive guidance for their action. This is true for any school, but in international schools the desire to impart an ethic of an interconnected global society adds a unique element and must be reflected in practice. Missions and values are ethical statements, and if they are carried out in practice, the school is living up to the ethical standards that are essential to an education promoting international-mindedness.
2. Inform governance and management practices
A commitment by management and boards of international schools to the practical and philosophical demands of this particular type of education is critical to the success of its mission. This includes understanding of issues that transcend nationality, the priorities of other cultures, and the recognition of the reality of living in an interdependent world.
3. Infuse the curriculum
The process of encouraging international-mindedness requires a consciously constructed curriculum that guides teachers and students toward using the resources and diverse cultures at hand appropriately. The school philosophy must carry through into curriculum construction, assessment, standards, and benchmarks, to reflect international and multi-cultural perspectives.
4. Celebrate the school community
The cultural diversity of the school community needs to be explored, incorporated and celebrated at every opportunity. This means that students grow up in a setting where cultural diversity is the norm. Creating a school culture to reflect this norm is therefore critical. A school's involvement in the broader community has two dimensions. First, a school catering to a transient and diverse community needs to be a facility that gives opportunities and provides facilities for students and their families to interact on a level beyond the classroom. Second, the school needs to pave the way for students to discover and interact with the local host community, as well as share their personal cultural values.
5. Support families in transition
Schools need to recognize the significance of the phenomenon of families in transition. The issue of support and resources for transient students and their families, and an understanding of the concept of Third Culture Kids, is vital in the promotion of international-mindedness.
6. Enable linguistic fluency
Language learning is a tool to overcome cultural barriers. While languages offered in schools are usually market-driven, exposure to multiple languages can be incorporated into the program and curriculum in many creative ways.
7. Commit to service learning
A structured and diverse service learning program in schools develops empathy with the human condition and steers students away from a path of economic superiority and elitism. It leads to critical awareness and analytical discourse in all spheres of their academic pursuits.
8. Broaden teaching practice and professional development
Like in any educational institution, a successful program relies upon a strong backbone of professional development for its staff. Programs tailored to the philosophy of international education are becoming more readily available from organizations such as the IB, the Principals/Teachers/Counselors Training Center (PTC, TTC, CTC) and many others. Teaching practice in schools promoting international mindedness requires a solid understanding of multiculturalism, multilingualism, cultural characteristics, transition issues, and international curricula.
9. Enrich student Life
In fostering global awareness, schools need to create opportunities for students to explore their role and their understanding of global issues outside the classroom context. This can happen in the form of trips within the host city or country and internationally, as well as through targeted and relevant extra-curricular offerings that promote leadership and an international consciousness.
10. See education as the key
It is through educational experiences that students can develop a sense of international-mindedness, which gives them competences to exercise influence on problems facing the world.
Dr. G. Chris Muller Dr. Chris Müller is an independent educational consultant specializing in international education in international schools, particularly the promotion of international mindedness in 21st century students. He originally hails from Namibia, but now calls South Africa home. Until recently, Dr. Müller was the Director of Bonn International School in Germany. Prior to Germany, he spent 5 years in Zambia as Director of the American International School of Lusaka. He has also served as Principal at the United Nations International School in New York, U.S.A., the American International School of Bucharest in Romania, and the International School of Tanganyika in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He has served on many boards, including the Council of International Schools (CIS), the IB Heads Council, and the IB Regional Council.

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10 ways to promote international mindedness

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International schools are ideally placed to develop and encourage greater global consciousness. Dr. Chris Muller explores how best to exploit this opportunity. A wonderful starting point Students in today's international schools, growing up to be global leaders of the future, will require a remarkable insight into people and cultures across the world, and an unprecedented concern for the well-being of the world community.

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FINLAND’S VISUAL ARTS CURRICULUM FOR SCHOOLS (ARCHITECTURE, VISUAL ARTS AND CRAFT)

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My friend Esa Helttula lives in Espoo, Finland (also home of Rovio who gave us Angry Birds). Over the past few months, we've been sharing some fascinating discussions about education in general, and he's been blowing my mind about Finland's incredibly healthy and holistic approach to education.

Finland has a long term approach to arts in education. Rather than valuing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) over the arts like many Western countries, Finland considers the arts to be vital and weaves it through their entire education system.

Curiously when countries like the US or UK talk about Finland's approach given Finland's consistent chart topping OCED PISA scores, they hardly ever mention this fact. Perhaps it's too uncomfortable to consider when their own approaches seem diametrically opposite, with high stakes testing and STEM prioritized above all else. Perhaps the fact of a country with 100% literacy rate and children speaking 2 or more languages is inconceivable? Perhaps the trust given to teachers in a country where it's more difficult to be qualified as a teacher than a lawyer or a doctor is too much to grasp...

Esa very kindly took the time to translate the following when I asked him about the Finnish arts curriculum.

From: http://www.oph.fi/english/education/basic_education_in_the_arts
Basic Education in the Arts
Basic education in the arts is goal-oriented, progressing from one level to other. It teaches children skills in self-expression and capabilities needed for vocational, polytechnic and university education in their chosen art form. Participation is voluntary and the education providers may charge moderate fees.

Basic education in the arts differs from compulsory basic education. A local authority providing basic education in the arts receives statutory government transfers based on the number of inhabitants. Further, public and private education providers receive government grants based on the confirmed number of lesson hours given.

The network of art education institutes thus funded comprises 89 music institutes and 41 schools in the other arts.
Provision of Basic Education in the Arts
Music, art, dance, visual arts and craft schools and other institutes provide basic education in the Arts for children and young people.

- Municipalities can provide basic education in the arts
- The Ministry of Education can grant joint municipal authorities, registered societies or associations the permission to provide basic education in the arts
- Basic education in the arts may also be provided by a public educational institution on the decision of the Ministry of Education
- Legislation stipulates that basic education in the arts must be provided either by educational institutions or arranged in other ways
Curricula for Basic Education in the Arts
The objectives and core contents are determined in national core curricula devised by the National Board of Education for nine different art forms, which are music, literary arts, dance, performing arts (circus and theatre) and visual arts (architecture, audiovisual art, visual arts, and craft).

Curriculum for the advanced syllabus in basic education in the arts is defined for the following forms of art: music, literary arts, dance, performing arts (circus, theatre), visual arts (architecture, visual arts, and craft).

The Finnish National Board of Education decides on the objectives and core contents of each art form in both basic and advanced syllabi in basic education in the arts. However, the core curriculum may include syllabi of different extent.

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The following is a quick translation from Finnish. This curriculum is for visual arts. There are separate curriculums for music, circus arts, dance, and theater. The curriculums are not available in English in the Finnish National Board of Education web pages.
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Curriculum for the advanced syllabus in basic education in the visual arts (architecture, visual arts, and craft) 2002
Board of Education 2003

© National Board of Education
Layout Pirjo Nylund
ISBN 952-13-1385-4
Helsinki 2003rd
Ref 39/011/2002
Date 08/06/2002

The provision is based on: L 633/1998, 5 - Subsection 1., F 813/1998, 1

Board of Education has determined that the core curriculum for basic education in the arts will be observed from the date 08.06.2002. (day.month.year)

The education provider must draw up and approve a curriculum for teaching in accordance with to what is provided in the adjoining grounds of the curriculum.

The curriculum must define and complement the objectives and core contents described here. A curriculum that follows these principles shall be placed in service 06/08/2002 and shall be launched by 01/08/2004 (day/month/year).

The education provider cannot provide the core curriculum by ignoring or departing from these objectives.

General: Jukka Sarjala
Director General: Aslak Lindström
Chapter 1: The basic task, values and general goals of arts education 1 - The task
These curriculums in architecture, visual arts, and crafts are called visual arts. The studies in the various targeting options for the visual arts - architecture, visual arts and crafts - can be credited between them.

Teaching according to the in-depth syllabus should give pupils an opportunity to work in the long run according to their talents and interests and create the conditions for a lifelong interest in visual representation and for further studies. The goal of the education is that students can affect the values in society and thus society as a whole and the atmosphere in it, because of their knowledge of arts.

The tastk of teaching is to preserve and develop the national visual culture. The goal is to develop cooperation with educational institutions providing education in art education and with other bodies, both nationally and internationally.
2 - Values
Teaching should be based on an idea of a human being, where the individual has ethical and moral ability to choose and actively shape their lives and recognize the importance of beauty in it. Education shall support students' spiritual growth and personal integrity and help him to develop into a thinking person with discernment.

The goal of education is that student by expressing themselves with art, learn to evaluate and assess himself and his environment and to build and develop their worldview based on both personal experience and heritage. Teaching should help students to become aware on what for him is important in life and to express this by visual means.

Education must develop students' ability to work in interaction with others. Pupils should receive guidance in understanding and accepting diversity.
3 - General objectives
The goal of education is to develop students' ability to operate in a society based on knowledge and interaction.
With the help of arts and science a person defines his relationship to nature and culture. Pupils should understand the visual symbols both in society and in the prevailing conception of arts in society, and their influence on architecture, visual arts and crafts.

In teaching, the student will be encouraged to interpret the art on a personal way and recognize their personal history and the context, in which he examines the work of art. Art can be interpreted on many levels, the same works of art, handicraft product, or built environment interpreted differently at different times and in different contexts.

Education must develop students' capacity for creative problem solving. Pupils should learn to express themselves and to master materials and technology. He will receive guidance in assessing and appreciating the quality of the visual environment.
Chapter 2 The Basis for teaching 4 - Learning Attitudes
The goal of education is to support the student's artistic learning so that he learns how to combine abstract thinking and personal experience and realize that experience and abstraction are in constant interaction. Knowledge base for artistic learning is created based on the student's observations, feelings, thoughts, knowledge, expression and skills. One goal of the activity is that the student discovers that view, application of knowledge and activity happens simultaneously. The need for artistic expression is to be based on the student's own motivation and the student must have an active role in studying and learning. Education must develop students' ability to combine new knowledge and skills with the conceptual structures that he had gained earlier and to develop his ability to apply in the new context what he learned in the past. Pupils' former experiences and knowledge base and self-understanding should be taken into account in teaching. Exploration and functional learning should be used, individually and in cooperation with others. Pupils must be able to formulate problems, process information, analyze the facts and form their own opinion about art.
5 - The educational environment
The study environment is the mental, social and physical environment, of curriculum and teaching methods. It also includes the traditions, values and ethical and moral beliefs and the cultural diversity that exists in the community. The ability to systematically develop educational activities is of great importance for a successful teaching and a high-class study. A continuous cooperation with the homes of the students is a goal that should be achieved through feedback and assessment.

A positive, open and secure atmosphere where everyone's personality is respected and life skills are strengthened should characterize the study environment. It is a versatile way to support the growth of various kinds of students. The goal is to create a stimulating environment that supports cooperation and provides also opportunities for quiet stress free moments.

The study environment should also be aesthetically stimulating. It shall promote the functional, visual and personal expression in the student creations and crafts products. The learning environment must have diverse materials and tools that are safe to use and scheduled in accordance with the objectives and content of the detailed syllabus. Safety requirements for work products and the environment should be considered. The environment, nature, and cultural life are also places where studying takes place. A goal is to develop the computer network as a learning environment and facilities for interaction.
6 - Work methods
Teachers should consider students' individual learning styles and stages of development. An individual curriculum can be made up for each student. Assimilating visual skills and an exploration, problem-oriented approach to learning and expression requires constant interaction between student, teacher and group. Pupils' experiences, knowledge, skills and interests must be the starting points for teaching. The choice of subjects and themes should seek to maintain the joy of learning.

Approaches are chosen so that the interaction skills and ability to concentrate, sensitivity, empathy, ability to be initiative, responsibility and self-confidence and social skills of students will grow. The working should be chosen so that the methods teach students to respect the other members in the group and their own and others' learning processes and results.

Operation and content of studies should be selected so that students can develop their expression in various targeting options in the visual production and make the expression more varied from the basic studies to advanced studies.
Chapter 3 Teaching approach and scope of studies 7 - teaching approach
Studies under the in-depth syllabus of visual representation consist of basic and advanced studies. Basic Studies and advanced studies are primarily designed for children and young people of school age.
8 - scale of studies
The estimated extent of basic studies and advanced studies of the in-depth syllabus of visual representation is 1300 hours. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes. Students' age, previous knowledge and skills and the teaching methods used are all taken into account when designing the method of instruction.

The education provider decides on the estimated magnitude the teaching of visual representation in early childhood stage.

The estimated extent of basic studies in the in-depth learning course is 540 hours.

The estimated extent of advanced studies in the the in-depth educational course is 760 hours.
9 - the required time to complete studies
The education provider decides on the time used for the studies in young children stage, the basic studies and advanced studies of visual representation.
Chapter 4 Objectives and key content 10 - Objectives of the detailed syllabus of Visual Expression
Common objectives of the detailed syllabus of Visual Expression

Students will learn

The objectives of targeting options for architecture, visual arts and crafts in the in-depth syllabus of visual representation.

In the targeting option for Architecture, the student will learn to

* express themselves in different fields of architecture, i.e. in architecture, urban design, urban planning, environmental planning, planning of spaces, landscape design, installation art and environmental art

In the targeting option for visual arts, the student will learn to

* express themselves in various fields of visual arts, i.e. in drawing and painting, sculpture, architecture, environmental planning, design, graphics, ceramics, textiles, photography, film and video, series, environmental art and public art, performance art and video media and multiple artistic work.

In the targeting option for crafts, the student will learn to

* express themselves on the various fields of crafts, i.e. in planning and production of items in the planning and construction of textiles and clothing as well as in environmental planning and construction.
11 - Central content
The studies in the various targeting options for visual representation progress from early stage through the basic studies to the in-depth studies in architecture, visual arts and crafts.
Architecture
The objective of the detailed syllabus of architecture is to develop the skills needed in today's society to interpret the built environment. The goal is that students learn to understand the interaction between nature, the built environment and human activities. In teaching the entire built environment is dealt with, from individual objects and buildings to extensive environmental entities.

One goal of education is to help the student to design and understand their habitat and the world, to extend his general education and promote his ability to meet society's challenges and meet with individual choices. Building heritage and its development is central in teaching.

The essential thing is to portray the three dimensions of space and understand that people's way of building their environment is culturally and socially conditioned.
Pupils' ability to observe, reflect, understand and value and assess the surrounding environment should be developed.

Important approaches are creative problem solving, student's own artistic expression and construction.

According to the classical definition, the architecture should be beautiful, sustainable and useful. The three-dimensional built environment, nature and historical layers should be processed experientially and with all senses. Pupils should learn to understand their motion in three-dimensional space as a physical and spiritual experience.

Central content

In the architecture education for young students the pupils will

study the various manifestations in architecture and the built environment

practice how to be versatile and use all senses to learn how to gather information and use it in their work

explore architecture's basic concepts - time, scale and movement

explore space, shapes, designs, colors and lighting

investigate the properties of various materials

learn the techniques needed to work

learn how to observe, perceive and assess the nature and the man-shaped environment

observe changes in the cultural landscape

comply with the fluctuations in the surrounding countryside, the landscape and seasons

examine different types of housing

get to know architecture and exhibitions in the near surroundings

learn how to operate in groups and alone.

In the basic studies, the student will

familiarize themselves with the ability of a citizen to influence matters relating to their own environment

develop their expression by applying their ideas and prior knowledge and skills about technology and materials

use the basic concepts of architecture - time, space and movement - in their work and learn how to build a space using form, scale, color and light

learn to use different techniques and designs and explore properties of various materials

familiarize themselves with the qualitative properties of various materials and practice in sorting, reusing and recycling

through their own work, become familiar with the planning process in different stages, the collection of background materials, brainstorming and using different technologies in the planning

become familiar with architectural history and current manifestations and visit museums and exhibitions

evaluate how buildings and structures of various kinds fit into the pristine landscape and the built environment

perform supervised homework

develop a portfolio of in-depth syllabus at the end of studies of visual representation

In the advanced studies, the student will
Visual Arts
The goal of instruction in visual arts and aesthetic expression is to develop the skills needed in today's society to interpret images. Pupils should learn to perceive and understand the world and to extend their general knowledge in visual arts. Important curricula are the visual manifestations, media, arts and cultural expression in nature and in the built environment. Teaching should be innovative in nature. Students should develop into discerning players in the world of art and society also.

Concepts and expressions in the visual representation should be the basis for teaching and they should be the key. The goal is that students learn to use transformations and loans that are typical of the visualarts and to use new and ancient symbols and give them meanings.

Visual production is practiced both by their own work and by looking at the picture artwork and images of everyday life. In teaching the importance of using the senses, intuition, dreams, imagination and empathy is stressed. Education shall be exploration and problem-oriented.

Central content

The young student in visual arts will

learn to make images and explore different kinds of expressions within art: shape, texture, space, movement, rhythm, color and light

learn how to use various materials, tools and working methods and learn the basics of how to take care of tools

observe and interpret the surrounding countryside, built environment and objects in the environment and learn how to transform the observations and ideas into images

learn how to concentrate on work and take into account others

familiarize themselves with the images conveyed through the media, assess them and develop their own visual messages

visit museums and exhibitions, and excursions into the wild and various cultural sites and process their experiences with the visual arts medium.

In the basic studies, the student will

In the advanced studies, the students will

deepen their knowledge and skills in one or more of visual arts and the visual media in different compartments after choice

train and develop their visual expressions and combining means of expression from different art forms in their work

immerse themselves in the visual arts history, compare different kinds of art expressions and reflect on fundamental issues in aesthetics and philosophy of art and consider the expressions in art history and contemporary art as historically coherent

immerse themselves in an unfamiliar culture or in visual expression in different cultures

familiarise themselves with materials and practices that promote sustainable development

acquaint themselves with professionals in visual art and other visual production and the way they work

learn to consider the customers' needs in product and construction planning

independently plan and carry out tasks

perform supervised homework

publicly present the work and final results

monitor their learning and evaluate their and others' work

will make one final work, which includes a work, a portfolio of work methods and their own assessment of it.

Crafts
The goal of instruction in crafts is that the student learns to understand the significance of crafts for human welfare. In teaching the student is supervised to create aesthetically high quality and environmental and user-friendly products and to develop production solutions that promote sustainable development. Crafts and design are studied from the aesthetic, expressive, functional, physiological, structural and substantive point of view.

The production of crafts is based on cultural heritage, the relationship between the arts and knowledge of nature. Starting points for teaching is the students' own experiences, working with hands and the ability to produce products and express itself. In teaching the crafts should be seen as handicraft activities, skills, products and works. The goal is to preserve and further develop traditional craft methods and approaches and develop new ones.

The goal of education is that students learn to plan products and production and to give their work the desired direction. Pupils should understand that the assessment of the work affects quality. The content of education must be chosen so that the pupil's visual knowledge and skills, technology and knowledge of working equipment and the ability to master them develop. In teaching careful observance is emphasized: to consciously observe environment, media and craft process and its conduct. The goal is for the students to act as a receivers, interpreters and authors who learn to monitor how their own ability increases and learn to appreciate the work as an independent part of their business.

Central content

In the craft education in early childhood stage, the student will

study various aspects and the basic elements of handicrafts: shape, texture, space, movement, rhythm, color and light

learn how to process natural materials

observe and interpret the surrounding countryside, the built environment and expressions of cultural heritage and to develop handicraft products based on the mental images he got from them

understand the design and practice of hand motor function, compliance, firmness and precision, in coordinating hand-eye and the haptic-kinetic powers of observation

learning how to concentrate on work, consider others and take care of their own workspace and tools

familiarize themselves with handicrafts, past and present in their own locale

strengthen their contact with nature and participate in cultural activities.

In the basic studies, the student will

In the advanced studies, the student
12 - Adult education
The objectives and core contents of adult education are the same as for basic studies and advanced studies in the visual production.
13 - Individualization of the syllabus and teaching
If a student who due to disability, illness or other similar reason are unable to study according to the curriculum, the goals of the curriculum can be modified to match the capabilities of the student.

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My friend Esa Helttula lives in Espoo, Finland (also home of Rovio who gave us Angry Birds). Over the past few months, we've been sharing some fascinating discussions about education in general, and he's been blowing my mind about Finland's incredibly healthy and holistic approach to education.

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— and Created a Top School System

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Spend five minutes in Jussi Hietava's fourth-grade math class in remote, rural Finland, and you may learn all you need to know about education reform - if you want results, try doing the opposite of what American "education reformers" think we should do in classrooms.

Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing, screen-based schools and loosened teacher qualifications, try warmth, collaboration, and highly professionalized, teacher-led encouragement and assessment.

At the University of Eastern Finland's Normaalikoulu teacher training school in Joensuu, Finland, you can see Hietava's students enjoying the cutting-edge concept of "personalized learning."
Related: Everyone aspires to be Finland, but this country beats them in two out of three subjects
But this is not a tale of classroom computers. While the school has the latest technology, there isn't a tablet or smartphone in sight, just a smart board and a teacher's desktop.

Screens can only deliver simulations of personalized learning, this is the real thing, pushed to the absolute limit.

This is the story of the quiet, daily, flesh-and-blood miracles that are achieved by Hietava and teachers the world over, in countless face-to-face and over-the-shoulder interactions with schoolchildren.
Related: Ranking countries by worst students
Often, Hietava does two things simultaneously: both mentoring young student teachers and teaching his fourth grade class.

"Finland's historic achievements in delivering educational excellence and equity to its children are the result of a national love of childhood, a profound respect for teachers as trusted professionals, and a deep understanding of how children learn best."

Hieteva sets the classroom atmosphere. Children are allowed to slouch, wiggle and giggle from time to time if they want to, since that's what children are biologically engineered to do, in Finland, America, Asia and everywhere else.

This is a flagship in the "ultimate charter school network" - Finland's public schools.
Related: Why Americans should not be coming up with their own solutions to teacher preparation issues
Here, as in any other Finnish school, teachers are not strait-jacketed by bureaucrats, scripts or excessive regulations, but have the freedom to innovate and experiment as teams of trusted professionals.

Here, in contrast to the atmosphere in American public schools, Hietava and his colleagues are encouraged to constantly experiment with new approaches to improve learning.

Hietava's latest innovations are with pilot-testing "self-assessments," where his students write daily narratives on their learning and progress; and with "peer assessments," a striking concept where children are carefully guided to offer positive feedback and constructive suggestions to each other.
Related: In Singapore, training teachers for the classroom of the future
The 37 year-old Hietava, a school dad and Finnish champion golfer in his spare time, has trained scores of teachers, Unlike in America, where thousands of teacher positions in inner cities are filled by candidates with five or six weeks of summer training, no teacher in Finland is allowed to lead a primary school class without a master's degree in education, with specialization in research and classroom practice, from one of this small nation's eleven elite graduate schools of education.

As a boy, Hietava dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, but he grew so tall that he couldn't safely eject from an aircraft without injuring his legs. So he entered an even more respected profession, teaching, which is the most admired job in Finland next to medical doctors.

I am "embedded" at this university as a Fulbright Scholar and university lecturer, as a classroom observer, and as the father of a second grader who attends this school.
Related: Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study finds
How did I wind up here in Europe's biggest national forest, on the edge of the Western world in Joensuu, Finland, the last, farthest-east sizable town in the EU before you hit the guard towers of the Russian border?

In 2012, while helping civil rights hero James Meredith write his memoir "A Mission From God," we interviewed a panel of America's greatest education experts and asked them for their ideas on improving America's public schools.
Related: While the U.S. struggles, Sweden pushes older students back to college
One of the experts, the famed Professor Howard Gardner of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, told us, "Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States. You can read about what Finland has accomplished in 'Finnish Lessons' by Pasi Sahlberg."

I read the book and met with Sahlberg, a former Finnish math teacher who is now also at Harvard's education school as Visiting Professor.
Related: In Norway, where college is free, children of uneducated parents still don't go
After speaking with him I decided I had to give my own now-eight-year old child a public school experience in what seemed to be the most child-centered, most evidence-based, and most effective primary school system in the world.
Related: Demark pushes to make students graduate on time
Now, after watching Jussi Hietava and other Finnish educators in action for five months, I have come to realize that Finland's historic achievements in delivering educational excellence and equity to its children are the result of a national love of childhood, a profound respect for teachers as trusted professionals, and a deep understanding of how children learn best.

Children at this and other Finnish public schools are given not only basic subject instruction in math, language and science, but learning-through-play-based preschools and kindergartens, training in second languages, arts, crafts, music, physical education, ethics, and, amazingly, as many as four outdoor free-play breaks per day, each lasting 15 minutes between classes, no matter how cold or wet the weather is. Educators and parents here believe that these breaks are a powerful engine of learning that improves almost all the "metrics" that matter most for children in school - executive function, concentration and cognitive focus, behavior, well-being, attendance, physical health, and yes, test scores, too.

The homework load for children in Finland varies by teacher, but is lighter overall than most other developed countries. This insight is supported by research, which has found little academic benefit in childhood for any more than brief sessions of homework until around high school.
Related: China downturn, increased competition could affect supply of foreign students
There are some who argue that since Finland has less socio-economic diversity than, for example, the United States, there's little to learn here. But Finland's success is not a "Nordic thing," since Finland significantly out-achieves its "cultural control group" countries like Norway and Sweden on international benchmarks. And Finland's size, immigration and income levels are roughly similar to those of a number of American states, where the bulk of education policy is implemented.

There are also those who would argue that this kind of approach wouldn't work in America's inner city schools, which instead need "no excuses," boot-camp drilling-and-discipline, relentless standardized test prep, Stakhanovian workloads and stress-and-fear-based "rigor."
Related: In Brazil, fast-growing universities mirror the U.S. wealth divide
But what if the opposite is true?

What if many of Finland's educational practices are not cultural quirks or non-replicable national idiosyncrasies - but are instead bare-minimum global best practices that all our children urgently need, especially those children in high-poverty schools?

Finland has, like any other nation, a unique culture. But it has identified, often by studying historical educational research and practices that originated in the United States, many fundamental childhood education insights that can inspire, and be tested and adapted by, any other nation.
William Doyle is a 2015-2016 Fulbright Scholar and New York Times bestselling author from New York City on the faculty of the University of Eastern Finland, and father of an eight year old who attends a Finnish public school.
As Pasi Sahlberg has pointed out, "If you come to Finland, you'll see how great American schools could be."

Finland's education system is hardly perfect, and its schools and society are entering a period of huge budget and social pressures. Reading levels among children have dropped off. Some advanced learners feel bored in school. Finland has launched an expensive, high-risk national push toward universal digitalization and tabletization of childhood education that has little basis in evidence and flies in the face of a recent major OECD study that found very little academic benefit for school children from most classroom technology.

But as a parent or prospective parent, I have spent time in many of the most prestigious private schools in New York City and toured many of the city's public school classrooms, in the largest public school system in the world. And I am convinced that the primary school education my child is getting in the Normaalikoulu in Joensuu is on a par with, or far surpasses, that available at any other school I've seen.

I have a suggestion for every philanthropist, parent, educator and policymaker in the world who wants to improve children's education.

Start by coming to Finland. Spend some time sitting in the back of Jussi Hietava's classroom, or any other Finnish classroom.

If you look closely and open your mind, you may see the School of Tomorrow.

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OPINION: How Finland broke every rule - and created a top school system

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Spend five minutes in Jussi Hietava's fourth-grade math class in remote, rural Finland, and you may learn all you need to know about education reform - if you want results, try doing the opposite of what American "education reformers" think we should do in classrooms. Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing, screen-based schools and loosened teacher qualifications, try warmth, collaboration, and highly professionalized, teacher-led encouragement and assessment.

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How school stunts the development of the ultimate transferable skill.

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"It's not about learning any one particular thing. It's about learning how to learn."

"It's not about solving any particular problem. It's about learning how to think."

Children are born passionate. And, with sufficient freedom, their passion grows with time and experience.

The speaker often assumes that kids best learn how to learn and how to think at school. They consider it perfectly fine if the things kids learn in school will not be directly useful to them outside of school because the "meta-skills" of effective learning and thinking are transferable skills that can be applied to picking up marketable knowledge and skills later in life.

But such imposed learning is antithetical to an even more fundamentally important transferable skill: passion.

Passion is the self-motivated devotion to a pursuit. Passion is the ultimate transferable skill, because it is the most powerful motivator for learning and creating in any field.

By definition, passion cannot be taught through compelled lessons. It is a plant that can only grow wild, that cannot be nurtured by anything else except freedom.

Children are born passionate. And, with sufficient freedom, their passion grows with time and experience. At times, passion will reach the pitch of obsession. Children will become obsessed with one particular activity (a sport, a video game, a creative art, etc) or subject (a line of toys, dinosaurs, etc).

To adult eyes, the obsession may seem pointless or excessive. How will exhaustive knowledge about Pokemon ever advance a child's prospects? But the important part is not that the child is learning about Pokemon per se, but the fact that the child, by following his bliss (to use Joseph Campbell's phrase), is learning how to immerse himself in something.

This, again, is the ultimate transferable skill. Later, it is this built-up propensity for self-motivated immersion that the individual can harness to master any art, any craft, any trade: from graphic design to computer programming to running a business.

But parents, teachers, and school officials often do their utmost to squelch the development of passion. Children are redirected from their own interests to the pursuits that adults consider more important. And even imposed pursuits are never allowed to be delved into too deeply. In an effort to make the child "well-rounded," his pursuits are constantly interrupted and rotated. Only shallow explorations are ever allowed.

Re-learning the skill of obsession was one of the most important stages in my de-schooling process.

By the time the child exits the school system, his capacity for passion - for the self-motivated devotion to a pursuit - is completely atrophied. He can no longer follow his bliss, because he has forgotten such a thing even exists. The only thing that can propel him forward toward accomplishing anything is extrinsic motivation and direction from authority figures. At work and in life in general, he is rudderless. He is either towed by others or floats aimlessly through life.

I remember having, in my early childhood, a succession of what I then called "fevers." A certain subject would dominate my interest for months. But eventually, I would become sated, and move on to the next thing. I would become obsessed with dinosaurs, animals in general (I remember collecting the scientific names of species from issues of National Geographic), and then later He-man, Transformers, etc.

Then my susceptibility to catching such fevers was stunted and worn down by the apathy-fostering grind of compulsory schooling. But after graduating from college, my capacity for passion sprang back with a vengeance. Re-learning the skill of obsession was one of the most important stages in my de-schooling process.

After suffering an existential crisis, I became obsessed with researching theology and cosmology. After realizing I didn't understand the world around me, I became obsessed with teaching myself world history . After I discovered the ideas of liberty, I became obsessed with teaching myself Austrian economics and libertarian political philosophy . Following my bliss along these paths of obsession eventually led me to a fulfilling and successful career . My only regret is that such a happy development was so long delayed by the life-devouring, spirit-stunting ordeal of being schooled.

Don't yield to the temptation to frustrate your children's passions, to check their obsessions. Trust their choices. Let them cultivate their inborn capacity for self-directed devotion to their own pursuits. Passion is their most precious asset: the keystone skill that can beget all other skills. Don't steal it from them. Let them build it up. It will make you proud some day.

Dan Sanchez is Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writings are collected at DanSanchez.me.

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Obsession Is the Ultimate Skill | Dan Sanchez

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To adult eyes, the obsession may seem pointless or excessive. How will exhaustive knowledge about Pokemon ever advance a child's prospects? But the important part is not that the child is learning about Pokemon per se, but the fact that the child, by following his bliss (to use Joseph Campbell's phrase), is learning how to immerse himself in something.

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– and a Plan for Teaching Them

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8 digital life skills all children need - and a plan for teaching them

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We need to teach our children these eight skills as part of their education in digital citizenship.

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Four Ways to Help Students Take a More Active Role in the Feedback Process.

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AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

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Four Ways to Help Students Take a More Active Role in the Feedback Process.

Much has been written about feedback in recent years that most educators are acutely aware of the powerful influence it can have on student learning. Educators likely know that there is wide variation in the effectiveness of feedback. Many middle level teachers spend hours providing feedback to students that is only sometimes put to good use. Feedback is meaningless if it does nothing to improve student learning. Teachers know this, but are often exhausted by the endless cycle of teacher-driven assessment and feedback. It can be difficult to step back and change what is a widely accepted system of summative grading and commenting.

When feedback on student learning is primarily the job of the teacher, we miss valuable opportunities to inspire active learning in our classrooms. It is not enough to lament the fact that students infrequently apply the carefully crafted feedback of their teachers. Educators must create opportunities for students to take a more active role in the feedback process. Here are some steps to take to make feedback more valuable to students.

1. Expect to Work Together

At the beginning of every school year, middle level students arrive in classrooms laden with prior knowledge of how schools and classrooms work. When it comes to feedback, this more than likely means that students expect teachers to offer feedback in the form of a grade and written comments on their work, both of which occur most often at the end of the learning process. Students may have little perception of how this feedback plays a more active role.

In the first few days of school, most middle level teachers spend time establishing classroom expectations and, in the more student-friendly classrooms, this is a collaborative task. Often the end result is two lists of expectations: one for students and one for teachers. Imagine if there was only one list that established both students and teachers as co-facilitators in the learning process. Students need to consider themselves pivotal to their own learning and understand that feedback is not just the responsibility of the teacher.

2. Make Sure Everyone Knows Where They are Headed

For students to be more than passive recipients in the feedback process, they must have a clear understanding of the learning path. This means that learning targets are communicated to students in clear, student-friendly language, and that all students understand what successfully meeting those targets looks like.

Understanding a learning target means more than writing it down or reading it aloud. Students must begin by acknowledging what they know or do not know. One way to offer students an opportunity to consider their starting point is to use "traffic lights" before students embark on the learning. After recording the learning target, students use red, yellow, and green stickers to indicate their current level of skill or understanding in relation to the learning target. In order to do this, students must carefully consider what they are being asked to do or know-a critical starting point. The teacher also benefits from this formative snapshot of students' prior knowledge before the lesson begins. Giving students the opportunity to self-assess from the outset lets them know that their teacher expects them to engage in their learning toward the established goal.

Students also need a clear idea of what successfully meeting the learning target looks like. Once students explore and discuss what it means to successfully meet the learning goal, they should examine samples of student work and practice writing relevant feedback.

Within this process, there are opportunities for paired or group discussion of the feedback. As they wrestle with the success criteria and debate the strengths and limitations of the student samples, students vastly improve their own understanding of what success looks like. Student ownership of the learning begins with a shared understanding of the learning targets and success criteria.

3. Empower Students to Take Control

An effective middle level teacher plans strategically so students have frequent opportunities to self-assess throughout the learning process. Rather than receiving most feedback on their learning at the end
of the learning journey, students should view feedback as critical to their incremental progress toward the learning target. Once students have a comprehensive understanding of the success criteria, they can reliably be asked to evaluate their own learning or the learning of peers.

Peer evaluation can be an effective method of delivering feedback but is often undervalued by teachers and students. One possible reason for this is that many students need to develop skills essential to providing constructive criticism. In the world of a young adolescent, where status among peers is paramount, it can seem unwise to do much more than offer vague assertions of brilliance. At the other end of the scale, the overzealous peer might offer feedback that is of little relevance to the learning target. Most middle level students will have been the recipient of this kind of feedback in the past and may be sceptical about the value of peer feedback.

Education experts, such as John Hattie, advocate that students should be specifically taught what effective feedback looks like. He outlines different levels and types of feedback and suggests the use of prompts or sentence stems to guide students in giving feedback to their peers (See Figure 1).

Figure 1.
Student-Friendly Formats for Peer Feedback

One way to ensure that feedback is constructive and focused on the established learning goal is to ask students to look for specific features in the work of their peers. For example, in a writing lesson where the learning goal is to construct a balanced argument, students might highlight where a peer has offered her opinion and also where she has acknowledged the perspectives of others.

This kind of focus builds the skills of the student offering feedback and provides his peer with relevant evidence of his progress toward the learning target. When students have difficulty identifying the nominated features, this leads to focused and constructive dialogue about what constitutes a balanced argument and allows students to gain important information about where they are in their learning.

4. Give Less Feedback

This does not mean that students take full responsibility for the entire feedback process, but it does mean that we think more carefully about how to engage students in evaluating their progress toward the learning target.

We should provide feedback when students need prompting. If they can identify where they are in their learning on their own, why would we do that for them? It signals that we do not expect them to be responsible for their learning. It might also suggest that we do not think they are capable.

Many teachers and students see the value of one-on-one conferencing but the balance of responsibility for feedback is often heavily weighted toward the teacher. When the primary goal of conferencing is for the teacher to offer feedback to the student, the student has no real reason to participate actively in the process. By shifting to a more equitable distribution of responsibility, student self-efficacy increases.

A more balanced approach to the one-on-one conference is to ask students to self-assess before meeting with the teacher. The students analyze their work against the success criteria and use an established format to assess the evidence of learning progress. Students bring evidence of their learning and self-assessment to a discussion with the teacher, allowing them to view themselves as valued and effective agents in their learning.

This approach also offers teachers a chance to give students feedback on their feedback. Questions such as "Does this feedback help you to understand what you have mastered?" and "Does this feedback show you what you need to do next?" can indicate to students whether or not they are focused on the success criteria and offer teachers formative evidence of a student's progress. If a student's self-assessment is vague, he more than likely needs more help to understand the success criteria and how to move toward it.

Instead of feeling like the teacher is the omniscient critic whose job it is to point out mistakes, students critically examine their work for evidence of learning progress. For students, the identification of their errors and missteps becomes a sign of successful learning progression and their efficacy as active learners.

Rachael Williams is year 9 coordinator, chair of LINKS faculty, and head of Larritt at Ballarat Grammar School in Wendouree, Australia.
rachael.williams@bgs.vic.edu.au Published inAMLE Magazine, February 2017.

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Four Ways to Help Students Take a More Active Role in the Feedback Process. Much has been written about feedback in recent years that most educators are acutely aware of the powerful influence it can have on student learning. Educators likely know that there is wide variation in the effectiveness of feedback.

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The Roots & Shoots Club at ACS Cobham Middle School has had a very busy school year, and with a relatively small group, have accomplished a tremendous amount. When we returned to school in August 2016, our Science department expressed concern to us about the state of the natural pond on our campus . So we decided to apply for an Artists in Residence grant from the school, and were able to have a pond expert visit us for a pond dip and to give his recommendations for ongoing maintenance of the area. Due to the proximity of the surrounding trees, he told us that there were too many nutrients in the pond from fallen leaves, and this was causing an overgrowth of aquatic plants. Over the winter we raked the area around our pond dipping platform, and also were able to plant some small trees, such as the dog rose, that will attract wildlife and pollinators in future. Over the Spring we continued with the raking before the Middle School's pond-dipping lessons in May, and also to spent some time watching wildlife in our hide.

Before and after raking photos at the pond-dipping deck and long-angle photo of pond
Our next Roots & Shoots activity was attending the Roots & Shoots Awards at the prestigious Barbican Centre in London. This was the second year in a row that we were able to attend this inspiring event. When we arrived, we walked straight into an extremely engaging Roots & Shoots information fair. All twelve schools that had won awards this year had an information table with displays about their environmental initiatives over the year. We saw anything from a school developing its own kitchen garden to a bottle recycling project that not only raised awareness about the level of plastics being thrown away at the school, but also helped build wells in India, to a group raising awareness about fair trade-and this doesn't even include the amazing live music, too! In my opinion, one of the most useful parts of the day is the networking with other schools and this was certainly done. After this we had a lovely lunch in the Barbican conservatory, heard an uplifting presentation by Dr. Jane Goodall and watched some amazing nature films by Love Nature on the big screen in the auditorium at the conservatory. All in all, it was a day I'll never forget and a privilege to take be able to take my students again this year.
Water Bottle Art/Charity Project Display from the Roots & Shoots Awards 2017
Over the winter months when we weren't able to get outside as much, we looked around our campus and liaised with our Facilities department to find some ideas of what we could do to raise environmental awareness on campus. We realised that the recycling bins in our Dining Hall could be better labelled and so called a meeting with the school and our waste management company. As a group we developed a plan of action with our Principal, Robert Crowther, and the Middle School Student Council. We helped devise a simple recycling campaign to raise awareness about the importance of dividing organic and non-organic waste and to this end ran a video and text announcements to our Middle School. Our goal was to raise the amount we are recycling by another ten percent (from 35-45%). We also have made arrangements for our waste management company to come to the school in August or September so that they can do some presentations and we can see first hand the lifecycle of our waste when it leaves the school. We are now also being copied on the school's monthly waste report, so that we can closely monitor any changes, and are going to publish an audit to the school community.

Finally, the team members ran an information booth at ACS Cobham's 13th annual Party for the Planet. The ethos of the "party" fits in well with Roots & Shoots philosophy as it's a community event with an environmental focus. We continued to sell gift cards of indigenous British animals (made by our talented Middle School artists) and were very fortunate to raise enough money to sponsor another chimpanzee from Jane Goodall's sanctuary in Tanzania. We really hope that we will make a big difference to Kudia's life and that this "adoption" will help raise awareness of our efforts in Middle School.
QUOTE from Anne Hollyfield, ACS Cobham Middle School Librarian"Being involved with Roots & Shoots has changed my life as an educator. I think that when you put at the forefront of your teaching the human connection to others that's inherent in the day-to-day choices that we make-including our relationships with the Earth and other fellow living things-you can truly rise above "subjects" per se and begin to create human beings with a conscience who want the best for our world." :
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The Roots & Shoots Club at ACS Cobham Middle School has had a very busy school year, and with a relatively small group, have accomplished a tremendous amount. When we returned to school in August 2016, our Science department expressed concern to us about the state of the natural pond on our campus .

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As the school year winds down, most teachers go through some sort of check-out procedure for their physical classrooms, making sure everything is properly organized or put away for the summer. In much the same way, you may want to do some clean-up and close-out steps for your digital classroom ... Google Classroom.

Google Classroom is a powerful tool to help you and your students collaborate and communicate, but when used year after year, it can start to become a bit of a mess and a management challenge. To help with this, there are several suggestions to consider for Classroom when wrapping up the school year.

See below for six steps that may help you clean up your Classroom as you transition from one school year to the next. However, keep in mind these are all just suggestions and each is optional. While some may not apply to your situation, hopefully several will assist you in keeping your Classroom organized, clutter-free, and efficient for a new year.

Tip #1 - Return all student work

One of the great features of Google Classroom is how it streamlines the process for turning in work. When a student turns in an assignment, Google automatically changes the sharing permissions on the file (or files), making you the owner and reducing the student's rights to view-only. This is helpful for grading, but you don't want to leave it this way.

When done grading an assignment you want to make sure to return the files to your students, so the ownership of the files will revert back to the students. This is especially critical if later you decide to clean up your Drive and delete old files. If you are still the owner of the students' work, when you delete it, you are really deleting the file. However, if you have returned the files, you are no longer the owner, so if you delete them, all it does is remove them from your Drive.

So, one of the first tips to consider is to make sure you have properly returned all the Classroom assignments to your students. One way to do this would be:

Click the menu button in the top left corner of Classroom

Choose "Work" from the drop-down menu.

This will show you all of the assignments from all of your classes.

You can narrow it down to just one class at a time if needed by choosing a class from the "All classes" drop-down menu at the top.

For each assignment you can click on the "Done" link to view the student submissions.

You can now look for any student work that is marked as "Done" rather than "Returned".

Select those students, add a grade if still needed, and click the "Return" button at the top to return them to the students.

When done checking an assignment you can go back to the "Work" page and move it into the "Reviewed" section by clicking the three-dots menu and choosing "Mark as reviewed".

Repeat as needed.

Tip #2 - Un-enroll students from old classes

Another possible clean-up step is to remove students from the old classes. This may be an option for you if you prefer not to have students accessing content from your class in the future.

For example, this could be for academic integrity issues if you do not want students showing certain course content to new classes in future years. Of course, no cheating-prevention solution is guaranteed, as students can always find many ways around preventative measures. Still though, it is an option that may help.

If you decide you would like to unenroll students from old courses, you can do the following:

Open the course and go to the "Students" tab.

Check the box at the top to select all the students in the class.

Click the "Actions" button.

Choose "Remove" from the drop-down menu.

Tip #3 - Archive old classes

When you are done with a class, a good way to clean up Classroom is to archive the old classes. Archiving is a process that:

Removes the class from your main Classroom home page (making your page cleaner and easier to navigate).

Freezes the class so no new changes can be made to it (especially helpful if you choose not to remove students from the old classes).

Still allows you to copy and reuse old posts and assignments from the archived class in your new classes.

To archive an old class, do the following:

Go to the home page of Classroom

Click the three-dots menu in the top right corner of the "card" for the class you wish to archive.

Then click "Archive" from the drop-down menu.

You will now get a pop-up window asking you to verify that you want to archive the class. Click "Archive" again to verify.

If you ever need to un-archive a class, you can do so as follows:

From the home page of Classroom, click the menu button in the top left.

Scroll down to the bottom of the drop-down menu and choose "Archived Classes".

Click the three-dots menu in the top right corner of the "card" for the class you wish to un-archive.

Then click "Restore" from the drop-down menu.

You will now get a pop-up window asking you to verify that you want to restore the class. Click "Restore" again to verify.

Tip #4 - Remove old class calendars

When you create a class in Google Classroom, and then make assignments with due dates, this automatically creates a Google Calendar for the class. This is a convenient way for your and your students to go to Google Calendar and see upcoming due dates for classwork and projects throughout the course of the school year.

However, when the year is over and the class is done, you don't really need that calendar showing up anymore. If you have a number of classes, they can quickly clutter up your calendar list. Thankfully there are a couple of easy options for removing the calendars for old classes.

Go to Google Calendar.

You should see the names of your classes in the list under "My calendars" on the left side of the screen.

To remove an old class calendar you will need to access that calendar's settings.

Click the small down-arrow to the right of the class name in the "My calendars" list.

If you just want to hide the class calendar from your list, simply click "Hide this calendar from the list".

If instead you want to delete the calendar, click "Calendar settings".

You can now scroll down to the bottom of the calendar details screen and click "Permanently delete this calendar".

This will open a pop-up window asking you to confirm the deletion.

Tip #5 - Move old class folders in Drive

Because Google Classroom automates the sharing and collaborating process, it is easy to forget what is actually going on behind the scenes in Google Drive. For each class you create in Google Classroom, a folder gets created in your Google Drive where all of the assignment documents and other files are stored.

Now you may never open that Classroom folder in Drive, so this tip may not apply to you at all. However, you may choose to browse that folder as another option for easy access to all your students' submitted work. If that is the case, the "Classroom" folder in your Drive can get pretty crowded over the years.

If it helps, you are allowed to move class folders to a new location in your Drive, so only the current class folders are easily visible. Here's how:

Go to Google Drive and select the "Classroom" folder.

If you do not already have a place to move the old class folders, create a new folder by clicking "New" and "New folder".

Name it something like "Archive" or "Old Classes" or such.

You can now simply drag and drop the old class folders into the new folder you have created.

Moving class folders does not interfere with their use in Google Classroom in any way. It simply cleans up your "Classroom" folder to make it easier for you to find current classes, if so desired.

Tip #6 - Remove old class files from "Shared with me" in Drive

When files get shared as part of a Classroom assignment, sometimes the files will also show up in the " Shared with me" area of your Google Drive. If you have a lots of students and lot of assignments, this can cause quite a mess in "Shared with me".

Now I am of the philosophy that it is not really worth the fight to try to keep "Shared with me" clean or organized in any way. I tend to think of it as Grand Central Station and just accept the fact that it will always be a mess.

However, if you really want to clean up "Shared with me" you are allowed to remove files from there. So you may want to consider getting rid of old files from this year's classes.

First though, two quick but important notes:

Make sure you have returned all the assignments to your students first before you delete anything out of "Shared with me" (see Tip #1 above). Remember that you actually become the owner of a file when a student turns it into you. If you have not returned the file yet, then you are technically the owner of the file, and if you delete the file, it really gets deleted.

On the other hand, if you are not the owner of a file, and you delete it from "Shared with me" it does not really delete the file. It simply removes it from the "Shared with me" list. The file will still show up in your "Classroom" folders, even when you remove it from "Shared with me".

To remove a file from "Shared with me" do the following:

Go to Google Drive.

Click "Shared with me" on the left.

Select the file (or files) you wish to remove.

Now you can click on the "Remove" icon in the top toolbar (looks like a trashcan).

Or right-click on the file(s) and choose "Remove".

The file(s) will now be removed from "Shared with me".

Conclusion

Google Classroom is a wonderful tool to help you and your students share documents, have discussions, access resources, and more. However, even something as useful as Classroom can become cluttered and less efficient if we fail to manage it well. Hopefully some of the tips shared above will be useful for you, and will help keep your Classroom running smoothly.

If you have other suggestions for end-of-year clean-up and management of Classroom, please share them in the comments below.

Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

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6 End-Of-Year Google Classroom Clean-up Tips

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As the school year winds down, most teachers go through some sort of check-out procedure for their physical classrooms, making sure everything is properly organized or put away for the summer. In much the same way, you may want to do some clean-up and close-out steps for your digital classroom ...

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Understanding Differentiated Instruction

Planning and Implementation Ideas

Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All: Learn how to develop a framework to support creating homework or practice to meet the needs of all learners. (Edutopia, 2015)

Making Failure Harder Work Than Passing: Discover how one chemistry teacher uses incremental learning goals, formative assessments, and differentiation to inspire students to work hard and reach their potential. (Edutopia, 2015)

5 More Ways to "Remove the Walls" From Your Classroom: Explore five ways to rearrange students across the usual groupings and grade levels while differentiating, hitting the standards, ensuring proficiency, and boosting engagement. (Edutopia, 2015)

Students Matter: 3 Steps for Effective Differentiated Instruction: Check out three strategies for differentiated instruction: knowing students' strengths, involving them in planning, and leveraging the strengths of fellow educators. (Edutopia, 2014)

3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do: To differentiate learning in the classroom, focus on content, process, and product. For more planning tips, also see 15+ Readiness Resources for Driving Student Success, which provides resources to help teachers meet the readiness needs of all students. (Edutopia, 2014)

Knowing and Assessing Students

Make Learning Last: How Diverse Learners Can Process Their Understanding: Find out how quick reflections, surveys, and diverse-perspective assessments can help students to process more deeply and check their own understanding. (Edutopia, 2016)

How Learning Profiles Can Strengthen Your Teaching: Explore ways that collecting data about learners can inform differentiation. (Edutopia, 2014)

3 Guidelines to Eliminating Assessment Fog: Break through assessment fog by identifying and communicating clear learning targets, separating logistical guidelines (like following directions) from academic learning targets, and providing students with different ways to demonstrate their learning. (Edutopia, 2014)

Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding: Within this primer to formative assessment, you'll find a printable list of 53 ways to check for student understanding. For more ideas, you might also want to check out David Wees' community post with 56 Examples of Formative Assessment and Edutopia's formative assessment page. (Edutopia, 2014)

Tools for Teaching: Ditching the Deficit Model: Read about how to gain knowledge of students' strengths, interests, and hidden talents in order to best determine out how to meet their needs. (Edutopia, 2013)

Teaching Diverse Learners

Equity vs. Equality: 6 Steps Toward Equity: Explore seven steps toward classroom equity: knowing every child, celebrating their potential, recognizing their challenges, becoming flexible, acknowledging inequity, and using culture as a resource. (Edutopia, 2016)

Serving Gifted Students in General Ed Classrooms: Consider do's and don'ts for meeting the needs of gifted students. (Edutopia, 2015)

Bridging the ADHD Gap: To support the needs of children with ADHD, make the learning child-centered, differentiate, integrate movement and mindfulness, create supportive learning environments, and document the process. (Edutopia, 2015)

Integrating ELL Students in General Education Classes: Learn about differentiated-instruction and formative-assessment strategies that can help general-education teachers of English-Language Learners (ELLs).

The Power of Introverts: An Essential Understanding for Teachers: Understand the characteristics of an introvert to better serve shy and quiet students. (Edutopia, 2013)

Differentiating With Technology

Integrating Technology and Literacy: Explore digital tools for text and video annotations, teacher feedback, and formative assessment. (Edutopia, 2016)

100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media: Find out how social media can enhance differentiated instruction if the tools are selected with a careful eye on individual students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles. (Edutopia, Updated 2016)

Mixing it Up With Mangahigh: Using Games to Differentiate Instruction: Learn how one teachers uses the online math game site Mangahigh to better differentiate instruction. (Edutopia, 2014)

Enhancing Learning Through Differentiated Technology: Discover three tech tools -- SAS Curriculum Pathways, Newsela, and EDpuzzle -- that can help differentiate instruction by showing where students are and offering appropriate formative assessment. (Edutopia, 2015)

Differentiation in Project-Based Learning

Tools for Differentiating Instruction in PBL: Differentiate the content, process, and product of your PBL lessons with tools and practices like Learning Profile Cards, narrative feedback, and design thinking. (Edutopia, 2016)

6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning: Learn about six simple, effective approaches to differentiated instruction in project-based learning. (Edutopia, Updated 2016)

How Does PBL Support Differentiated Instruction?: Understand how PBL can be designed and managed to factor in students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles. (Buck Institute for Education, 2012)

Examples and Downloads From Schools That Work

Edutopia's flagship series highlights practices and case studies from K-12 schools and districts that are improving the way students learn. Below, find downloads used by practitioners at featured schools, and dive into real-world examples of differentiated instruction.

Small Group Work With "I Choose"
When teachers began asking for time to work with students in small groups, Humboldt Elementary in Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona found the time, adjusted the schedule, and empowered students by mixing scaffolded supports with a variety of student-friendly elective enrichments. Watch the video, and download sample exit tickets used by teachers:

Sample Student Exit Tickets -- Download sample exit tickets that Humboldt teachers use as a quick check for comprehension of that day's lesson; these tickets let teachers know who might need additional help in a small group setting.

Academic Success for All Students: A Multi-Tiered Approach
At P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, Florida, Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) enables teachers to differentiate and provide each student the right level of instruction to succeed. Learn more, and check out one of this school's tools:

Reteach and Enrich: Make Time for Every Student
See step-by-step how Mesquite Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona gives its students the additional time they need to master core concepts and elevate their learning to the next level.

How do you approach differentiated instruction in your classroom? Share tools, resources, experiences, or advice in the comments.

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Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All: Learn how to develop a framework to support creating homework or practice to meet the needs of all learners. (Edutopia, 2015) Making Failure Harder Work Than Passing: Discover how one chemistry teacher uses incremental learning goals, formative assessments, and differentiation to inspire students to work hard and reach their potential.