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Ditch That Textbook is all about teaching with less reliance on the textbook with an emphasis on using technology and creative teaching ideas.

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Teachers, do you... Not have enough time for grading? Want useful measurements on student performance? Want to assess student understanding in real-time? Need a free solution to help? If so, then Flubaroo can help! Grade assignments and assessments in under a minute! Get reporting and analysis on

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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Total Participation Techniques- Techniques that provide teachers with evidence of active participation and cognitive engagement from all students at the same ti

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Persida and William Himmele are a husband-and-wife teacher team who have conducted over 500 presentations around the world and coauthored the book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner. They are both professors in the education department at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, and are passionate about designing cognitively engaging learning experiences.

In this blog post and podcast episode, Persida Himmele joins us to explain what a total participation technique is and how teachers can provide access to higher-order thinking opportunities for all students. We'll go through 5 specific examples which you can use in your classroom today.
Click the player below to listen to my conversation with Persida, or use the download button to get the MP3 and listen on the go!
What are Total Participation Techniques and why are they so important?

TPTs allow you to maximize the amount of learning that can take place by getting every student involved, instead of just calling on a few kids.

Persida explains, "They started off as a recommendation for teachers working with ELLs, to help students focus by keeping them accountable. The Total Participation Techniques are ways to get evidence that every single student is with you at the same time and ensure they're using higher-order thinking."

How "the ripple" can provide access to higher-order thinking opportunities for all students

"One of the things that we tend to fall back on as teachers is the traditional Q&A, where we shoot out a question, and basically whoever raises their hand gets to answer the question. Total Participation Techniques is flipping that," says Persida.

Picture a ripple in the water. It starts with the initial plunk of a pebble in a pond, which would be every individual student being accountable to answering the question or prompt. From there, it ripples out into pairs or small groups, and then from there, the outer ripple of addressing the whole group with a traditional Q&A.

Persida explains that the ripple effect is especially important when we're talking about higher-order thinking skills, because higher-order prompts require more time for students to process, particularly with kids who are shy, have special needs, are gifted, or are English language learners particularly. The ripple gives them time. "Total Participation Techniques are kind of all using that mentality where we first start with the individual, and then we ripple out."

If you want to find out what students know, calling on them in class should be the last thing you do

Persida explains that there ARE instances when you can simply call on students, but not for higher-level thinking prompts that require more time to process.

"The whole idea behind The Ripple is that I am no longer just calling on a kid. When the question is something that I want every student to show me evidence that they understand, then calling on someone is going to be the last thing I do. I'm first going to want to get evidence from every individual student, and then I'm going to let them process it together quickly, and then it's OK to call on them.

"When you call on a student, everyone else is off the hook. It's really got to be a mindset of, 'I want evidence that every student is learning. How am I going to do that?' When it's important enough for everyone to learn, you ought to make sure that every single student is going to give you that evidence."

5 examples of Total Participation Techniques you can use right away

Figuring out if every student is learning can be simple. There are Total Participation Activities that will take a long time, and can even comprise the majority of the class period, but there are others that will take two minutes.

There are five chapters in the book, each one with a different type of Total Participation Technique. Here's an explanation of each category, and an example of each.

Chalkboard Splash is an on-the-spot activity that doesn't require any planning or paper. With the Chalkboard Splash, you just come up with your prompt and say to the students, "I want you to answer the prompt at your desk quickly."

Have students boil their answer down to 15 words or less, and write it at their seats. When they're ready, they can come up to the board and copy their response for the class to see. It usually takes about three minutes for all students to finish and trickle up to the board.

Persida says, "Typically we ask the students to look at what their peers have written and sum it up. What are some commonalities or big ideas that they see emerging from what others have written? They can also look for surprises. You can ask, 'What are some things you didn't really think of and you see that your peers have written down?'"

The Chalkboard Splash is "just a neat way to get a response and visualize or look at what your students are thinking about what you just taught. Use it whenever you find yourself thinking, 'I wonder how they're processing this.' Sometimes I will have it written right into my lesson plans, but sometimes it's just on-the-spot, a sort of 'So what? How should we feel about this? What is the big idea here?' The students take that big idea and put it in their own words, 15 words or less."

Hold-Ups can be used from kindergarten through college whenever you have a set choice of options for a topic you're discussing. Students have the different answer choices written down, and then they hold up the card for the one they choose.

As an example, Persida says, " One that we use a lot - you can use with anything - is the true, not true, true with modifications, and unable to determine for specific reasons. That fits anything, so those cards are already made up. We have little TPT zip close bags that have materials we always use, and that's in there, because you never have to reprint those.

"So the idea is that you're sort of thinking about the types of responses you can use for multiple activities, that way you don't have to do this every time. Each of those four cards is already pre-printed, pre-cut, they're inside a zip close baggie. The kids just pull out their baggie at the beginning of the activity, and then they can just hold up the card as you go through the questions."

TPTs Involving Movement: Feature Walk

Movement perks students up so that they're ready to listen for longer stretches of time, so Total Participation Techniques that involve movement (like the Feature Walk) can be really engaging. Persida explains, "When you find yourself with a text that has a lot of features, pictures, diagrams, maps, charts, tables, etc., that text would be an ideal chapter to use for a feature walk. We photocopy each of the features, so maybe there's five, and we enlarge them to the size of a sheet of paper and we hang them on the wall.

"We divide up the class so that they each go to one of the features and we give them specific prompts that they need to respond to that are related to the features. Then we ring a bell after they've answered their prompts, and they move either clockwise or counterclockwise to the next feature. They're looking at the feature, responding to prompts. What is the feature telling us? Why is it important? Why did the author include it? And then the bell rings and they go on to the next feature."

During the Feature Walk, you might want to include sticky notes where students can respond. They simply leave the sticky notes there or on the back of their own papers, and then go ahead and rotate to the next feature.

Kids spend no more than five minutes in each spot of the rotation, and Persida says this "really helps them process what was meaty in the chapter, because oftentimes the features contain important information that kids don't always stop and think about."

Guiding Notetaking: Pause, Star, Rank

Pause, Star, Rank allows students to stop and look at all of their notes, and then put a star next to anything that is important. Students then take whatever they've starred, choose the top three, and rank them. That top-ranking item is oftentimes put into a Chalkboard Splash to share with the class.

Persida says, "I've done this with over 200 people at one time, and it's really cool to see what they all thought was important. Each person has different take-aways.It gives you a lot of windows into a student's thinking process and their personalities too. What do they value? What resonates with them? What connects for them? It's very personal, and yet it gives them time that they needed to process."

The wrap-ups chapter of the Total Participation Techniques book has techniques that allow students to sum and reflect on the most essential components of what they've learned.

One example is called the 1, 2, 3 o'clock. Students use their "Appointment Agenda" to gather appointments. These are determined in advance, often on the first day of class with students, by having every student walk around and make appointments with each other. That way you can say at any point in the school year, "Meet up with your 2 p.m. appointment," and the students already will be paired.

This gives you a quick and easy way to pair kids up with people they're comfortable with, because they've chosen these 12 people. So if there's someone in the room they're not comfortable working with, those people won't be on their clock. These are 12 people they have agreed to work with.

So to wrap up your lesson, you can tell students to get with a certain partner and reflect, sum up, complete an exit ticket, and so on.

Benefits of using Total Participation Techniques

You aren't wasting time try to figure out which students are learning during a lesson and which students are stuck, because the TPTs allow you to observe growth as it happens.

It shifts classroom culture so that students are more comfortable with one another. Persida says her college students "have started talking to each other outside of the classroom as well, like in the hallways. It's harder not to say hello to a student that you've talked to in class and you've had interactions with, so the classroom community was stronger."

You get more insight into students' thoughts because students share more. This builds connection and rapport.

The techniques counter teacher bias and help ensure equity in participation. Persida explains, "When you have only certain students answering your questions, the students who haven't had a whole lot of success with school are not necessarily getting the same learning time that the others are. TPTs really do provide a simple way of getting more equity among students."

You don't need a ton of strategies-just pick a couple techniques and rotate them through your lessons!

I shared with Persida that I think a lot of teachers run into the trap of wanting a different activity or learning strategy for every lesson, and we both agreed that's not necessary. I've found that if you have 10 to 15 strategies that you rotate through over and over, the kids learn and expect them, and then you're not wasting time in class explaining and trying to make sure kids know what to do.

Having read the first edition of William and Persida's book, my advice is to pick one or two strategies from each of the 5 categories, and put them into regular rotation in your teaching practice. Get the kids really familiar with them so they come naturally to you and your students, and then you can switch things up throughout the school year.

Persida adds, "We have a chapter in the second edition of the book about the most common pitfalls, and one that we see is where teachers are so enamored with an activity that they'll force it. Instead, look at your goal. What is it you're trying to teach? What is the content? And then choose the activity from that point. Oftentimes, it is the same activity you used yesterday. It does not have to be 20 different things. It's all about the learning. It's not about the activity. Are they learning? And what evidence can you get that they're learning? That's really got to be key. It's not the activity that's going to do it. It's your mindset, really, that whole shift of 'show me that you learned it'."

Learn more at TotalParticipationTechniques.com,
or check out the second edition of the book which was just released. This post is based on an episode from my weekly podcast, See blog posts/transcripts for all episodes Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Subscribe to the podcast in Stitcher Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers . A podcast is like a free talk radio show you can listen to online, or download and take with you wherever you go. I release a new 15-20 minute episode each Sunday and feature it here on the blog to help you get energized and motivated for the week ahead.

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5 total participation techniques to make every student an active learner

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Persida and William Himmele are a husband-and-wife teacher team who have conducted over 500 presentations around the world and coauthored the book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner. They are both professors in the education department at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, and are passionate about designing cognitively engaging learning experiences.

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ELA.RL.9-10.1

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RL: Reading Standards for Literature 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

1:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.RL.9-10.4

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RL: Reading Standards for Literature 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes
a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.SL.9-10.1c

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

SL: Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

1c:
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10
topics, texts, and issues, building on others'\x80\x99 ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under
study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from
texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful,
well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

b. Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making
(e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of
alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed.

c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the
current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate
others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and
conclusions.

d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of
agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their
own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the
evidence and reasoning presented.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How do students develop discussion skills by participating in both the inner and outer circles?

2. What can you learn from Ms. Price about using the language of the Common Core with students?

3. Ms. Price says that it's our responsibility to make it their responsibility. How does she do this?

School Details

Mountain View High School
3535 Truman Avenue
Mountain View CA 94040

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Ninth graders in Paige Price's ELA class participate in a Socratic Seminar to discuss the role of poetic language. Paige sets up the Socratic Seminar with an inner and an outer circle. Students partner up so that one student participates in the inner circle discussion while the other partner observes from the outer circle.

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Pear Deck is on a mission to help teachers create powerful learning moments for every student, every day - using the tools you already know and love.

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We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

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The silver bullet for closing the achievement gap these days seems to be formative assessment. In simple terms, formative assessment is any ongoing activity that helps teachers gain information about student learning-information they can then use to adjust their instruction and provide more specific feedback to students who are then motivated to reach their learning goals.

Although the definition is relatively simple, the complexity in practice is challenging-good formative assessments provide feedback, are motivating, allow for instructional adjustment, and are ongoing. That's a lot for any classroom teacher to do and to do well amidst the chaos of a room full of seventh graders during the month of May.

Digital formative assessment tools can help you motivate students to practice learning goals as a natural and ongoing part of their daily workflow.

Here are eight free tools to help you integrate technology into your classroom, motivate students to learn, collect some data, and reduce your Tylenol consumption bills during spring-or for that matter, throughout the school year! For step-by-step how-tos for integrating each of the different tools into your curriculum, visit https://goo.gl/jpmele.

Tool 1: Padlet

Padlet ( padlet.com) is a virtual wall that students use to express their thoughts on a topic. In addition to written expression, you can embed audio and video and have students respond in the form of a threaded discussion. With password protection, you can use different padlets for different classes or groups of students.

For example, I have students define key terms and discuss areas of agreement and disagreement with what their peers have written.

Tool 2: Recap

Recap ( https://app.letsrecap.com) is a video-based formative assessment tool that allows you to pose a question, have students respond with a short video they've recorded on their cell phone, then provide them with feedback.

In the math classroom, have students explain how to solve a problem and then give them strategies they can use to improve their accuracy. Or if you are feeling a little daring, share the class videos and have students identify incorrect answers and analyze where the computations went wrong.

Tool 3: Today's Meet

Today's Meet ( https://todaysmeet.com) is a type of "backchanneling." Backchanneling is a conversation that takes place alongside an activity or event. It's perfect for use in the classroom when you are showing a video and want to find out what the students are thinking. Simply show the class a video clip and have students respond to a question via their device; students can even pose questions to you as they are watching.

Use it in the science classroom as a way to track understanding during a lab procedure. For example, ask students what will happen before they add chemical A to chemical B.

Tool 4: Active Prompt

Active Prompt ( http://activeprompt.org) looks like a website from the early 1990s, but its power is amazing. Upload any image of your choosing and ask students a question about it. Students move a dot on their device to indicate their answer.

For example, in social studies, you might show a map of Africa and ask students where they think the Nile River is. In language arts, display a complex text and have students indicate where they found their textual evidence.

Tool 5: Google Forms/Sheets and Flubaroo

Flubaroo ( www.flubaroo.com) is a great plug-in for Google Sheets that will help you quickly score student quizzes. Design a Google Form, share the link to the form with students, and have them answer the questions. When they are finished, go into your account and have Flubaroo grade students' responses in less than a minute. Use the report feature to get all kinds of quick data about the students' responses.

In the classroom, use this as a quick warm up and then break students up into stations with differentiated activities based on performance.

Tool 6: Zaption

Zaption ( http://zaption.com) allows you to take already-made videos, such as a YouTube clip, or your own videos, and publish interactive lessons and track student understanding.

Simply add questions to a video clip: multiple choice, check boxes, free response. You might even have kids draw a response. If you're doing a whole-class lesson, you can use the Live mode so students can ask you questions while you are presenting. Want students to complete independently? No problem! Give students a link.

Use the reporting feature to analyze the data and find out where you are headed next in your lesson. (Please note that the free account gives you a limited number of reports.) You can also use Zaption's database to find premade lessons.

Tool 7: Nearpod and Pear Deck

Nearpod ( www.nearpod.com) and Pear Deck ( www.peardeck.com) are similar tools that allow you to embed interactive formative assessment elements into a slide deck. Take an existing PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slide show and add upload it to the app. Give students the link-from your end, you can ensure that all students are on the same slide. In Pear Deck, you can even add a question on the fly. Question types range from drawing answers to multiple choice (the paid app gives you a few more choices).

Want to increase student involvement? Have them create the slideshow on a topic (a great review for final summative exams) and present to the class. You can use the data reports to track student mastery.

In PE, try uploading the steps to throwing a perfect curve ball. As students watch each step, ask them to demonstrate the step, then use the questions you've created to get their thoughts about the technique and why it will improve their pitch.

Tool 8: Quizlet Live

Teaching vocabulary? Using Quizlet Live ( http://quizlet.live), students practice teamwork and communication skills while you check their understanding of important academic vocabulary.

Simply create an account, search for a premade deck of vocabulary terms or create your own (a minimum of 12), and give students the link. The app will group them into teams once they have logged in. Press "go" and the teams will compete to show their understanding of new terms. Students must be careful, as one wrong move sends them back to the beginning.

Fun and Informative

In my own practice as a teacher and curriculum director, I have seen the power that formative assessment can bring to improving student success in the classroom. Using digital tools such as these not only motivates students, it also gives teachers valuable information with which to diagnose student learning.

While I can't promise you that these digital formative assessment tools will close the achievement gap entirely, I can promise that you will have fun interacting with your students.

Bryan R. Drost is director of educational services for Firelands Local Schools in Ohio.
drostbr@gmail.com Published inAMLE Magazine, September 2016.

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8 Digital Formative Assessment Tools to Improve Motivation

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The silver bullet for closing the achievement gap these days seems to be formative assessment. In simple terms, formative assessment is any ongoing activity that helps teachers gain information about student learning-information they can then use to adjust their instruction and provide more specific feedback to students who are then motivated to reach their learning goals.