ADHD Awareness Month

There’s a very nice piece in the SmartBlog on Education called, “And still we can wander.” Author Stuart Grauer (Real Teachers) writes about learning through the mind of a student with ADHD. He says, “ADHD-types are on topic, maybe just not the required topic.” That’s because when they take off on a topic, they want to learn everything and diverge into their own discovery leaps.

Grauer knows that many teachers consider this an inability to concentrate, evidence of distractibility, and/or impulsive behavior. There are, what he calls, “dream-catcher” teachers who allow space for students to digress and to venture into the ideas that come into their minds. These are the types of teachers that ADHD students—and perhaps all students—need.  Grauer has found that if ADHD students are granted space to explore, to learn in a non-linear way, that most of these students will return their attention to the content being taught.

Tough Teachers

The Wall Street Journal article, “Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results,” is an excellent piece for us to read and discuss. Over the years, there has been much discussion about exactly what motivates students and what ignites creativity. Janice Lipman, the article’s author, suggests that maybe we aren’t where we should be in education because of teaching methods that follow “the kinder, gentler philosophy that has dominated American education over the past few decades. The conventional wisdom holds that teachers are supposed to tease knowledge out of students, rather than pound it into their heads.” Lipman backs up her call for stricter discipline and unyielding demands with research and with her eight-part manifesto: “1. A little pain is good for you. 2. Drill baby, drill. 3. Failure is an option. 4. Strict is better than nice. 5. Creativity can be learned. 6. Grit trumps talent. 7. Praise makes you weak. 8. ....while stress makes you strong.”

Lipman says that one of her toughest teachers taught students how to fail and how to get themselves up and going once more.

What do you think? Is it an either or—nice or tough?

Five Minutes to Inspire a Student

Mark Barnes, author of The 5-Minute Teacher (ASCD), tells us that we only have a few minutes to capture our students’ attention and motivate them to want to learn more about what we are teaching. His book, 48 pages long, seems to follow this guideline for us, as well. Sure, the book will take more than five minutes to read, but it is a quick read that’s filled with ideas that will work in your classroom. Even highly motivated students who have the interest and determination to listen to a longer lecture will profit from short instructional sessions. Teaching in small increments is what Barnes recommends—inspire our students and then set them off to learning on their own.  With integration of technologies into classroom, teachers are putting those precious five-minute sessions to work, and then giving their   students the tools for finding the information they need to move themselves forward. If you’d like to try this idea, look for 5-minute teacher resources and Web pages online.

Gaming for a Better World

We know that students like educational games, but most teachers don’t think of themselves as game designers. Perhaps, we will take that on in the future, or at least take on the editing of some games—just like we do with other educational resources. Keeping in mind that students and many adults find some games addictive, we need to consider why this addiction happens and how we might use this knowledge to improve educational games and perhaps solve other problems as well. If we can create games that motivate students into problem solving modes, just like the most popular online games do, this will not only mean learning across the curriculum but also learning that may benefit education and our world.

Game designer Jane McGonigal's goal is to show everyone that game play can help solve the world’s problems. Just consider: playing games online helps students “learn as they go” and to collaborate and cooperate with others. Games match ability to game levels, offer collaborators to help, feature inspiring stories, give rewards, and leave users with a feeling of satisfaction. Many students spend as much time gaming as they do in school. Also, gamers may get better feedback in virtual worlds than they do in our schools. Because of her belief that gamers can offer solutions to many of our world’s problems, McGonigal has developed three games to test her theory. These include: World Without Oil (what happens when oil supplies run out), SuperStruct (gamers have 23 years left on Planet Earth), and Evoke (motivating social innovation skills especially for those in developing nations). Evoke is available online for you and your students to try. Users of these games have, according to McGonigal, come up with some “amazing solutions.”

Blue Birds, Black Birds: Ability Grouping Yes or No

By high school, and even in some subjects in middle school, students tend to group themselves by the courses they select. There are Advanced Placement courses, honors courses, robotics/engineering/technology courses, advanced electives in art and music, and other courses that tend to include students of similar ability. In elementary schools, according to Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on American Education survey of teachers, in the years between 1998 and 2009, grouping in Grade 4 rose from 28% to 71%. At the same grade level, math grouping also rose about twenty percentage points. Over 70% of Grade 8 math teachers said they grouped their students according to ability; this percentage has remained fairly constant for a decade or so.  Although grouping often receives negative press, teachers find that ability grouping works because it helps them address student needs.

Okay, Let’s Redesign Our Schools

As long as I’ve been in education, and that’s been a very long time, I’ve heard educational leaders talk of reform. There was new math, schools without walls, stations, core curriculum, carpet curriculum—you name it. We talked about reform with the emergence of desktop computers in the classroom, and then with interactive whiteboards, and now with mobile digital devices. The educational potential of mobile devices and the trend for young people to attach themselves to them (although not always for what we might call educational endeavors), appears to offer a greater opportunity for us to finally make some changes. We can’t, however, see iPads and other devices as the answer unless we consider why we adhere to methods, curricula, assessments, and classroom and school organizations, which don’t work for all of our students.

Glenn Kleiman, Executive Director for Educational Innovation and Professor, NC State University College of Education offers some excellent ideas about what we need to consider in order to meet the needs of our students. His eight Essential Elements close with the reminder: “No matter how powerful our technologies become, they will never resolve the difficult, classical issues of education. . . .”

Pearson Answers eText Questions

Pearson, the publisher that seems to be leading the way in development of eTexts, offers answers to questions for those worried about the transition to Pearson eTexts. At the eText FAQ page, you will find information about hardware requirements, whether Flash is required, where to get the Pearson eText app, access codes, compatibility with eText readers, collaborative learning, email between students and teachers, and use with iPad, iPod Touch, and smart phones.

Neurodiversity in the Classroom

ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) has released the Thomas Armstrong book, Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life. Available in both paperback and as an eBook, the book explores cutting-edge research featuring the strengths of students who have learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, and intellectual, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Included are success stories about neurodiverse adults who have achieved success. Information is given on computer apps and strength-based learning strategies.

Motivation for Practicing Math?

In order to combat distractions that are created by the pull of technologies and social networking on teens, Pierce and Ronan Higgins teamed with others at Trinity College, Dublin, to create Aftermath. The software, designed for 12 to 16-year-olds includes a math skills game through which students can earn time for social networking. With the software, parents can select which sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Minecraft, etc.) to limit. The software authors have noticed that students using Aftermath become interested in the math skills in the game so that they can get a higher score. They also start thinking about how much time they are spending online and set up their own limits.

Tech & Learning’s Top Sites and Apps of 2012

David Kapuler of Tech & Learning announces his top sites for education each year. This year he is including his favorite apps, as well. You’ll want to take a look at his 2011 list, since the top sites on that list are not repeated in this year’s list. The 2012 top ten sites/apps of the top 100 are: Mentor Mob, Pinterest, Nearpod, Edshelf, ClassBadges, FluencyFinder, PowToom, 3D Toad, SendHub, and BeeClip EDU. I think you’ll find it fun to browse through the sites and apps on Kapuler’s list to find those you want to use in your classroom. There are links to all the sites and apps on the list.