Learning Network NZ: 2013

An 'aha' moment

Listening to Perry Rush giving a keynote at our conference last Thursday, something struck me. It was his comment about the fact that our kids are sent to school. They have no choice but to go. From the age of 6 to 16, they have to attend, and it's against the law for them not to. He equated this to a term in prison (not saying that schools are like prison, just saying that there is no choice for the individual, they have to be at a certain place for a certain amount of time). This was a powerful statement and it truly brought home the fact there is a HUGE responsibility - for teachers, principals, administrators and anyone else involved in the education industry - to ensure that those 10 years of enforced schooling for our kids are 10 years well spent. How do we do this? It's a question the team here at Learning Network NZ is constantly asking. We're lucky enough to be in touch with some of the world's foremost thinkers, leaders and educationalists - and we are always working on ways to better connect you with the knowledge, expertise and inspiration you need to do a great job in supporting and challenging our nation's learners, every day.

Wise words to start the year

From ‘can’t do’ to ‘can do’
Advice for parents, by Andrew Fuller

Research has proven Henry Ford correct when he said, “whether you think you can or that you can’t, you are usually right”. Helping young people develop a positive growth oriented mindset where they can improve over time and overcome setbacks powerfully predicts success. This shifts them from “can’t do” to “can do”. Here are some ways that parents develop this attitude in children.

Have a policy of “we fall down 7 times but we get up 8”. We all have set backs. There are times when we all have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start again. Most of us are experts in this even if we’ve forgotten it because this is the way we learned to walk. Sucking at something the first few times you do it is the first step to getting good at it.

Use “I noticed” feedback. Parents can use “I noticed” feedback for positive and negative behaviours. The number of comments made to kids that begin with the phrase “I noticed”, shape behaviour powerfully. For example, “I noticed you like to draw”, “I noticed you are really trying hard to”, “I noticed you’re reading a good book”. Believe me, they will notice that you have noticed! Parents can use this to calmly draw attention to negative behaviours. For example, “I notice you are up when you are supposed to be asleep” or “I notice that you are feeling upset right now”. This gives kids a chance to explain their actions or comply with parents’ wishes.

Praise effort more than ability. Tell your kids that they are geniuses but they don’t know it yet. It’s good to know that your parents think you are wonderful. Then focus most of your comments on effort. For example, “You really worked hard at that well done!” “I noticed you really tried your best at that, I’m impressed” or “Wow, your practice seems to be really paying off”.

Mistakes are opportunities to learn. If a child thinks they didn’t do well at something because they lack intelligence, they give up. When they can see they are on a pathway of improvement they persist. Mistakes are an essential part of learning. The physicist Niels Bohr defines an expert as “a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” Creating something new involves make a lot of mistakes. One example is the bestselling Dyson vacuum cleaner. The inventor made 5,127 prototypes of the vacuum before getting it right. “There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That's how I came up with a solution. So I don't mind failure”. Parents can help children to learn that when you make a mistake all it means is that you haven’t learned how to get it right yet.

Dealing with set backs. No one really enjoys making mistakes. If we don’t learn from our mistakes we are destined to repeat them. It is hard to keep your enthusiasm up when you’ve not been selected for a dance team or a drama part or a sports team or failed a test at school. Parents can help kids by helping them to analyse mistakes. Some questions used to review a setback are: Ok so you didn’t do as well as you would have liked. Let’s see if we can learn from this? What parts of it did you do well? What parts of it didn’t go as well as you hoped? How much work would be involved in getting better at those parts? Would you change the way you prepared for it next time? In what ways? I know you can do better at this if you want to. Do you want to try again? How can I help you with this? If they decide not to have another go say, “Ok but don’t let your decision trick you into believing you couldn’t get better if you tried.”

Turn losses into tournaments. You may have already done this as a kid. After losing at a game, you may have said, “Ok, best out of three is the champion”. If you didn’t win that tournament perhaps you may have said, “Ok, best out of five is ruler of the universe”. Teach your kids that there is no loss; there is always a chance to have another go.

There is no try! As the Jedi master puts it, do or do not, there is no try. Parents shouldn’t accept “try” either. When kids say they are going to try ask them, ”does that mean you are going to do it or not?”

Focus on the way we do things rather than the result. Successful sports teams play the game the same way regardless of the score in the game. Focusing on the result causes people to panic or freeze up. Parents’ comments can cause a shift in their child’s awareness. Instead of commenting on the result, find something you like and notice it. For example, “you sang the first few bars of that song beautifully, it’s coming together”. Avoid the temptation to then add suggestions of ways to improve.

Talk about your role models. Young people today seem to lack positive role models. The media seems determined to serve kids up role models of testosterone fueled bozos or ditzy socialite women. The idea that you can partly shape your life on someone who you admire is alien to them. Talk about the people you admired as a kid. Explain why they have been important. Talk about the everyday heroes who have inspired you.

How to avoid a boring life. If you get scared of getting things wrong, you won’t try new things. If you don’t try new things you become bored and boring. Life becomes mundane, dull and routine. Parents can arrange to do things with their kids that they have never done before. Quirky adventures don’t have to take a lot of time or money but they do take some thought and planning. Plan to have your child (and yourself) go somewhere they’ve never been before or do something they have never done before. Don’t settle for anything less than an interesting life.

Think of a time when it was hard. We’ve all done things that at first seemed impossible. We’ve all struggled at times in our lives. Share some of those stories with your kids so they know that you have shared the same doubts as they have. Talk about times when you could have given up but you didn’t.

How to talk with them about successes. Kids want their parents’ approval. The way you provide praise will shape their future efforts. Let them know you are proud of them. Try to include in your delight at their success a comment on the effort that went into their success. For example, “I am so proud of you for getting that A, I know how much work you put into that project.” “You were great today. All that practice has really paid off. I’m proud of you”. “Wow when you put your mind towards something you really work hard and get it. That’s great”

Be exuberant. If you become the proud parent, kids will tell you that you are embarrassing them. Don’t believe them. Maybe don’t do it in front of other people but when you get them in private, let them know that you love them and think they are fantastic. They may pretend to you that they hate it but they all secretly lap it up.

Be the antidote to the drip feed of despair. Your kids will become upset at setbacks, will label themselves as “no good” or stupid if they don’t get a good mark and compare themselves negatively to others. It is so tempting for parents to try to soothe kids out of this or even provide a salutary lesson, “well if you’d tried harder you would have done better”. Don’t do this! Be determined to stay focused on effort and improvement. “I’m sorry you didn’t do as well as you hoped and if you want to have another go, let’s work out a way of getting better at it”. At first changing your parenting language might feel a bit weird. Focusing on noticing, commenting on effort and emphasising the power of having a go are the most powerful ways parents can set kids up for success.

This came through to us (with a directive to share!) from clinical psychologist, Andrew Fuller. Andrew works with many schools and communities in Australia and internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families. He is a Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Learning and Educational Development at the University of Melbourne, and the the author of many best-selling books, including Tricky Kids, Life: a guide and Beating bullies. More info at www.andrewfuller.com.au

Back to school (5)

Get 'back to school' ready with our guest blogger Anne Davies (Step Five of Five)

Step Five: Plan to have your students working harder than you are

Much of a successful new school year is dependent on the relationships you build with your students and the ways you engage them in the learning process. Assessment in the service of learning is one of the best vehicles for building relationships and engaging learners. What does this look like in the first days of school? Here are my TOP THREE suggestions:

1. Involve students in shaping the learning community of the classroom. For example, “What is important so this is a class where we can all learn and grow together?” List their ideas. Accept all ideas. It shows respect and that student’s opinions, no matter how different they are from yours, are valued. This is the first step to co-constructing criteria. I suggest you leave this as a list for the first week or two. Periodically ask students what else is important so this is a class where we can all learn and grow together. As Stephen Covey suggests, this is a powerful way to “Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.” It is so much more powerful than a teacher posting ‘Class Rules’ that some students translate as, ‘It’s my way or you’re out.’ Now students can be involved as they self-monitor their contributions to the classroom community.

2. Invite students to show you HOW they are smart. Building on Howard Gardner’s work, have students identify their expertise – in or out of school. This is a unique kind of baseline data that helps students help you to better understand how they might show proof of learning in your class. Some teachers have students post mini “Expert Sheets”. Students brainstorm different kinds of expertise like: Mathematics, long boarders, video gaming, running, and so on… it can be about in or out of school. Each kind of expertise becomes a title on a letter-sized piece of paper. Once all the ‘expert sheets’ are completed have students post them around the room. Then, ask students to sign up for all the kind of expertise they currently have. Then, these sheets can act as a “go to” place when people need help. Now students can be involved as they find ways to prove to you that they are learning.

3. Ask students to describe the best class and the best teacher they have ever had (no names please). This can be done individually in a journal or email to you. Or, it can be a brainstormed list that will be posted in the classroom. This helps you understand what students’ value and appreciate. It will also help when you model self-assessment. You can go to the lists and explain to the students what you think two of your strengths are and what evidence you have. Then you can talk about one thing you are working on to become a better teacher. Do this periodically so students understand that you also do what you are asking them to do. Now you have begun to set students up to communicate to you their ongoing learning strengths and challenges. This can save you time while having students more engaged and learning.

Canadian-based author, consultant, and researcher, Anne Davies, Ph.D., applies her expert knowledge of developing quality classroom assessment practices toward her mission to 'increase the possibility of learning for all our students'. If you like what she has to say she's in NZ in May 2013 with Sandra Herbst for a series of assessment workshops. For more info and online bookings click here.

Back to school (4)

Get 'back to school' ready with our guest blogger Anne Davies (Step Four of Five)

Step Four: Plan to involve students in collecting evidence

As you completed Step 2 and created your evaluation plan, the evidence collection becomes clear. Since you need valid and reliable evidence of learning it is important to collect the evidence of learning over time from multiple sources (products, observations, conversations). It also supports student learning if they have responsibility for collecting some the evidence. Getting students involved is easier than it sounds. Consider the Science example shared in Step 1. Consider the ways students can be supported to collect and file the products - in a digital file folder or a paper-based one. A crate or part of a file drawer can keep the evidence safe as the learning time unfolds.

Learning Destination	Evidence of Learning: Students collect in a ‘fat’ file folder or something else
Makes detailed, thoughtful observations of activities and lessons using pictures, words and charts	All products – both draft and final work – such as: · Notebook pages · Journal entries · Observation notes · Work sheets · Self-assessments · Evidence in relation to criteria for different products and processes Note: Important that all work be dated
Is curious about the scientific world and asks questions to help their understanding of what they’re learning and direct their focus for future learning
Makes realistic predictions about the outcome of activities, experiments, and research using observations as a guide
Shows a positive attitude towards Science activities and shows responsibility in activities and group work
Understands the scientific concepts being learning in class and applies them to new scientific situations

If the students are supported to be responsible to collect and file the ongoing evidence of learning then teachers can focus on collecting observations. For example, given the example above, a teacher might choose to make the following on-going observations:

OQP

(O) Observations are detailed

(Q) Questions about scientific world

(M) Makes realistic predictions

ESWUC

(E) Engages productively in activities and experiments

(S) Works by self

(G) Works as part of a small group

(U) Understands scientific concepts being taught

How to make these observations both possible and practical? Consider setting up your observations using the tools at hand (either digital or in paper form) in the following way:

Names	Week 1	Week 1	Week 2	Week 2	Week 3	Week 3	Week 4	Week 4
Name 1	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 2	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 3	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 4	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC

Now you can make observations as students engage in being scientists day-by-day in your classroom. Select a few students to observe each day and then take a few seconds to use a highlighter pen to note what you have observed.

Names	Week 1	Week 1	Week 2	Week 2
Name 1	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 2	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 3	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC
Name 4	OQP	ESWUC	OQP	ESWUC

As the term progresses your ongoing observations provide you with the data – the evidence of learning – you need to evaluate the parts of the curriculum that are not evident in products. Because you've take a few minutes every week to record what you have witnessed students actually doing, you can look at the pattern and trend over the term. You can speak confidently to what students are able to consistently and independently do as scientists. Everything else you need to have “proof” is present in the products students have been collected. This is one way to have the evidence you need to evaluate when the end of the term arrives as well as having students engaged in providing evidence of their own learning to you.

Back to school (3)

Get 'back to school' ready with our guest blogger Anne Davies (Step Three of Five)

Step Three: Preparing to collect baseline evidence of learning

I find that teachers tend to be optimists – a new beginning is a time full of hopes and dreams. At least it always is for me. Getting ready for the school year is an important part of making this the best year yet. I've identified six steps to being ready for the new school year from an assessment perspective - after all, as Black and Wiliam (1998) and other researchers note, powerful research-based assessment practices have the ‘greatest impact on student learning ever documented.'

The first step I identified in an earlier blog is being clear about what needs to be learned. Step Two is thinking about and planning for evaluation (often evaluation is the “end” teachers have in mind and plan to share with students as part of being open and transparent). Preparing for evaluation means thinking about what reliable and valid evidence of learning might be.

As we prepare for a new year, reflect back to the first two steps: what students need to learn and what evidence of learning you will need to make an informed professional judgment (evaluation). Then you are ready for Step Three: Preparing to collect baseline evidence of learning.

There are two key benefits to collecting key pieces of baseline evidence of learning early in the term: Teachers get the information they need to 'tweak' instructional plans to better meet student needs and also get the first layer of 'proof' needed to later help students and their parents appreciate how much has been learned.

What kind of baseline evidence do teachers collect? Consider the kinds of evidence students need to provide to show proof of learning. When it comes to classroom assessment, anything a student does, says, or creates is potentially evidence of learning. When teachers collect evidence of learning from multiple sources over time in relation to the learning outcomes/standards, they are more likely to make informed professional judgments that are reliable and valid. Teachers in different subjects, different classes and different levels or grades collect different samples. Consider these examples of baseline samples teachers in different subject areas and grade levels collect:

Subject –––––––––––––––	Do/Application –––––––––––––––	Know/Understanding ––––––––––––––––––	Articulate ––––––––––––––
English:	Journal entry Sample(s) of writing	Representation of everything the student knows about favourite/favorite author or genre	Reader response entry
Mathematics:	Description of how mathematics is used outside of school	After a quick review of mathematical concepts, students choose one to write about everything they know in relation to that concept	Math journal entry using the frame: Do Say Write Represent
Social Studies:	Map of the world	Brainstorm list of notes for a debate of dialectic essay on a current event of the student’s choice	Audio recording of a small group discussion (have the entire class in small group discussions at the same time, have members record and take note of group members)
Science:	Mini-science lab report	Quick word web: Everything I know about…. Concept area to be the focus on future study	Journal entry focused on why Science is important
Second Language	Audio recording of a conversation in the language (may be a lot of silence)	Everything I know about… language	Written self-assessment focused on current level of knowledge and experience in the subject area

Think about the kind of evidence your students will need to produce in order that you can evaluate their learning at the end of the term. What would you have students create, do, and articulate in order to provide evidence of where they are at this point in time while it is still early days in the term. Make a plan to collect a few key pieces - not too many! You just need enough to inform your general understanding of what students know, can do and can articulate. And later, students (and their parents) will need enough to provide a powerful "lightbulb" moment as they see visual and concrete evidence of their growth and improvement over time.

Notice, with the baseline samples in these examples, teachers can adjust their instruction based on current information. Students now have a first attempt – a baseline sample – that they will be able to use to help show themselves, their teachers, and others the progress they have made as they have learned during the term.

A new school year is getting closer. Tune in for Step Four tomorrow.

Canadian-based author, consultant, and researcher, Anne Davies, Ph.D., applies her expert knowledge of developing quality classroom assessment practices toward her mission to 'increase the possibility of learning for all our students'. If you like what she has to say she's in NZ in May 2013 for a series of assessment workshops. For more info and online bookings click here.

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