Tag: free resources

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Distance Learning: Independent Learning

As we switch to distance learning, there’s a lot of (good, important, helpful) thinking and talking about platforms and access to the internet and designing for digital learning; there is talk about equity for those with less robust hardware or bandwidth or technical skills; and for folks with disabilities or limited English. There is talk about priorities and expectations and taking care of ourselves.

These are real. 

I’m glad we’re having these conversations. (We need to have more of them. )

And, as I am thinking about helping my students learn remotely, I am wishing we were talking more about the ability to learn (largely) independently.  

Online learning takes screens and wifi, and it takes being able to focus (especially when all of the kids are home and everyone is stuck inside) and it takes being able to make choices and plan your time (when all the schedules have been altered) and pace yourself; and to motivate yourself (when you’re also worried about the news and your job and your kids). It takes being able to persevere when it gets hard and there’s no one around to ask for help. 

Text: Distance Learning. Building Skills for Independent Learning. A white background with colored pencils.

I’ll be honest: I’m dealing with moments of worry, and frustration, and discouragement, and worry (again) for my students and our attempts at distance learning. 

But, I’m also taking it as a lesson: this matters. 

I’ve always thought independent learning would matter for homework, or for college, but we are learning that it also matters for our resilience and flexibility in the face of the completely unexpected. 

I don’t have all the answers, but I spent some time adapting the tools I do have to online learning. I hope they help you and your students navigate this transition, and learn, and grow, and maybe emerge a little stronger on the other side. 

Distance Learning Resources

Brain based Learning: Teaching our students the research on how to learn/study effectively

Stuck Strategies: Helping our students identify strategies to respond productively to moments of struggle

Dear Me/Teacher/Classmates, Please Remember… Helping out students share and reflect on what’s important for their learning

Independent Learning Log: Helping our students track and share their progress

Traffic Light Check In: Helping our students evaluate and describe their learning progress

Psst! All of my distance learning (plus some of my favorite independent learning) resources are free or discounted April 6-9th.

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Thinking about Metacognition….

Metacognition is in my blog name because it’s one of my absolute favorite things. (See metacognitive routines , and tips and reflections and goals)

But, it sounds daunting, if you’re not already doing it.

Or, you’re many teachers, and you’re already doing so many other things, that adding anything else sounds daunting, doesn’t matter what it is (if so, stick around, I’m also working on a workshop about self care and balance)

But, I would (do!) argue that adding metacognition to your teaching doesn’t have to be hard.

One of the easiest ways is by adding a log to something you’re already doing.

My classes use two logs a day for our spiral review and for our homework and they’re super simple, no frills, but really helpful.

Why logs?

They build a habit of stopping, reflecting, checking in on learning. But also, gaining the insight that comes from the metacognition.

Bonus points: They document patterns of progress or challenge (especially valuable that it’s in a form that students can see, because, ummm… they wrote it. This is helpful for the folks in my classes who insist on doubting their own abilities)

Bonus, bonus points: As a teacher, its so helpful to get insight into students experience/thinking about their learning.

Free metacognition teaching resource! Classroom log. Date, What I did, how it went, next steps

How to:

Decide what to log:

Anything you do repeatedly, that you want your students to thinking about is fair game: homework or independent studying are great because it also loops you in to a students progress but you could do a general log every Friday about the week, or at the end of every unit, or convert your exit tickets to a log entry, or, or, or…

Set up:

I love folders. They keep things just that much neater and easier to find. (Also, I have bright yellow for one and bright green for another and the odds that a log accidentally wanders home in the bottom of a backpack have decreased.) But, folders are totally optional. A chart is nice. I made one for you. But if you don’t like it, make a simple one you do like, or use lined paper.

Here’s a (free!) reflective log template to get you started.

Content:

I go for frequency rather than depth. You might want more specific questions, but a good starting place is:

  • Date
  • What I did (What homework? What unit? Whatever thing this entry is about)
  • How’d it go? (Self assessment and reflection)
  • Next steps? (Planning and organizing)

I like to keep the entries small, to keep the intimidation factor down, just a line or two.

Want some more support? I made a (Free!) teacher planning guide

Adding Metacognitive Routines: Classroom Log Planner Preview

( PS. This post is inspired by a workshop I planned for the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education Network Conference in April.

NETWORK has been cancelled for public health reasons. I respect the decision, wish everyone good health… and am going to be offering a digital version.

n up to receive information about a digital workshop from mathacognitive: “Thinking about Thinking: Easy Tips to Boost Metacognition”

Here’s the workshop description: Many adult learners enter ABE programs with big goals, and a desire to achieve, but little understanding of how to learn/study effectively. We’ll explore low-prep classroom routines and activities to help students understand their own learning, practice metacognition, and become more skillful, independent learners. 

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Comparison Cards

When I rounded up all my various links about some of my favorite, go to activities I made a discovery.

I had posts about equivalence cards, and error correction, and my write/shuffle/share routine (although it could use expanding, tbh)

I had two different activities with comparison cards in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. (Scientific notation, and probability for the curious)

But, somehow I had never written about how I actually use them.

Oops.

Clearly, I have been taking Comparison Card activities for granted. Also, clearly, I am attempting to rectify the situation

Why: 

They make for natural pair or group activities, so students are talking and figuring together (*cough* Mathematical Practice 3*cough*) 

They ask students to stop and think and reason about the meaning and values of the numbers, instead of jumping straight into computation.

Content:

Super-flexible, but they’re particularly well suited for formats that students tend to struggle to read/understand. So decimal values with multiple places, or scientific notation, in my class.

Materials:

Make cards by hand (half of a 3×5 index card works well) or use my Google slides tutorial.

Each card should have a single value, but mixing the number formats raises the critical thinking level (For example: my exponents set uses whole numbers, exponent notation, expanded notation, and words) 

Make enough for each student to have a set.

Facilitation options: 

Number line: Sort the values from smallest to largest, arranging in a line on the table.

Further option: Give students benchmarks to compare their number line, or construct parallel numberlines with two formats (one line with fractions, for example, and another with decimals)

War: Each student gets a set of cards, shuffled and face down. Play the classic card game, War, where the player who turns over the card with the higher value takes both

Inequalities | Number Sentences: Add inequality cards to the mix. (I have a full on set in my store, or make your own). Students should arrange two value cards and a comparison symbol to create sentences

(Note: If students are comfortable with inequalities, this is a less challenging activity since students can pick values that are easy to compare) 

Extensions: 

Add reflection/discussion questions (I always like to start by asking which were hard? which were easy? and why?)

Students create their own cards to add to the mix. This might be open or more structured (e.g. add a card that is smaller, larger, in the middle…) 

Subscribe to access my PDF Comparison Card Planning Tips (and other subscriber-only resources!)

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Oh, back to school time.

I am engaging in some pretty heavy denial that summer could ever possibly end. Clearly I am going to continue plucking cherry tomatoes and waking up without an alarm for ever and ever amen.

IMG_5403(1)
No, really. My view as I write.

And, simultaneously, I’m enjoying the space to think about my teaching without having to make copies for the class that’s starting in 3 minutes. I’ve designed a whole new class, a new class website, set up spreadsheets and calendars and routines.

I am, in short, channeling Whitman:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

 

I am also, making things. And in full, multitude-containing form. I have both the efficiently practical and the sweetly reflective. This, I think, is the nature of back to school season.  We handle a hundred details, and we carefully launch the relationships that will carry us through the term.

 

Teacher Tips: Designing Worksheets in Google Slides

First Day of School Reflective Notes