Creating High Performance Learning Environments

The following is an analysis of three videos followed by how I plan to incorporate the learning strategies into my own teaching.

Roller Coaster Physics

In this video, the teacher uses Project Based Learning in her science class to teach potential and kinetic energy along with Newton's Laws of Physics. In this two week activity, the class is divided into groups of four in which they decide roles within the group (measurer, recorder, organizer and accountant) based on their learning styles and strengths. The teacher gave them a budget and limited supplies and told them to design the safest roller coaster (in week one) and the longest run (in week two). Student are encouraged to self-evaluate and peer evaluate and make modifications to their designs. The teacher uses a strategy called Chiming to encourage classroom discussion. Then she has each student sketch their own designs, showing their science, and then they each try to “sell” their design to the group. The group works together to come up with a sketch they will design together. The whole process encourages collaboration, problem solving, and systems thinking.

Academic Expectations: The teacher expects every student to participate in discussing, brainstorming, designing and creating the project. In fact, because every student has an unique role within his group, every student must be an active participant in order for the project to be successful. Every student is held to the same high academic standard and is given an opportunity to excel in science

Behavior Expectations: Every student must treat one another with respect and must listen and value the contributions of his peers. Negative comments are not allowed and collaboration is key to ensuring the most effective roller coaster design.

Norms and Procedures: It is clear that the teacher has established a culture of respect within her classroom. She uses the Chiming procedure to facilitate classroom discussion. Students must use their budget to purchase the supplies they need. Roles are established and the expectations are clearly defined.

3^rd Grade Chinese Math

In this video, a group of young children sit on the floor in front of their children and recite in unison. Based on visual clues, I'm guessing they are either counting or reciting their multiplication facts. According to the article “What makes Chinese maths lessons so good,” students begin memorizing their multiplication facts when they are seven years old by memorizing a rhyme invented by scholars 2200 years ago, so it is likely that this is what the students are reciting in the video. The students also use a clapping and chanting recitation. According to the article mentioned above, teachers in China focus on the process rather than real world application.

Academic Expectations: It is common knowledge that academic expectations are high among Chinese, especially since they have a one child policy. That child is expected by his family and his teacher to achieve high marks and learn all he can in school

Behavior Expectations: Students are expected to actively participate in the recitations, clapping and chanting. While the students are raising their hands in the video, it doesn't seem that the teacher hold this policy in high regard, since the kids all seem to be talking at once during the math problem portion of the video.

Norms & Procedures: Other than students sitting and participating, it is difficult to determine what norms and procedures are in place in the video. The math problem portion is a bit chaotic.

Whole Brain Teaching

In this video, the teacher is using a serious of gestures to complement her words and her students are mirroring her gestures. She is teaching longitude and latitude and it seems to be a highly effective way to encourage retention of the material. The students are engaged and seem to be having fun. They recite the classroom rules and have gestures that go along with them as well. When she tells them to turn to a page in their book, they repeat the command until everyone has reached the correct page. While at first it seems childish, these high school students are focused. Upon review of the Whole Brain Teaching methodology, I learned that gestures are incorporated into all teaching. Also, the class is trained to respond to cues.

Behavior Expectations: Since the classroom rules are built into the curriculum from day one and emphasized with gestures, the behavior expectations for the class are high. If a student violates one of the four rules, the teacher says “Rule 1,” and the class responds with the corresponding words and gestures. It is a great method for behavior management.

Academic Expectations: The whole brain teaching method breaks content into mini lessons of 1 minute each. This would seem emphasize the expectation of unfocused students, but because students are expected to learn gestures along with concepts, it seems to have the reverse effect. Every student is expected to participate and learn the materials at the same level.

Norms and Procedures: The class norms are built around 5 rules with the last being to “Keep my dear teacher happy,” which is a loophole free rule. It is clear that from day one, the teacher has worked tirelessly to establish the procedures of the class and it seems to run like a well-oiled machine.

On a personal note...

Setting high expectations in my classroom will be a priority. I believe that I can take away valuable strategies from all of these videos and adapt them for my middle schoolers. I plan to use project based learning to delve deeper into literature and to encourage collaboration among my students. I like the structure that the teacher established in the video, and I plan to use specific roles within the small groups to keep everyone motivated and focused.

While I doubt that I will use the methods of the Chinese classroom on a daily basis, there is merit to a catchy chant. Perhaps students could write their own rap song about literary devices to help them remember them and what they do.

Finally, the Whole Brain Teaching method sparks my curiosity. I wonder how well it would work in a middle school classroom. It seems to have people that both love and hate it. I will definitely be incorporating parts of it from day one. My favorite procedure is I say “Class,” they say “Yes,” mimicking my tone and inflection. This seems like a great way to get their attention throughout the period.

Imagine Educational Utopia

Close your eyes and imagine educational utopia. Imagine a place where students of every background, race, culture, gender and sexual orientation passionately yet respectfully debate social injustice. Imagine those students actively listening to their classmates, considering their opinions, and politely countering with arguments of their own. Imagine the value of such interactions on each student and the impact that would have on society and the future. Imagine the power of such mutual respect and the social change it could inspire. What would such a place look like and how will I create such a wonderful learning environment?

I imagine it would look like this. The walls are decorated with inspirational leaders from around the globe. As diverse as the students are themselves, so are the heroes of social change that greet them when they enter the classroom. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world,” Mahatma Gandhi entreats them in bold letters. Further down the wall, Maya Angelou coaches, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  And between posters of Frida Kahlo and Ang San Suu Kyi lies the words of Abraham Lincoln in bright red print: “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Wiser words have never been more resonant and relevant.

At the back of the class, I stand quietly observing the classroom discussion, only cutting in when necessary. It has taken several months, but I am finally pleased with the classroom built on respect that has developed under my supervision. Every morning I stand at the door and greet every student by name, letting them know that they are valued and important. I have carefully crafted lesson plans that highlight classroom diversity and build appreciation and empathy among my students. In my class, every student has a voice and every student's voice is appreciated. From day one, I have quickly addressed any hurtful remarks that were said during classroom discussion and used those incidents as an opportunity to discuss bigger issues like bullying and its detrimental and often catastrophic effects. It has been a slow road inching towards a culture of acceptance and respect, but finally the students have learned that hate and abuse will not be tolerated within the walls of the classroom. I only hope that the lessons I am teaching daily are extending outside into the halls, the sports fields and the world at large.

I had known entering the classroom on the first day of school that I would be dealing with students from many backgrounds, most of which would have experiences much different than my own. I am from a small town in rural North Carolina, but somehow I had found myself teaching at an international school in Bogota, Colombia. The surreality of it all was almost overwhelming. The class is made up mostly of wealthy Colombians with a smattering of students from other Latin American countries-- all native Spanish speakers. Mixed in are a couple of students from the United States as well as one Finnish and one Korean student. Somehow I needed to blend all this diversity into a cohesive and collaborative class and I was dealing with a class of sixth graders, all on the threshold of puberty, with hormones breeding confusion in their young minds. This was a critical time in their lives, and I realized that I had the potential to either be totally ineffective or create a lifelong pattern of respect. With head held high and shoulders squared, I boldly accepted the challenge of the latter. And that attitude had made all the difference.

On day one I had introduced myself to the class, described my vision for the class and let them all know that this was a safe place. In this class, it was ok to make mistakes. I'm not perfect and I don't expect my students to be perfect, but I do expect them to treat everyone with respect. As their first activity, they had brainstormed what respect meant and come up with their own rules for our class. It was my hope that if the students had control over the rules they would follow, they were more likely to observe them. This exercise had given me new insight into the values of the various students in the class. Next, students had interviewed one another and had given presentations to the class, in which they highlighted each other's uniqueness and pointed out things that they found interesting. This had started a pattern of celebrating the cultures represented in the class. That week, the students also had started journaling. I had encouraged them to write about things they witnessed in regards to social injustice or examples of students making good choices and how these episodes affected them. At first, the students had been reluctant to share their journal entries with the class, but as they began to feel safe within the classroom, they had begun to read them aloud and discuss them at length, learning from one another and developing a sense of compassion for their fellow students. The lessons learned through these exercises had been invaluable and bullying had disappeared from their behavior.

Of course, this whole utopic scenario is yet to come to pass, but I am optimistic that with the right tools and determination, this could be the classroom of my future. But no matter what happens, I will treat every student with respect and strive daily for objectivity. In turn, I hope my students will do the same.  

Reaching the Middle (A Prezi Presentation)