Читать книгу Ready to Learn - Peg Grafwallner - Страница 7
ОглавлениеIntroduction
Most K–12 novice and veteran teachers emphasize their course content but struggle to deliver it in engaging and inspiring ways. While sharing content is indeed important, it is equally important that teachers design a classroom structure that creates enthusiasm and excitement for learning. If teachers do not form a curious community of learners, the most crucial content will go unheard and unlearned. When teachers do not deliver content meaningfully, students get bored, tired, and frustrated. According to a 2010 German study, “Boredom ‘instigates a desire to escape from the situation’ that causes boredom” (Jason, 2017). Therefore, as students become increasingly bored, they look for ways to leave the classroom—the bathroom break, the trip to the nurse’s office, the phone call home, or even daydreaming—anything to escape.
While observing, listening, and learning with teachers in classrooms, workshops, and graduate classes, I have noticed an emphasis on the immediate delivery of content but not necessarily a structured method with which to deliver it, implement it, or assess it such that it holds students’ interest. Having such a structured method benefits both novice and veteran teachers because students will thrive knowing what the upcoming lesson will be about, how the teacher will implement that lesson, and how it will be assessed. For example, if a ninth-grade English lesson is focused on writing an academic essay, and the teacher introduces it in just those words, “Good morning students, today we will write an academic essay,” students might be unclear, overwhelmed, and anxious. They might have questions, like the following: What is an academic essay? How do I write one? What background do I need to know? How will I know if I’ve written a good one? Such questions can form a barrier to engagement when students aren’t confident in receiving answers. Before the content is even delivered to students, teachers can engage students to want to be a part of the learning process by establishing a structure in which students know they will receive a clear road map with an opportunity to ask questions about the directions, a chance to see a model of the finished work, and the opportunity to reflect on the process.
Designing an organized, engaging, and motivating classroom experience does not have to be overwhelming or worrisome. In this book, I present the FRAME model, which is an easy-to-follow protocol that will help teachers support all students of all abilities. FRAME is a helpful acronym that includes five components: (1) focus, (2) reach, (3) ask, (4) model, and (5) encourage. This protocol for teachers and students clarifies learning expectations and provides a consistent structure of support. FRAME eliminates wasted time and helps the teacher stay true to the lesson while students move systematically through the learning. By eliminating the element of surprise, teachers can set up students to feel enthusiastic, excited, and curious. In short, they will be ready to learn.
Teachers can apply FRAME in three distinct ways. First, they can utilize it within the first ten minutes of class; FRAME offers teachers and their students a comprehensible opener that ensures all students understand what is being asked of them during the lesson. Second, during the lesson, applying each component of FRAME offers students the opportunity to solidify their understanding of learning expectations and demonstrate what they are expected to know and be able to do. In essence, FRAME offers teachers a highly adaptable framework to structure learning for students that lets them develop understanding of learning goals and demonstrate that learning in real and relevant ways. Third, teachers can use FRAME to improve the efficacy of their own classroom instruction through peer observations and feedback. To facilitate this third process, the tool “FRAME Peer Observation and Feedback Form for Teachers” (pages 105–107) offers teachers a valuable resource to collaborate with each other on their journey toward implementing FRAME with their classroom instruction.
Over the rest of this introduction, I will introduce you to the individual components of FRAME, the audience I’ve designed it for, details about its creation, and a primer for what you can expect from the rest of this book.
The Components of FRAME
The following text briefly explains each component of the FRAME model; upcoming chapters will investigate these components based on the three specific usage scenarios I just outlined.
Focus
If you want optimal learning to take place, it’s vital that you focus your class on the goals for a day’s lesson. A focused and structured classroom, one that is prepared for learning, helps students take the guesswork out of what comes next. Derrick Meador (2018) explains, “A structured classroom often translates to a safe classroom, one where students can enjoy themselves and focus on learning. In a structured learning environment, students are more likely to thrive and experience personal and academic growth.” Using the FRAME model, the teacher establishes this focus by creating a learning intention and success criteria for each lesson that are student friendly and student centered; these help focus students of all abilities and all grade levels on their own progress and development.
Reach
Reach gives each student the personal attention that is so important in developing a sense of classroom community. Educator Janice Wyatt-Ross (2018) clarifies, “School leaders and classroom teachers should view their school or classroom spaces as culturally inclusive classroom communities where everyone is welcome.” Acknowledging each student’s presence with an engaging smile, individual eye contact, and his or her preferred name (pronounced correctly) supports a student’s sense of self within the community. When you reach out to them, your students will be energetic community members and know that you will meet their ideas, critiques, successes, and challenges with respect, empathy, and mindfulness as they learn to determine and become their best selves.
Ask
It’s no wonder teachers get discouraged when students don’t seamlessly move through a lesson; often, this occurs because students have no idea where the learning is going, a frustrating experience for both teacher and student. Students will succeed at staying true to the learning intention and the success criteria only if they understand what you are asking them to know and be able to do. Therefore, it is important to teach students how to ask questions and analyze the expectations for the work they will soon undertake. If students do not understand the work ahead, as Connie M. Moss, Susan M. Brookhart, and Beverly A. Long (2011) write, “The teacher will always be the only one providing the direction, focusing on getting students to meet the instructional objectives.” Teachers need to demonstrate how to ask robust questions and how to analyze the what of the learning intention and success criteria through a series of clarifying and probing questions. These clarifying and probing questions help students paraphrase the learning intention and success criteria, illustrating how to dive deep into the tasks ahead and why those tasks are valuable.
Model
When teachers model and provide instruction on the task, students are no longer unsure of what the finished product should include or how to arrive at it. When directions overwhelm students, or they get lost in the myriad steps to get their work done, they may become frustrated and check out. By modeling the process, the teacher takes the mystery and frustration out of students’ work. Additionally, Marlynn K. Clayton (2010) expresses that a teacher breaking down a task “sends the message that you value the process of learning, not just the products.” During this component, the teacher might show two or three pieces of the task along with the final product so that students visualize what the task is all about. For example, if the finished product is a data table showing the effects of climate change on water resources, an eleventh-grade environmental science teacher might begin with a list of how to shrink one’s carbon footprint; then, he might offer two or three scholarly websites as a way for students to gather information; and finally, he might show an example of what a completed data table looks like. Modeling is meant as a brief overview of the upcoming work (not a detailed demonstration) to help students visualize both the finished product and the steps necessary to get there so they see that they, too, can accomplish the learning intention. As literacy specialist Rebecca Alber (2014) suggests, showing the finished product first “can guide students through each step of the process with the model of the finished product in hand.”
Encourage
Finally, encourage students’ work by praising the process of that work in a supportive classroom community. Praising the process means that you encourage students’ hard work, strategies, and perseverance, rather than just praising intelligence (Stanford Alumni, 2014). By praising the process, you are offering your students vital feedback about the work; not about the student. Annie Brock and Heather Hundley (2018) contend that “process praise…acknowledges effort, strategies, or actions that contributed to the success of the task” (p. 74).
You have designed a lesson that will support your students’ curiosity; therefore, tell them the work might challenge and, at times, perplex them. But remind them they have support within the classroom community to understand the learning intention and conquer the success criteria because the teacher has taken specific steps to create a safe community. Teachers can drive the presence of this support home for students by reaching out to each of them, encouraging them to ask about their learning, modeling the process of the learning, and giving them the chance to reflect on how they learned. These processes create a caring and respectful classroom of learners.
The Audience for FRAME
Teachers can use FRAME in all grade levels, in all content areas, and with students of all abilities. This is because the model itself is designed for flexibility. You can adapt FRAME for all your students’ academic, personal, and emotional needs, such that all students have the chance to succeed based on their own differing abilities. Developing learners will appreciate the consistency that FRAME offers and will be able to use those first ten minutes of structured classroom time to organize and prepare for learning. The routine and structure that FRAME provides give intention and significance to your lesson plans.
As with students, FRAME is meant for all educators. Novice teachers will appreciate the explicit and systematic method of introducing structure during the first ten minutes of class. According to Kitty Green (2006):
Without such a structure, fledgling teachers hope for the best, frequently viewing results as either total success or complete failure. In reality, neither emotion supports the development of a new teacher into a more reflective practitioner—the central practice of a professional educator. (p. 1)
When they apply FRAME, novice teachers do not have to hope for the best. Instead, intentionally and deliberately implementing the structured FRAME approach is designed to make them more reflective practitioners and more professional educators.
Veteran teachers may feel that they already know some of the content in this book. However, according to Brown University assistant professor of education and economics John P. Papay, “Teacher quality is not something that’s fixed. It does develop, and if you’re making a decision about a teacher’s career, you should be looking at that dynamic” (as cited in Sawchuk, 2015). Teachers must continue to hone their teaching practice to stay vital in the classroom. Therefore, what makes this book different is how it compiles these familiar practices into one approach that provides students with a context for learning. The FRAME model has many common practices within it, but evidence and examples throughout the book illustrate FRAME’s unique perspective on implementation and reflection.
FRAME’s benefits also go beyond the classroom because it helps build the kind of teacher efficacy that is crucial if schools want to retain exemplary teachers and offer the best learning experiences to students. By creating an everyone-can-improve motto, teachers know that they are a work in progress and that they can continue to hone their craft as they move forward on their educational journey. Terry Bramschreiber (2012) writes, “When teachers observe and learn from one another, better teaching practices, more student learning, and more positive evaluations result.” Therefore, applying FRAME to peer observation and feedback among teachers is a natural next step. Using FRAME for teachers’ peer observation and feedback gives them the opportunity to utilize guiding questions as a means to gather anecdotal data from peer observations and reflect on those data. In addition, the guiding questions encourage conversation between or among teachers that might not otherwise take place. Creating space and time for peer observation and feedback among teachers allows them to reflect on and hone their practice, build teacher efficacy and teacher empowerment, and make specific changes as necessary, all within a risk-free, nonjudgmental, teacher-driven environment.
Finally, FRAME gives administrators the opportunity to help teachers who may need extra support. Because FRAME is a specific approach meant for all content areas and all grade levels, the developing teacher can follow the structured protocol to gain effective strategies. According to the Inclusive Schools Network (2015), principals’ responsibilities include “ensuring educational strategies are in place that support effective learning for all students. They serve as a facilitator, guide and supporter of quality instructional practices.” Therefore, as facilitators and guides, principals can offer the FRAME protocol to ensure strategies that empower the developing teacher and help establish an exemplary classroom experience for students.
The Creation of FRAME
FRAME’s foundations started in the classroom. As an instructional coach and reading specialist for my school, I am often asked to observe student teachers in various departments so I can offer feedback and recommend literacy strategies that will enhance their lessons. A biology teacher in my school once asked if I would observe her student teacher. The student teacher taught three class periods of tenth-grade biology. On this particular day, students were presenting on a topic of their choice. They were able to choose from reproduction and cell division, heredity and genetics, evolution, and ecology. The classroom teacher felt another set of eyes would benefit the novice teacher.
On a Monday morning, I walked into the biology classroom about ten minutes before the bell, ready to observe the student teacher preparing students for the first day of presentations. I expected to see her in the hall greeting students. However, she had not yet arrived. Her door was open, and students were milling about, but she was not there. About five minutes before class started, she walked in, went straight to her computer, logged in, and told students that they should get in their groups and get ready to present. She took off her coat, grabbed her clipboard, and motioned for the first group to stand in front of the class.
She called this first group to begin presenting. The group members appeared unsure and nervous, stumbling through their presentation. I wondered if they could have benefited from a structured introduction to the class—an organized beginning meant to prepare them for the learning ahead. I later learned that student groups had been given three days of in-class time to work on their presentation, including conducting research into the topic and creating a visual for their presentation. However, even though students had been given the directions and had class time, they still seemed apprehensive.
After each group presented, the student teacher listed a series of things the students should have done (for example, “You needed to speak louder” or “Your slide was difficult to read” or “Did you proofread your slideshow?”). Because she directed most comments toward presentation techniques instead of content, I wondered what the goal of these presentations was. What were students supposed to know and be able to do?
At the end of the presentations, she read a list of the students who were presenting the next day. After that, the bell rang, and the class was over.
During the class, I took specific observational notes that I would share with the student teacher to help her modify the classroom culture and gather explicit feedback from her forthcoming student groups. When I reflected on the class and my notes, I realized that students had missed out on a culture of learning, a structured method to begin class that would have supported their understanding of the work they were doing. Students had missed the why and the how—the relevance—of their vital work.
Similarly, this student teacher knew her content and was excited to have students share what they had read and researched with their peers. However, she missed the valuable opportunity to connect with the students. As I looked around the room, I noticed there were no learning intention and success criteria posted for students to observe. These should be written the day before and posted where students can see them throughout the lesson. If the teacher is busy writing the learning intention and success criteria as students walk in the door, students may see them as trivial.
Consider this from the students’ perspective. Although it was obvious they would be presenting that morning, what was the point of the presentations? Why did they create them? Why was it necessary to share the information with their peers? Without a learning intention and success criteria, these questions were not asked, discussed, or answered. In addition, due to time, the student teacher couldn’t share a personal greeting with them and detect, perhaps, their anxiety about the presentation. If she had, she could have suggested some mindful breathing techniques as students took their seats. Once students had taken their seats, she could have begun what would become the ten-minute FRAME protocol—asking students to read and paraphrase the learning intention and success criteria to determine their understanding of the task; modeling briefly the process of an exemplary presentation, such as what makes a captivating beginning, a riveting middle, and a compelling ending; and acknowledging the difficulty of the research work or recognizing the trepidation students might feel about presenting to their peers. Because this protocol was not put in place, students were uncertain about the ultimate goal of their presentation and why it mattered. I was excited to collaborate with this student teacher to help her realize the value of that connection.
I went to the second day of student presentations to determine if what I had witnessed the day before was an anomaly or standard procedure. Unfortunately, the pattern repeated itself. I met with the student teacher after that second class and shared some of my observations and ideas with her. I hoped to help her reframe the remaining set of student presentations. Using my notes, I explained what I had seen and offered the following suggestions.
• Since she had stated no learning intention or success criteria, we could work together to write an explicit learning intention and success criteria for the remaining presentations.
• If time was an issue for her in the morning, perhaps she could walk around to student groups as they were getting organized and say hello or give students a conversation question, such as, “What movie best describes you?” that could begin building a classroom community.
• I offered to demonstrate how she could call on two or three students and ask them to paraphrase the learning intention and success criteria for greater student understanding, thereby helping students unpack the what of the work they were doing.
• I offered to help create a minipresentation she could show to the students. Viewing a finished presentation, maybe even two or three slides, might help alleviate anxiety and support students in the how of the learning.
• I presented the idea of creating a list of encouraging phrases she could use that focused on process, and not necessarily product, as students completed their presentations. Such phrases could include, “That particular example makes me want to learn more,” “Explain why you chose that example to include in your slide,” and, “This is interesting information. What do you want your audience to gain from that information?”
The student teacher listened but seemed overwhelmed. I realized that it was simply too ambitious to implement all these suggestions before the next set of presentations. I asked her what she thought we could reasonably implement before the next class. She decided we could write a learning intention and success criteria, and she could greet students at the beginning of class.
We met again before the next class and created a learning intention and success criteria together. During our meeting, I learned the student teacher had jotted down some ideas of what she wanted her students to learn but didn’t share them with her class. In researching, planning, implementing, and reflecting on the student presentations, she had forgotten about the learning intention and success criteria. Understanding this was also a learning experience for her, I explained that many things could get lost in the shuffle as we try to design the best, most engaging classroom lesson we can. I explained that using a framework for those first few minutes of class might help keep her and her students on track. Once we developed the learning intention and success criteria, we wrote them down on butcher paper and hung them in the front of the classroom so students could see them as they walked into class. During the next class, as students were preparing for presentations and getting organized for the learning, she walked around the room, greeted each group at its table, and offered positive words to those who had not yet presented.
Once students were ready, the student teacher read the learning intention and success criteria aloud. Unfortunately, she did not have enough time to unpack the why and how of the learning intention and success criteria because presentations were on a tight schedule. But she greeted her students specifically, and we accomplished a learning intention and success criteria where they had not existed before. At the end of the presentations, the student teacher and I met one more time. She said she had implemented two specific components in her other classes: (1) writing the next day’s learning intention and success criteria at the end of the day and hanging it in a specific spot so students could see it, and (2) standing outside the classroom door and interacting with each student before the bell rang. In taking just these two steps, she noticed specific improvement. She shared that students seemed more relaxed and less anxious about their presentations once she started providing structure at the beginning of class. As a result of the structure, she thought students appeared to have a more confident demeanor. She was also learning things about her students she had never known before. She told me, “Several of my students walked in the Dreamers March. I didn’t know that,” and she appreciated them sharing their lives with her.
She explained that she had never really thought much about the beginning of class and instead was more content oriented. But after our discussions, she wanted to continue working with me on ways to structure those first ten minutes for optimal student success.
It was through this process that I created the concept of FRAME and its components that make up those first ten minutes of class: focus, reach, ask, model, and encourage. Over time, I observed how the components of FRAME appeared within a typical classroom lesson; so from there, I applied FRAME to the entire classroom experience.
FRAME was born out of a need to help a fellow teacher. The teacher had completed her lesson; there was no doubt she knew her content and wanted her students to know it too. However, without properly organizing her students’ thinking, the lesson fell short. My collaboration with the student teacher helped me realize the value of using FRAME during the first ten minutes, during the lesson, and as a check for understanding. I designed FRAME as a resource for teachers to implement some research-based ideas, along with practical classroom strategies. Focusing on an instructional target, reaching students to intentionally build community in the classroom, asking questions and analyzing expectations to demonstrate achievement, modeling desired outcomes, and encouraging students will develop a community of curious learners ready to engage with the content and understand why it is valuable.
How to Use This Book
Teachers are eager to implement the content they have learned or the lesson they have designed. They are excited to support students and help them become better readers, writers, mathematicians, historians, artists, and knowledgeable citizens. However, they sometimes forget that as valuable as their content is, the lesson will have little impact if their students aren’t prepared and poised for learning. If students aren’t ready to learn, the best lesson will fail.
Author Pernille Ripp (2015) explains that students want to know the greater purpose behind the tasks they must accomplish, and she details how she helped students know the purpose of the lesson by spending time deconstructing standards and speaking about the connections between things. Educators and program and policy experts Peter Goss and Julie Sonnemann (2017) further find, “When students are engaged in class, they learn more. It is vital that teachers create the right classroom climate for learning: raising student expectations, developing a rapport with students; establishing routines; challenging students to participate and take risks” (p. 3).
Unfortunately, many teachers, even experienced teachers, dive right into the material without implementing a structure or routine in their class. Students want to know the big picture; they want to know where they’re going and how to get there. If the class has no structure, students are apt to become disengaged and disinterested. FRAME aims to eliminate the trepidation that students might feel upon entering the classroom and, instead, provide a basis for community building and learning and help teachers get their students ready for the important job of learning. The goal of this book is to help teachers systematically launch the first ten minutes of class and continue applying that structure throughout the lesson.
In addition, teachers have the option to apply all or individual components of FRAME. Teachers can determine if students need more or less time on specific components, thereby giving teachers flexibility and explicit control over all elements of their classroom.
Chapter 1 contains foundational information about learning intentions and success criteria and how to write them. Chapter 2 describes how to apply FRAME within the first ten minutes of class. Chapter 3 offers ideas for how to apply FRAME throughout a lesson or instructional unit. With the FRAME structure and process established, we turn to how you can establish and grow FRAME’s adoption in your school. To that end, chapter 4 offers suggestions on how to prepare for and conduct teacher observations utilizing FRAME; observations give both teacher and observer the opportunity to share strategies and resources that support classroom instruction and align expectations for students’ learning.
Each chapter features two exciting recurring elements: the Exemplary Classroom applies the chapter’s topic to an authentic classroom experience, and the Do-Now Suggestions for Your Classroom or Collaborative Team that end each chapter give educators a list of pedagogical questions to spark reflection and schoolwide or districtwide conversation and perhaps opportunities for growth and change.
The appendix includes a blank template for following the FRAME structure, along with sample completed templates for elementary school, middle school, and high school lessons that give teachers concrete examples of what FRAME could look like in their classroom. It also provides a reproducible copy of the “FRAME Peer Observation and Feedback Form for Teachers” tool I introduce in chapter 4. These examples are meant to present ideas and suggestions for adding FRAME to your tools of best practice and solid pedagogical standards.
Conclusion
FRAME offers a structured guide to daily teacher preparation and planning that also builds a firm foundation for student readiness. The components of FRAME are grounded in research-based methods and practical strategies meant for students of all abilities and for all grade levels. In addition, the FRAME protocol is flexible; teachers can determine which components their students most need to achieve success and accordingly spend more or less time on each component. This book will give teachers what they need to understand FRAME and implement it in their classroom.
Now, it’s time to get your FRAME on!
