Fun with Vocabulary!

I'm often asked, "With increased accountability, how do you balance the pressure to teach to the test with what you feel is best for your students?"

As I work with teachers, I find there is not a simple answer. More than anything, I see teachers choosing to teach information that is related to the test, but also refusing to be limited by that. Whenever possible, they increase the rigor and engagement of activities that are test-related.
For example, one of my favorite activities is to have students write or explain a new vocabulary term in their own words. I increase rigor and engagement by asking them to write "Who Am I?" or "What Am I" riddles. By composing riddles and trying to solve them, students are excited and don't even realize they are making up original definitions to new vocabulary terms.
Since it's election season, here's a sample from Niko, Amy, Keith, Demetrius, and Cathy at Conway Middle School:
I am a college known as a party school.
My mascot changes all the time.
Popularity does not rule!
What am I?

Answer-- The electoral college!
What are some of your favorite rigorous activities to use in your classroom?

How can I increase rigor without making it boring?

Rigor isn't just more work. Rigor means increasing expectations for higher learning, but also providing appropriate support.  And that doesn't mean boring.  You might increase rigor in your vocabulary review.  Instead of asking students to copy words and definitions and then writing their own definition,  ask them to write a riddle!  It's engaging, creative, and requires higher order thinking skills. And by the way, it's fun!

Is there a painless way to increase rigor?

Absolutely.  One of my favorites is to build on a common classroom activity:  pair-share.  After you have students turn and talk to their partner, ask them to share their partner's answer.  Not only does this require students to listen at a higher level, they also must be able to understand their partner's answer well enough to explain it to someone else.  This typically encourages higher order questions to the partner.

A second one is adjusting True-False tests.  Rather than students guessing at an answer, require them to rewrite all false answers into true statements.  This way, students must truly demonstrate their understanding.

Two quick and easy--and painless--ways to incorporate rigor in your classroom!

Are you a new teacher?

If you are a new teacher, first, congratulations!  You are making a difference for students--even if it doesn't feel like it right now.  Next, you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed--that's normal.  I can't tell you the number of times I thought about quitting (usually after I made a mistake).  Hang in there.  Finally, here's a great resource full of ideas for you!

Classroom Arrangements

I was recently asked: “How should you arrange classroom (ie-teacher’s desk) to promote community…or does it matter?”

I'm not a big believer in "one" right way to do something, but it does make a difference. For example, the standard room with desks in a row and the teacher's desk front and center sends a message that the teacher is in charge, and the students are simply recipients of information. However, I was in a classroom set up like this, and it was a community, mainly because the teacher was never at his desk; he was always in the middle of his students, who also had flexibility to rearrange the desks. That's what is more important--do students feel like they are a part of things, or separate from the teacher? In my classroom, I tend to find that clustering desks/tables works better for me so I can facilitate groups. In my grad classes, though, if I have a small group (8-12), I tend to do a large, square U so everyone is together. In that instance, clusters of tables actually breaks community rather than building it.

Group Work and the Common Core Standards

A new and higher standard of rigor within the Common Core State Standards focuses on increasing skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. But when your students do group work, do they work together or just sit together? I use a cooperative learning rubric to help define and assess effective group work. Here's an excerpt from my book Classroom Instruction from A to Z.  You can download the rubric by visiting Free Resources at my website www.barbarablackburnonline.com.  Choose book templates/downloads and then Classroom Instruction from A to Z.  Scroll down to download the PDF.

Group work is one of the most effective ways to help students learn. It can increase student motivation and is an important life skill. When I was teaching, some of my students didn’t like to work in groups. They complained every day until I brought in a newspaper article that said the number one reason people were fired from their jobs was that they couldn’t get along with their coworkers. That was an eye-opener for my students.

Recently, I was talking with a project manager, and I asked him about the importance of teamwork. He pointed out that knowing how to work with other people is critical. “The more successful you are, the more important it is to influence, motivate, and work with others. If you think about successful people, working with people becomes your job; that is what you do.”

That’s pretty insightful. For people who have achieved high levels of success in the workplace, no matter what the setting, teamwork isn’t part of their job, it is their job. As a teacher, this reminds me that if I believe I should prepare my students for life after school, then I need to teach them to work together.

Recently, I was in a classroom in which the teacher bragged to me that her students worked in groups all the time. When I asked her students, they told me that the desks are placed in groups, but they just read the book silently and answer questions individually. After thinking for a minute, one student said, “We can ask each other for help if we need to.” That’s not really group work. Effective group activities provide opportunities for your students to work together, either with a partner, a small group, or the entire class, to accomplish a task. In these instances, everyone has a specific role, and there are clear individual and shared responsibilities. Missy Miles uses a rubric for assessing each GROUP in her classroom.

	You're a Team Player!	You're Working on It…	You're Flying Solo
G Group dedication	The student is totally dedicated to his or her group, offering all of his or her attention by actively listening to peers and responding with ideas.	The student is partially dedicated to his or her group though sometimes becomes distracted by students or issues outside the group.	The student spends most of his or her time focusing on things outside the group; he or she is not available for discussion or group work.
R Responsibility	The student shares responsibility equally with other group members and accepts his or her role in the group.	The student takes on responsibility but does not completely fulfill his or her obligations.	The student either tries to take over the group and does not share responsibilities or takes no part at all in the group work assigned.
O Open communication	The student gives polite and constructive criticism to group members when necessary, welcomes feedback from peers, resolves conflict peacefully, and asks questions when a group goal is unclear.	The student gives criticism, though often in a blunt manner, reluctantly accepts criticism from peers, and may not resolve conflict peacefully all of the time.	The student is quick to point out the faults of other group members yet is unwilling to take any criticism in return; often, the students argues with peers rather than calmly coming to a consensus.
U Utilization of Work Time	The student is always on task, working with group members to achieve goals, objectives, and deadlines.	The student is on task most of the time but occasionally takes time off from working with the group.	The student does not pay attention to the task at hand and frustrates other group members because of his or her inability to complete work in a timely fashion.
P Participation	The student is observed sharing ideas, reporting research findings to the group, taking notes from other members, and offering assistance to his or her peers as needed.	The student sometimes shares ideas or reports findings openly but rarely takes notes from other group members.	This student does not openly share ideas or findings with the group, nor does he or she take notes on peers'

What is Instructional Rigor?

Take a look over at Suite101 for my next piece, and introduction to the concept of instructional rigor and classroom-based examples.

What is true instructional rigor? What are classroom-based strategies that are rigorous?

Instructional rigor has become a controversial topic. Educators disagree about the word itself, citing a dictionary definition of harsh or rigid. A friend of mine points out that if you look it up, the word rigor falls between rigamarole and rigor mortis.  True instructional rigor, however, is centered around student learning. Rigor is "creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels (2008)."

A Rigorous Environment

What would those concepts look like in a classroom? An environment of rigor includes a focus on progress for each student, in addition to meeting a standard of achievement. If your school has an honor roll, consider adding a progress roll, which recognizes the small steps that each student makes in order to reach the larger goal. Success breeds success, so as students make progress, they are encouraged to try for a higher level.

Read more at Suite101: What is Instructional Rigor? | Suite101.com http://barbarablackburn.suite101.com/what-is-instructional-rigor-a404575#ixzz1oqikusNF

Reviewing for Higher Levels of Learning

I used a pizza wheel to review material students are assigned to read prior to or during class. Each student writes a fact he or she learned in one of the pizza slices. Then, working in small groups, students pass their papers to the next group member, who also writes a fact. This continues around the circle until each pizza is full. Students can discuss the material, using the pizza wheels as a prompt. Then, ask students to write an extended response to a higher level question. For struggling students, one of the stumbling blocks to application-oriented questions is ensuring knowledge of basic facts.  This provides an instant go-to guide for a reference.

An added bonus is ensuring that each student participates, rather than certain students dominating group work. Although you can measure students’ understanding in an oral discussion, asking each student to write ensures that all students are involved in the lesson and provides an opportunity for every student to respond.

Interpreting Visual Representations

Think for a minute about the visuals you read or write in your life. I made a quick list, and it included diagrams, figures, maps, menus, labels, captions, charts, schedules, timelines, and graphs. Then I scanned through my house and office to find text materials that included something more than words and letters. I found magazines, newspapers, ads, food containers, manuals, cards, and catalogs. Then, there’s what I can see on television and the Internet. We truly are surrounded by visuals, and it’s important for our students to understand how to interpret what they see.

One of the lessons that surprised my students was on advertising. I showed them a range of magazine ads about smoking, and we discussed what they saw. Their initial responses revolved around how pretty, handsome, successful, and happy the people appeared to be. That led to a discussion of advertising techniques and propaganda. Students quickly realized that it’s important to look beneath the surface to determine the real meaning of ads.

I was recently in Lynn Kelley’s classroom, where she did a similar activity. After teaching types of propaganda, her students created videos demonstrating the various techniques. As she said, “I think they will remember it when they see a question on the state test because they had to create their own examples.”

A Recipe for a Successful Classroom

Missy Miles, former teacher at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, wrote A Recipe for a Successful Classroom. Notice how it incorporates a healthy dose of student choice.

A Recipe for a Successful Classroom

1  tablespoon of lecture (for auditory learners)
2  cups of small-group discussion of any sort of variety
1⁄2 cup of guided reading
1 1⁄2 cups of hands-on activities
1⁄2 cups of various activities that involve movement. Sprinkle in little by little, not all at once.
3 tablespoons of music and art, which integrate content material
2 cups of opportunity for students to decide how they will be assessed
                                                      4 ounces of graphic organizers

The more you stir and allow these ingredients to blend, the more productive your recipe will be. Allow adequate time to let ideas, questions, and exploration occur before putting in the oven to brown.

So, what’s your recipe for a successful classroom? I'd love to hear them via email (link to right) or in the comments!

Teaching Purposeful Listening

Amy Williams regularly uses pair-share activities to encourage listening in her classroom. I’ve always found that to be a more effective way of increasing student engagement; it was hard for me to keep everyone involved in a large group discussion. By asking students to pair up and share their responses, you can increase participation and craft a strong listening opportunity at the same time. I use a variation of pair-share. After students talk with their partner, I lead a whole group discussion during which students can share answers. But rather than sharing their own answers, I ask them to share what their partner said. That sounds quite simple, but it raises the level of expectation for listening. As one teacher told me in a recent workshop, “If I had known you wanted me to share the other person’s answer, I would have listened better!” That was exactly my point with my students. I wanted them to focus on truly listening. Asking them to share their partner’s answer rather than their own encourages them to do so.

Scaffolding Part Two

The definition of a scaffold is “a temporary wooden or metal framework for supporting workmen and materials during the erecting, repairing, or painting of a building, etc.” To adapt that for learning, scaffolding is a temporary verbal, visual, or physical framework for supporting students during the formation, development, and enhancement of learning. It’s really just a technical word for helping students learn, and I’m guessing you do it sometimes without realizing it.

It’s important to remember to provide scaffolding, which can be help by giving information, reminders, or encouragement only when a student needs it and in a way that helps.
That may sound like common sense, but I’ve seen teachers who give information that confuses students rather than making the material easier. I’ve also seen teachers who continue to give support when students don’t need it, which results in students who are more dependent on the teacher. Remember, success is developing students who can learn without you beside them.

Scaffolding Part One

A good comparison for scaffolding is learning to ride a bike. I remember riding a tricycle when I was growing up. I was good at it and felt confident of my abilities. At some point I got a real bike for Christmas. My parents wisely put training wheels on it while I learned to ride. Those extra wheels provided stability and balance as I learned how to ride it. Then Dad took the training wheels off. He taught me to ride without the training wheels, but he was beside me with one hand on the seat. One day he let go of the seat, and I realized I was riding by myself. I was so excited. I had learned to ride a bike and I loved it. I had confidence in my abilities, which enhanced my enjoyment.

Great Teachers, Great Leader, Great School

WOW!  I am so inspired this morning.  Last night, I Skyped with Shawn Blankenship (DMS_Principal), of Dibble Middle School in Oklahoma.  First, it was so much fun to see the excitement on a principal's face--for two reasons.  First he was excited about his students' learning.  Second, he was a proud of how his teachers made that happen.  His role--help students and teachers succeed.  One of the main roles I believe principals hold is that of removing barriers of success.  I saw that last night.

Most of the call, however, focused on the stories of his teachers--the ways they helped students believe in themselves, the ways they held students to high expectations (the common answer to a request for help from a student? Problem-solve! LOVE IT!), how they support students and scaffold learning, all the real-life applications for students.  I could keep going but instead, I've asked him to see if his teachers would like to guest blog for me.  I sure hope so, because we would all learn from them!

Please vote in the poll to the right for my next free download!.

Scaffolding and Black History Month

 Don't forget to vote in the poll to the right--What would you like to see as my next free resource?

I've enjoyed connecting with teachers and leaders on Twitter.  A teacher in New York, @dcraig42, shared a great strategy he used with his students.  With a large number of struggling learners in his classroom, he finds ways to scaffold learning for his students. 

For Black History Month, he wanted to develop a timeline of key people.  Ideally, we might ask each student to create a timeline with key African Americans, along with an analysis of their contributions.  In Dave's case, his students would be overwhelmed with the task, so he chose to adapt the activity. First, it became a class project, with each student contributing to the project.  Next, he provided clear direction and chunked the assignment.  Each student researched and wrote index cards about a specific person.  



Notice how he incorporates rigor with this assignment.  Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported to learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels (Blackburn, 2008). 

First, instead of giving up on a research assignment, he chose to keep his high expectations.  Next, he adapted the lesson to provide scaffolding (and success) for his students.  Finally, each student participated, thereby demonstrating learning.  Great adaptation by a great teacher!

My Students Always Ask for Help!!

Do you have students who always ask you for help? Encountering new vocabulary was an issue for students in my Social Studies class.  Many of my students had one response for figuring out the new word: Ask me! So I developed a simple set of procedures for what to do when they didn’t know a new word. They quickly learned to try other options before they came to me.

What to Do When You Don’t Know a Vocabulary Word

1. Try to figure it out on your own.
2. Read the sentence or look at pictures to try to understand what it means.
3. Check to see if the word is in the glossary or margin of the book.
4. Look it up in the dictionary.
5. Use a thesaurus.
6. Ask three other students for help.
7. If nothing else works, ask the teacher.

Using procedures helped my students become more independent and take more ownership for their learning.  It didn't happen overnight, but there was progress, and that is a good thing!

Scavenger Hunts

Another option is to do a Scavenger Hunt and let your students work in groups to discover key points together. You are still simply asking questions for them to answer, but framing it as a Scavenger Hunt and allowing them to work together adds some fun to heighten your students’ engagement. I used this to help students find resources in the classroom and to understand the structure of our textbook.  It's also ideal for guiding them through key internet resources.

A friend of mine is taking her first online course.  She was worried, because as she logged on, she didn't know where to find anything.  Her first assignment was a scavenger hunt, which guided her to the different resources and aspects of the site.  The teacher required each student to score 100 on a quick quiz about locations of items before they could move further in the class.

Interesting--they could take the test as often as they liked, and they could refer to the site.  So, she ensured success.  She also handled basic directions without taking time from her instruction.

How could you use scavenger hunts to streamline or enhance your instruction?

Making Research Relevant

The new Common Core State Standards remind us of the importance of literacy across all curriculum areas.  Chad Maguire, a math teacher, asks his students to research and write about a famous mathematician. After giving students an overview of the project and sharing brief biographies of mathematicians, he randomly draws students’ names, and they hold a draft similar to a professional sports draft to select their subjects.

The finished report must include standard information about the person, but students also present the information in a creative way, such as role-playing the mathematician or creating a game. As a final incentive, students earn bonus points based on the number of things they have in common with the person they research. You may prefer to include this in the main grade, rather than using bonus points.




Helping students see relevance in research can be challenging.  Another option is to have students choose a topic on Wikipedia and research it using at least three other sources.  Then, they compare their information with the Wikipedia entry to see if it is accurate.  If there are mistakes, posting them to the Wikipedia site provides an authentic, immediate audience for their work.  It's also a great way to teach the importance of checking sources!

Ratcheting Up Reviews

Looking for some new ideas for reviewing content for your students?  My December newsletter is out and there are strategies and resources for teachers, and a special plan for principals.  Sign up using the button on the right--I'll be resending it throughout the week to new subscribers.  Also, if you haven't seen the earlier issues on motivation and engagement as well as Rigor and the Common Core State Standards, click "View Our Archives" to check them out.  Have a great day knowing that you are making a difference for someone today!

Relevance of Teamwork

When I was teaching, I wanted my students to work together in groups. I have always believed that we learn more together than we do alone. But my students weren’t convinced. I heard more complaints about group work than anything else I did. One day, I shared a newspaper story that reported the number one reason people are fired from their job is because they can’t get along with their coworkers. My students didn’t believe it. They were convinced that people were fired because they couldn’t do the work, so hearing that getting along with others was an important part of working was new information to them. After that, I met less resistance to group activities.