Helpful websites

1. Helpful websites • Critical thinking.org • http://educate.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign

2. Let’s Take A TEN Minute Break! How would I incorporate the best aspects of this lesson in the future? What changes would I make to correct areas in need of improvement? How can I best use my strengths to improve? What steps should I take or resources should I use to meet my challenges? Is there training or networking that would help me to meet my professional goals?  

3. MAXIMIZING IMPACTFUL LEARNING THROUGH CRITICAL THINKING Dennis Eastman, A.D.H.D, Ph.D. Biola University September 7, 2011

4. NOVA Academy • Program specifically designed for foster, at-risk, and first time college attending students. • Ninety-five percent Hispanic, 90% Free/Reduced Lunch program. • 2007: First graduating class completed over 300 transferrable units of college credit. One student graduated with her AA and transferred to Biola University with Junior status. • 2008: API scores improved from 539 to 705 (166 points). Largest increase of any school in California. • 2009: Over 65 inner city urban students attending Community College • Over 1000 units of college credit earned since school opened in 2005 (enrollment under 100 until 2008) • 2009: NOVA Academy awarded a Bronze Medal as one of the top 60 schools in California by US News & World Report • 2010: NOVA Academy received “Educator of the Year” Award by OC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce • 2010: NOVA Academy received Pacific Investment Management Corporation (PIMCO) Community Excellence Award

5. More than a philosophy… Believing ALL students can learn to a high level MUST be more than just an educational philosophy…it MUST be an EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE!

6. A Thot… “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” -Psalm 78:72 Begin With The End In Mind!

7. Today’s Goals: • Identify characteristics of a 21st Century learner. • Evaluate characteristics of multisensory pedagogy to determine potential for learner retention. • Define Critical Thinking and examine obstacles that attempt to curtail critical thinking. • Determine the impactful role that critical thinking strategies have on creating an active learning environment.

8. A Country in Crisis?Hosea 8:9

9. What Are Some Characteristics of the 21st Century Student? Are today’s students different from when you were in school? How? What should our students know to be prepared for the workforce? How should we teach them?

10. 21st Century Student Characteristics • Multi-Tasker • Multisensory Learner • Use Sound & Images • Digital savvy • Collaborative • “Tolerate” traditional print as last resort

11. MILLENIAL KIDS By Age 21 students born in 2000 will have Spent, Watched or Sent: • 10,000 hours playing video games • 10,000 hours on a cell phone • 20,000 hours of television • 200,000 emails (no estimate on number of text messages 1 million (?)) • Less than 5000 hours reading (SOURCE: Marc Prensky, “Growing Up Digital”)

12. 21st Century Learning = “Full Body Experience” • Memory is a Five Senses event! • Emotion is the gatekeeper to learning • Intelligence is a function of experience • The brain stores what is meaningful from the learner’s perspective.

13. The 21st Century Classroom “This technological revolution will have a greater impact on society than the transition from an oral to a print culture.” -  Dr. Douglas Kellner, UCLA

14. Consider the Competition… Our problem is NOT content… Often it is DELIVERY We have to be MORE interesting than Facebook, PSP, & Virtual Gaming

15. “That’s the way we’ve always done it!”

16. We Must Reach Higher Learning Objectives

17. Critical Thinking Defined Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.

18. Why Critical Thinking??? There are problems to be solved for professions that do not yet exist and OUR students will have a part in creating those jobs and solving those problems.

19. The Brain • Is like a “jungle”- nothing “runs” the jungle • All parts of the brain participate with each other, while each has its own function • There is natural pruning or neural pruning that occurs when parts are not used (this may be why sounds not heard or used grow weaker over time) • “LEARNING IS A DELICATE, BUT IS A POWERFUL DIALOGUE BETWEEN GENETICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT…” Robert Sylwester, A Celebration of Neurons

20. Critical Thinkers… Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It requires rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and socio-centrism. -Richard Paul

21. Critical thinkers routinely apply the intellectual standards to the elements of reasoning in order to develop intellectual traits

22. Twelve Basic Principles Related to Learning • Brain is a parallel processor • Learning engages the entire physiology • Learning is developmental • Each brain is unique • Every brain perceives and creates parts and wholes simultaneously • Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes

23. The search for meaning is innate (Use Big IDEAS!) Built for Problem Solving! • Emotions are critical to learning • Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat • The search for meaning occurs through patterning • We can organize memory in different ways • The brain is a social brain

24. Simultaneous Elements of ThoughtSource: Foundations of Critical Thinking

25. What are some obstacles to Critical Thinking? 1.Density of Curriculum Standards (Contributes to Teacher only classroom) 2. Students NOT trained to explore higher ordered thinking skills 3. One size fits all learning experience (If it doesn’t fit you…out of luck)

26. Teachers MUST Build A Bridge for Students Over OBSTACLES To OPPORTUNITIES!

27. How Do They Learn??? • Less than10 % of what they read • About 20 % of what they hear, such as in a lecture • About 30 % of what they see • About 50 % of what they hear and see, using 2 or more media simultaneously • About 70 % of content that requires active participation, either in discussion or giving a presentation • More than 90 % of content that involves these three methods—teaching it to someone else, followed by the application of the content in a real-life task or simulation

28. What Are The Students Saying… “High school seems like it can be a lot more challenging. I wish that more classes did document analysis and independent research papers. I LOVE education but lose interest when I'm not challenged and there is not independent thought.” “More actual thought and real understanding/engaging ideas would make school a whole lot better and would allow students to get more out of it.”

29. No matter how interesting the lesson may seem to the instructor, if the teacher does all the interacting with the material, the teacher’s brain, NOT the student’s brain, will grow new connections.

30. Brain Based Research & Learner Centered Curriculum • Learning is a process of building neurons (literally creating bridges to knowledge) • “The brain is a pattern seeking device in search of meaning.” – Karen Olsen

31. So What Does This Mean??? Straight facts often need some form of pattern to be meaningful (e.g. Mnemonic device, manipulative, simulation, visual aid) ? ? ?

32. Meaning Making in the Classroom In a moment you will have 14 seconds to view random letters and then place them in the correct order: DV DFB ICI AC DB BCC NN CT NT Do You Recognize Any of These Acronyms? DVD FBI CIA CD BBC CNN TNT

33. Differentiating Instruction

34. “We cannot be effective if we are not relevant.” -Nabil Costa

35. Relevance 101 • All kids are different. • One size does NOT fit all. • Differentiation provides ALL students with access to all curriculum.

36. What to do? First-Get to Know Your Students • Learning styles • Multiple Intelligences • Interests

37. Research Says… Multiple Intelligences: Howard Garner Cooperative Interaction: Elizabeth Cohen Spiral Curriculum: Jerome Bruner Understanding by Design: Wiggins & McTighe Non-Linguistic Representation: Robert Marzano

38. So the question is NOT: How smart are you? BUT...How are you Smart?

39. How are students smart? Main Categories of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

40. Differentiation Strategies • Teachers can differentiate: • According to students’: Content Process Product Readiness Interest Learning Profile

41. YOUR TURN Implementing Differentiation: Case Studies • Please look at the HANDOUT What aspects of differentiation do you see ? • Which techniques could you use in your classroom? How?

42. Nine Types of Curriculum Adaptations Quantity* Time* Level of Support* Adapt the time allotted and allowed for learning, task completion, or testing. For example: Individualize a timeline for completing a task; pace learning differently (increase or decrease) for some learners. Increase the amount of personal assistance with a specific learner. For example: Assign peer buddies, teaching assistants, peer tutors, or cross age tutors. Adapt the number of items that the learner is expected to learn or complete. For example: Reduce the number of social studies terms a learner must learn at any one time. Input* Difficulty* Output* Adapt how the student can respond to instruction. For example: Instead of answering questions in writing, allow a verbal response, use a communication book for some students, allow students to show knowledge with hands on materials. Adapt the way instruction is delivered to the learner. For example: Use different visual aids, enlarge text, plan more concrete examples, provide hands-on activities, place students in cooperative groups. Adapt the skill level, problem type, or the rules on how the learner may approach the work. For example: Allow the use of a calculator to figure math problems; simplify taskdirections; change rules to accommodate learnerneeds. Participation* Alternate Goals* Substitute Curriculum* Adapt the goals or outcome expectations while using the same materials. For example: In social studies, expect a student to be able to locate just the states while others learn to locate capitals as well. Adapt the extent to which a learner is actively involved in the task. For example: In geography, have a student hold the globe, while others point out locations. Provide different instruction and materials to meet a learner’s individual goals. For example: During a language test one student is learning computer skills in the computer lab.

43. Implementing Differentiation: Case Studies Hannah is an 8th grade student who is easily distracted. She can stay focused for short periods of time, but when a lengthy assignment is given she will fade out and not complete it. She is not a behavior problem. When Alicia is assigned 20 math problems she will usually stop at ten. However, she shows mastery of the material with those 10 problems. When graded for 20 problems she will fail because she will only have only completed 50%. Her grade will not reflect that Alicia has met the standard. What adaptation can an effective teacher use to ensure Alicia’s grades reflect that she has met the standard? Quantity

44. Implementing Differentiation: Case Studies • Sarah has great difficulty with written assignments. When asked to demonstrate by written work, her reading comprehension of the content material, Sarah will not do it. However she is very verbal and when asked to tell about what she has read, she responds articulately and shows comprehension of the material. Sarah is also very artistic and creative. What adaptation could the teacher make so that Sarah can demonstrate mastery of reading comprehension? Output

45. Implementing Differentiation: Case Studies • It’s hard for Tony to concentrate when the teacher is giving direct instruction in front of the room. He needs to be doing something active to stay focused. During a lesson on map reading, what adaptation could an effective teacher use to ensure that Hector stays focused and learns the material? Participation

46. Implementing Differentiation: Case Studies • Jacob is a diligent, hard worker whose grades matter very much to him. He stays focused and on-task, but many times he cannot finish the work in the time allotted. He understands the material well, but when graded on work completed in a specific time period it will appear he has not mastered the standard. What adaptation can an effective teacher use to ensure that Jacob’s grades reflect that he has met the standard? Time

47. ALL Students Can Think Critically If The Environment is ATTEMPT FRIENDLY!

48. Critical Thinking Our bodies are made for physical exertion BUT, unless we challenge our bodies they will NOT be strong Though our brains are made for deep thinking They MUST be given a REASON to think deeper

49. You Do NOT Need A Computer to Get Them Thinking…Give Them a REAL WORLD Problem

50. Primary Documents • What does the existence of this document say about whoever created it? • What does the existence of this document say about whoever saved it? • What does the existence of this document say about American life in this era?