Don't answer a student's question and another way to annoy students

Tony Wagner's book, The Global Achievement Gap, has become a good read and is making me think.

Over the history of education we have promoted the idea that the teacher is the bucket filled with all knowledge and understanding and students simply reach in and grab the information they need out of this bucket. The teacher teaches; the student listens and learns.

How can we change this mindset? Do teachers need to act differently? Do students need to take greater ownership for their learning? A teacher cannot be doing most of the thinking, leaving little left for the student.

Here are two ways we can promote more student thinking:

1.) Don't answer a students question. Absurd? Maybe, but quickly answering a question lets the student off the hook for having to think. Instead, ask a question in response to a question. For example:

- What do you think?

- Why do you assume that?

- Have you considered...?

- What do you know about...?

2.) Institute a classroom expectation such as "Ask three before me." This expectation naturally increases student thinking. Students ask more questions and students in turn answer more questions. It takes thinking both to ask and answer questions. While I walk around the room checking for understanding, and a student asks me an academic question, I often reply with, "Have you asked three?" This is a quick reminder to the class to ask other students their questions. If they have asked three students and are still confused, they ask me the question. Do I then feed them the answer? No, I revert to my strategy mentioned in #1 above.

In no way am I promoting that a teacher never gives an answer to a question. I am just advocating that this should not be the first response when asked a question. Lots of thinking should happen from when the question is asked until when the answer is found. If traveling is about the journey and not just the destination, then learning is about thinking and not just arriving at the answer. If students are accustomed to being spoon fed the answer, they will initially be annoyed when they are asked to do more thinking to discover the answer. But, thinking is in their best interest for college, work and life success.

Happy teaching and learning.

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours,

Wayne

I’m Curious about Curiosity: Fostering Curiosity in Our Homes and Schools

Our school is beginning our WASC reaccreditation process. Our first all-staff work session was focused on commenting on proposed revisions to our four ESLRs (Expected Student Learning Results). An ESLR answer the following question: What type of student do we want to graduate?

We referenced Dr. Tony Wagner’s book, The GlobalAchievement Gap, in our ESLR revision discussion. Dr. Wagner names seven survival skills for students in our evolving global economy. The skill that peaked my interest the most is #7: Curiosity and Imagination.

The Seven Survival Skills:
1.) Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

2.) Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence

3.) Agility and Adaptability

4.) Initiative and Entrepreneurialism

5.) Effective Oral and Written Communication

6.) Accessing and Analyzing Information

7.) (And my favorite right now) Curiosity an Imagination



Over the past week I have been reflecting on curiosity.

• How can we foster curiosity? 
• As a father and educator, how do I nurture curiosity at home and school? 
• I believe much is taught through modeling. Am I modeling curiosity? Am I a curious person? 

These are some of the questions I have been thinking about. Through my reflections, I believe the road to learning has the following bends:

     Bend 1: Be curious. Ask questions.

     Bend 2: Begin exploring. Find answers.

     Bend 3: Analyze and evaluate information collected.

     Bend 4: Prepare to share new learning (visually, written or spoken).

     Bend 5: Share.

What are your thoughts on fostering curiosity, at home and school?

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

Wayne

16 Books That Changed How I View Work, Health and Life

I read some of these while growing up and some are more recent reads. I would love to reread all of these.

Work

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Brain Rules by John Medina
• Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim Fay
• On Writing by Stephen King
• What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
• A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne
• The Essential 55 by Ron Clark

Health

(The following two books helped me lose 50 pounds.)

• Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
• The 9-Inch 'Diet' by Alex Bogusky

Life

• Today Matters by John Maxwell
• Epistle of James by James
• Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
• Radical by David Platt

5 Simple Questions that Promote Student Thinking

Image Credit: Veer

Edutopia recently posted the following simple questions that teachers should be asking. These questions promote student thinking. 

Consider posted these questions at the back of your classroom as a reminder to ask them often.

#1. What do you think?

This question interrupts us from telling too much. There is a place for direct instruction where we give students information yet we need to always strive to balance this with plenty of opportunities for students to make sense of and apply that new information using their schemata and understanding.

#2. Why do you think that?

After students share what they think, this follow-up question pushes them to provide reasoning for their thinking.

#3. How do you know this?

When this question is asked, students can make connections to their ideas and thoughts with things they've experienced, read, and have seen.

#4. Can you tell me more?

This question can inspire students to extend their thinking and share further evidence for their ideas.

#5. What questions do you still have?

This allows students to offer up questions they have about the information, ideas or the evidence.

For more thoughts on raising thinking children, see:

• Kids + Thinking
• Think Outside the Bubble

Art Makes You Smart

My wife, Misty, would love this New York Times story in support of art education.

Here are some excerpts from the story...

Students who were selected to visit the museum on a field trip demonstrated stronger critical thinking skills, displayed higher levels of social tolerance, exhibited greater historical empathy and developed a taste for art museums and cultural institutions.

Moreover, most of the benefits we observed are significantly larger for minority students, low-income students and students from rural schools — typically two to three times larger than for white, middle-class, suburban students — owing perhaps to the fact that the tour was the first time they had visited an art museum.

Further research is needed to determine what exactly about the museum-going experience determines the strength of the outcomes. How important is the structure of the tour? The size of the group? The type of art presented?

Clearly, however, we can conclude that visiting an art museum exposes students to a diversity of ideas that challenge them with different perspectives on the human condition. Expanding access to art, whether through programs in schools or through visits to area museums and galleries, should be a central part of any school’s curriculum.

The Bottom Line

*** I first read this poem in Discipline with Dignity. ***

Face it.

Nobody owes you living.

What you achieve or fail to achieve in your lifetime

is directly related to what you do

or fail to do.

No one chooses his parents or childhood

but you choose your own direction.

Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome

but that too is relative to each individual.

Nothing is carved in stone.

You can change anything in your life

if you want to badly enough.

Excuses are for losers.

Those who take responsibility for their actions

are the real winners in life.

Winners meet life’s challenges head on

knowing there are no guarantees

and give it all they’ve got.

It’s never too late or too early to begin.

Time plays no favorites

and will pass whether you act or not.

Take control of your life.

Dare to dream and take risks.

If you aren’t willing to work for your goals,

don’t expect others to.

Believe in Yourself!

- Anonymous

Kids + Thinking

When kids leave school they may have a burst of energy.
When educators leave school we may be exhausted.
Maybe physically, but probably mentally drained too. Why is this? Are we doing too much of the thinking, maybe thinking for our kids? 
These questions motivated me to find out what some thinkers say about thinking. Here we go...

"Time given to thought is the greatest time saver of all." - Norman Cousins

With something to think about, 

Mr. Russell