“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

T.S. Eliott

Keeping a growth mindset with our students can be challenging. However, let’s take time to ponder this challenge through the opportunities below:

• teach students the difference between equity and equality
• develop strategies to challenge all students responsively and responsibly
• set and communicate high expectations of all students

Equity vs. Equality

When you talk to your students about equity vs. equality, do you think an image comes to their mind that looks something like this?

Probably, not.  Equity vs. equality is an abstract concept that students will need to be able to discern.  The simplicity of this image should make that meaning come to life for them.  When we are all equal we get the same. However, as evidenced by this image, one size fits all does not work.  Equity, on the other hand, is defined as being “the quality of being fair.” Open a dialogue of equity in your classrooms. You can use the chart below to jump start the dialogue.

Personalized Learning and Challenge

Sir Ken Robinson, an educational researcher, writer and speaker is well known for his TED Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” A 19 minute talk that has been linked here, and is 19 minutes well spent.

As we venture into personalized learning with our students, take time to think about how we can challenge our students to see what their learning styles are, what are their interests and what are their passions. Why not present them with learning opportunities such as 20% time, passion projects, genius hour or inquiry-based learning.

20% time. Provide students an opportunity to design their own learning with 20% time. Google implemented this as a company policy that allows  employees to spend 20% of their time on projects of high interest to them. They found this sparked innovation and creativity. And by the way, Gmail was an outcome of an employee’s innovation and creativity — something we all can’t live without!

Passion projects. Students create an essential question that drives their learning. They work through determining what they already know, what they are interested in learning about, and develop their plan of action based off this.  Teachers give the students the opportunity to direct their own research, design a learning process, reflect, and most importantly share their learning experiences.

Genius hour. Students are presented with an opportunity to design their learning, based on their passions and interests by allotting one hour per week to their individual pursuits. Teachers facilitate the learning and coach students throughout the learning process.

Inquiry-based learning. Students are driven to learn based on questions they have about a given topic. The teacher doesn’t share what students should know or will learn,though the teacher launches a lesson by putting students in the driver’s seat and encouraging them to learn based on their questions and the inquiry process. During inquiry based learning, the teacher responds to students by asking additional questions,which may spark curiosity and investigation.

If anyone has an interest in delving into any of the processes above, please fill out a coaching request, and we will be happy to work with you and your students.  Click here for link to coaching request form.

Setting High Expectations

Robert Rosenthal is a renowned researcher on the science of expectancy – how our expectations can influence outcomes. He developed what he believed was the the four factors that influence expectations. The chart below summarizes the four factors of what influences high expectations.

The formula – hard work + high expectations = the perfect conditions for facilitating a growth mindset in the classroom.  

Knowing the difference between equity vs. equality, challenging our students responsively and responsibly, and setting and communicating high expectations for all your students is a win win situation for all.

To you and your loved ones — have a happy and healthy holiday season.  Can’t wait to see what the new year brings with our students.

 These resources have been collected from  The Growth Mindset Coach: A Teacher’s Month by Month Handbook for Empowering Students to achieve by Annie Brock and Heather Hundle

Learner Profile Q&A

As part of the K-2 Learner Profile session at IgKnight, attendees listed questions and concerns they still had regarding the learner profile   We looked through the submissions to identify common themes and want to share with all of  you some answers.  If you have further questions, please feel free to contact one of your coaches.

How will the teaching of the Learner Profile stay consistent from teacher to teacher? Can teachers identify what slides should be required at certain grade levels?

Our students are all unique and the completion of the learner profile should be individualized or  personalized.   When working with students on learner profile, it is important to remember that we are providing them opportunities to know who they are, reflect on themselves as learners, and advocate for situational learning preferences that will result in optimal learning.  For elementary students, Kaneland 2020 has identified third grade and fifth grade as checkpoints in which students are encouraged to complete the entire profile, or a conversation of progress will take place at this point in their learning.  For students below third grade, students should have a variety of opportunities to explore and reflect on their preferences, but ideally would have the choice in identifying what they would like to submit to their profile. What is relevant to them? Keep in mind that the process is more critical than the product at this point.  

How do primary students actually know how they learn best?

This is a very good question.  It is most likely that students will change their minds based on a variety of situational factors.  What helps them develop in the long run, is bringing this reflection to the forefront.  They may change their minds often and begin to recognize patterns of what they prefer based on the task, group size, or content.  Keep in mind that the focus of their preferences should be geared towards how they learn best, not what is popular or most appealing on a surface level.  Continued conversations, opportunities for reflection, and the ability to advocate for themselves is our focus.  What they end up putting in as an entry for their current profile will change throughout their learning journey.  The documentation will help them to look back and see how they have evolved and hopefully give them more of a perspective on who they are as a learner.

Does all of this have to be done by February?

While primary teachers have been collecting artifacts for their students during the process of self reflection, it is up to you to decide what snapshots will be submitted.  You may decide to keep a folder to pass along with your students or set aside for next year’s classroom teachers.  However, consider giving your students a chance to look over these items in their reflection portfolio to make a condensed electronic submission for the learner profile.  This can be a video clip, a scanned document, or something else digital that your student has created.

While data on our SIP goal will be collected for the February timeline, please be aware that learner profile documents do not have to be complete by that deadline.  For our SIP goal, students are being asked questions that will demonstrate if they are reflecting on who they are as a learner and applying that throughout their day.  These discussions will be effective whether or not the documentation is complete, noting that the reflection process is ongoing.

 

K-2 Learner Profile Submission

For K-2 teachers, you will receive specific directions regarding how to create and where to store an electronic document of your students’ profiles.  Dr. Mumm is working with the technology department to make sure we have a system that is easily accessed by students in future years. Please stay tuned for this information.