Threshold Concepts by Stephen Mak https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu en-us 2023-04-30 13:40:28 UTC 2025-10-25 00:50:25 UTC hello@padlet.com History as an Interpretation smak15 https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2572950231 History is not the same as the past. It is an interpretation of the past.

Common misunderstanding:  history is the same as the past. it's a retelling of the facts of what happened. ]]> 2023-04-30 13:45:23 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2572950231 Acting is Action https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575270478 If you play an objective. . ."What is my character doing" the emotion will follow.

Common misunderstanding:
I need to feel like my character feels. I should fabricate an emotion.]]> 2023-05-02 14:18:39 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575270478 Ratios Describe Relationships https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734300 A ratio describes the relationship between two values. 

Common misunderstanding: 
Ratios are division. Division is a fraction, which is when you place two numbers atop one another. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:17:47 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734300 The mole https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734420 A quantity that allows scientists to move from the atomic level to the macro-real world level. Scientists will then be able to manipulate numbers of moles to garner quantities of other substances based on ratios. 

Misconception: you can convert from grams to grams using the coefficients in a balanced chemical equation. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:17:56 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734420 Writing as thinking and connecting https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734683 Writing is a way to think, figure out, dive in . . . also to connect with a real reader.

Common misunderstanding: writing is a product to fulfill a teacher's assignment]]> 2023-05-02 20:18:17 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575734683 Simplifying Code with Loops https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735069 Use a loop to make code shorter, easier to understand and edit. 

Misconception: writing more code makes a program better. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:18:47 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735069 Reading translated literature https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735389 Translation is a creative, human act, and translators themselves are products of their social, historical, and political contexts.

Common misunderstanding: 
A translated work like The Odyssey is unbiased and passive. It’s just an English version of the Ancient Greek.
]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:12 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735389 Source Use in Research https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735410 Students use sources during research to understand an event / fact / person while drawing their own connections and creating their own analysis. The source exists to supplement their understanding, but is not the sole understanding.

Common misunderstanding: sources are used to tell the historical event / fact / biography and that's that.]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:14 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735410 Identities & Inverses in Math https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735412 Fore every mathematical "object" there is an inverse and when you "combine" them, the identity emerges

Common misunderstanding: the disconnect between functions and their inverses, i.e. you just switch x and y, but not really understanding what that means ]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:14 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735412 History is something you do, as opposed to receive. https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735710 The study of history has more in common with other disciplines than one might think at first. It requires inquiry, hypothesis, experimentation, synthesis, mistake-making, etc. Students have to produce interpretations rather than simply receive them.]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:39 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735710 Math - Substitution https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735730 Substitution in algebra.

I think 90% of high school math is figuring out how to say the same thing, for example area of a shape, in two different ways and then setting them equal to each other.  And then solving, which isn't always so easy. That requires understanding substitution and integrating it into your approach to problem solving.]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:41 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735730 Systems within Systems https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735765 Earth is one large system comprised of many systems of varying complexity that all interact.  

Common Misunderstanding: Students develop solutions to problems without considering how the solution to a problem in one system can alter other systems in unknown (often negative) ways. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:19:44 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575735765 Media messages have embedded values and points of view. https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736018 Bias is inherent.

Common misunderstanding:
All bias is necessarily bad and should be avoided. Objectivity is the goal.]]> 2023-05-02 20:20:06 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736018 Failure is your friend https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736086 The more failures you work through on a project/assignment, the better the final product becomes.

Common misunderstanding: "Perfect" getting in the way of "good", or thinking about your work as linear rather than cyclical.]]> 2023-05-02 20:20:11 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736086 Texts include silences https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736224 What ISN'T in a text can be as interesting and worth investigating as what is.

Common misunderstanding: when we analyze a text, we're analyzing only the words in front of us.]]> 2023-05-02 20:20:22 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736224 The graph of a mathematical function is a picture of all of its solutions. https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736404 Every point on the graph satisfies the function. Every point not on the graph fails to satisfy.

Common misunderstanding: A graph is a finite set of points.]]> 2023-05-02 20:20:36 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736404 Science Research Requires Ignorance and Failure https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736513 Science research is an iterative process inspired by ignorance and informed by productive failures. 

Common misunderstanding: Students expect science research to work on the first try and are rarely tasked with reflecting on why something did not work or how they'd fix it. They view the scientific method as a way to discover immutable facts rather than new questions/wonderings. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:20:44 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736513 Different is good https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736835 Learning a new method/technique of making art encourages an artist to develop a new perspective.   

Common misunderstanding:
An artist has only one style or process of expression. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:21:13 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575736835 Language learning threshold https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737055 The realization that languages have a pattern, grammar, vocabulary, functions etc, 
in my experience learning a second language (English) I never realized those patterns and as a result, when I become a language teacher I was aware of how torturous those patterns are for my students. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:21:29 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737055 Momentum and Position as operators https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737132 Numbers and variables commute under the multiplication operation. Operators are things you do to the rest of the expression; they can be multipliers but they can also be differentials (or both).

In classical physics, position and momentum are variables that can be measured; in Quantum Mechanics they are operators, and working with them can be really tricky (but also really essential to make much progress in even the most basic wave equation solutions).

Initially, students treat them as multipliers (or just stare at them not knowing what to do). You have to put a test function in class to even see what's happening. The position and momentum operators don't commute.]]> 2023-05-02 20:21:35 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737132 Communication requires a full body commitment https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737299 To communicate most effectively you must use your entire being and not just your voice. Body language, gestures and facial expressions all support the voice and strengthen your communication.

A common misconception is that you only need your voice to deliver your message.]]> 2023-05-02 20:21:46 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737299 Cultural perspectives https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737390 Understanding how cultural perspectives, including different beliefs, attitudes, and practices shape how we communicate. Exploring how we are different and similar from teens in other parts of the Spanish speaking world.

Common misunderstanding: everyone has a similar schedule to ours, does similar activities in their free time, has the same amount of school work, spends the same amount of time with their families. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:21:53 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737390 With Musicality Comes Technique https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737640 I use the emotion I want to convey in order to master a difficult technical passage in music.

Common misunderstanding:
I need to practice a difficult passage over and over without musical intention until it's perfect.]]> 2023-05-02 20:22:13 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575737640 Embedded Narratives of Power in Art & Design Objects https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738287 Students often begin with an assumption that paintings, sculpture, architecture and design objects are 'innocent,' just their material properties like shape, color, iconography etc. BUT! often they contain embedded narratives of power. For instance, they were created to assert someone's power or superiority over others, to assert one narrative or POV to make it dominant and permanent. Sometimes it is the knowledge of certain 'codes of taste' that make one social group feel superior over others - so in this case knowledge or possession of objects can actually divide people into different social groups. When a certain group or person defines their entire identity based on their ownership of objects or sense of superiority, they actually require others to be inferior, and engage in behavior that helps to make that so. Art and design all around the world and throughout time traditions cannot be separated out from these dynamics. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:23:05 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738287 Land + Language = Culture https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738637 (In Native studies) Cultures emerge from how peoples have used their specific homelands and described relationships within their world using their languages.

Common Misconceptions: There is a singular "Native American" culture and language.]]> 2023-05-02 20:23:31 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738637 https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738894 Untangling The Limit  
 
“But, what do you mean that we don’t care what happens at the point?”
 
Students have to grapple and become comfortable with the concept of uncertainty in math and our best approach to dealing with this uncertainty, as we do in life.
]]> 2023-05-02 20:23:54 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738894 The Journey Of Improvisation https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738923 Students are often nervous about the idea of improvising or “soloing” in an ensemble. They are worried about what their peers will think, confused about what notes to use, or simply have no interest in playing unless they can read the music on a page. We teach students that becoming a great improviser is a practice, and I start with supplying them a handful of notes to try first when soloing over a simple tune. Once students see that they can improvise with so little, they feel confident and begin seeking ways to make their solos more complex. A corresponding misunderstanding is that solos need to sound fast or use a lot of notes, which pushes students away from attempting to try improvising. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:23:56 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575738923 Literary-Historical Thinking https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739012 Reading literature can help us understand a historical event or time period better by being able to access human emotions and experiences differently than, say, a history textbook might be able to. Conversely, the more we know about a historical time period or event, the more we might be able to understand what a literary author was trying to convey through their work. 

Misconception: history is fact, literature is "made up".]]> 2023-05-02 20:24:03 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739012 Complex Numbers (on the complex plane) https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739269 Students do not see the point of graphing on the complex plane. We do not have enough time to investigate it properly but the concept can be used to elegantly model a vortex using simple math (Alg I & Alg II). It leads to special RATs, inverses, and makes fractional exponents tangible.

]]> 2023-05-02 20:24:21 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739269 Inverse square laws https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739523 describes the relationship between Forces and fundamental quantities, reaction rates and concentration, radioactive decay and  intensity.

Common misunderstanding: students believe this mathematical relationship is not interdisciplinary, and applies to only one subject or concept; they interpret the shape of the graph as "exponential".]]> 2023-05-02 20:24:43 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739523 "Productive Silences" / "Unavoidables" in Texts https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739823 Productive Silences - There are silences in the text that often tell us more than what words could. Helping students read these invisible moments/ what's intentionally left out and why. 

"Unavoidables" - (copied from one of my hand-outs) Every text has moments, lines, phrases, or sometimes even words that we read, pause, and then ask ourselves, “What does that mean?” ‘What did the author mean here?” But often, we keep reading, vowing to come back to that moment to try again. Sometimes we do; sometimes we don’t. But oftentimes, moments like this hold a key to the story and its meaning. These moments are sometimes emblematic, symbolic, or revelatory moments (of course, sometimes they’re not). But, these tricky, vague, or unclear moments are worth investigating and are often what students skip over. In English, first, we try to help students identify these moments. And then our goal is to investigate the unavoidables (whether they occur once in a text or repeat) – whether we’re reading a short story, epic poem, play, or novel. 

Common misunderstanding: Students say/think "There's no wrong answer" when writing about, discussing, studying literature.

]]> 2023-05-02 20:25:07 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739823 Object Oriented Programming https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739933 Organizing code by creating blueprints for objects or entities which can make your program more readable and organized, rather than writing up a bunch of functions and disconnected logic

Common Misconception:
That object oriented programming is automatically always the best method for implementation]]> 2023-05-02 20:25:13 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575739933 (evolution) Adapt https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740295 The common meaning of the word "adapt" is not the same meaning as "adapt" in the evolutionary sense. 

For instance, while students go abroad and adapt to a new culture, polar bears adapting to a new environment due to climate change means something different. 

It is difficult to break misconceptions when words have different meanings and this is one that takes time for students to understand how the process of natural selection works when they think the understand this word already.]]> 2023-05-02 20:25:40 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740295 Mental health requires regular care, attention, and maintenance for all people, just like physical health https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740676 Taking care of our mental health is necessary and important for all people.  We can treat our mental health the way we approach taking care of our physical health (i.e. going in for regular check ups, making appointments when something seems amiss, getting treatment when needed, etc.). And if something requires treatment, it's not because one is doing anything wrong.  

Common misunderstanding: Taking care of our mental health is only for those who are really struggling with it and it's not something that needs any sort of regular attention unless something is really wrong.  Nothing/nobody can help me with my mental health.   ]]> 2023-05-02 20:26:10 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740676 Every page in a novel helps you map out the meaning of a text. https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740958 Each word on each page holds meaning that helps students map out their journey toward deeply understanding a text.
By looking for patterns in the language across a text, students can center the language of their evidence when writing analysis essays.

Common misunderstanding: Students read to comprehend, find evidence, and persuasively articulate ideas. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:26:19 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575740958 Accompaniment https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575741466 The way we build and sustain a healthy community and partnerships is through working together and recognizing how our actions and reactions are interrelated. 

A common misunderstanding/question is “What’s in it for me?” “Why do I have to do this?” “Why does this even matter?”




]]> 2023-05-02 20:27:00 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575741466 Independence for Young Writers: Outlines that Work Regardless of the Assignment ebotofasina https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575741939 An outline is the strongest safety net for young writers who get lost in their many ideas and have thoughts that are not well organized. It includes a simple working introduction/thesis that goes from general to specific, and clearly numbered/sequenced subtopics+details that support the main idea. An outline covers the main points covered in the body of the paper from start to finish. When completed fully and correctly, the drafting stage of writing is simplified, organized and produces better results.

Common misperceptions: Giving our youngest writers "choice" in their outline approaches rather than a simple, structured approach is most supportive. Our students with the greatest writing needs know how to outline effectively. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:27:36 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575741939 Letting go https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575742055 Being comfortable with loosing control. Embracing mystery and surprises.

Common misunderstanding:
Things have to be a certain way. There is no right way or wrong way! Everyone has a different way. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:27:44 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575742055 Identity & Hegemony https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575742255 Identity and difference are used to solidify hegemonic structures of power. 

Common misunderstanding: differences naturally exist and inevitably lead to tension. Students may think that different identities lead to power structures, rather than understanding the complex ways different identities are created and enflamed to maintain power and cause dissent among people. ]]> 2023-05-02 20:27:58 UTC https://padlet.com/smak15/m1ounabkr586uyzu/wish/2575742255