This week's Buehl reading focused on the reading and comprehension of complex texts and much
of this text focused on personal approaches to learning and school work. This involves the ideas of students who are organized vs. students who are good studying and so on. This section of the reading reminded me a lot of my brother. My brother often struggled in school from the age of kindergarten through senior year of high school. He almost always understood the information and applied himself but his organization skills were lacking and that translated into him doing poorly in
his classes. Since then, I have often wondered if he had teachers who were more invested in helping him comprehend these complex texts would he have done better? The specific concepts highlighted in this reading also made me think of my brother, especially the note taking section. Buehl highlighted the issues regarding note taking in this week's writing and what he highlighted is important. A lot of his writing on note taking focuses on students' lack of will to do it and the problem with leaning the responsibility on students. When note taking is required to understand a complex text, that leans the focus of the work on students and their comprehension stems from their own notes usually rather than the text itself. This can inhibit student learning because if their original note-taking lacks sufficient information, then their continued learning will fail as well. What kind of strategies do you think should be done to counteract this problem?
The readings for this week also focused on the Common Core standards for our disciplines, of which mine is History. The standards set out for History seem mostly reasonable. They offer standards of how interaction with complex texts can lead to further exploration. Based on looking at these standards what do the rest of you think? Do you see your common core standards applying well to your discipline?
The ILA standards set out other interesting guidelines but one that specifically stuck out to me is the concept that language exists as a living organism. I think this concept is really interesting and parallels a lot of what we've learned this semester. For example, organisms are nuanced and constantly changing and language follows suit. Depending on your area of the country, race, and
other actors language can change quickly. In order to understand organisms, one must also work actively in a multitude of different ways and language also applies in this way. What do you guys think of this analogy offered? Do you think it's accurate and how can we apply this to our teaching?
"What kind of strategies do you think should be done to counteract this problem?" I think a good strategy is what my teachers used in Chemistry, history, and several other classes in high school. Having the notes printed out with blanks to ensure the students are paying attention and getting the right information is a good way of fixing the problem of having bad notes therefore bad results. It takes what the students are being subject to in the classroom and helping them organize the information into categories, slides, and other places that separate it from everything else. It standardizes the notes so that everyone can do what they want in order to learn the way they learn. Words being filled in here and there while the students put in specific things on their own in order to remember things is a good way for everyone to have the same opportunity to succeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about addressing the problem regarding note taking, I think something that is very important to mention is the difference between teaching students how to take notes and teaching students how to take notes a certain way. For example, in high school, I always took notes by literally writing everything down on a PowerPoint. This worked for me well, and my notes were always something I could go back to and study to do well on a test. However, I recall one teacher who taught us how to do Cornell notes, and I honestly hated them; they were confusing to me, and they didn't seem intuitive. I took notes like in this way in that class, but not in others; I still preferred my way of taking notes.
I think this theme or moral of my experience is this: we, as teachers, should expose students to different ways of taking notes, and students should be able to choose to take notes in the way that works the best for them. Alternatively, if a class uses "shell-notes" for example, this can be helpful because even students who do not like taking notes this way can still truncate or modify the notes later, without doing an unreasonable amount of extra work. Additionally, I don't think anyone would object to taking notes like this, as the alternative is usually copying down the entire powerpoint, which is more time consuming.
Thank you for your input Dane. Regarding the question you asked about what kind of strageties we believe could aid in student’s note taking skills, I believe teachers can do much. In the beginning of the year, the teacher can explain the level of reading students are expected to achieve, and order to fully grasp that, explain to the students how important effective note taking is. Next, the teacher can provide and demonstrate the different styles of note taking (for example Cornell notes, etc.) and allow the student to choose which style they’d feel most comfortable with. Lastly, in order to really monitor their understanding, teachers can track their notes once a week or so, to see if the student is grasping more from the texts by utilizing proper noting taking techniques, or their notes can help the teacher see where the student is lacking. This may take up a class period in the beginning of the semester, but it benefits the students and will allow the teacher to intervene before the student has gotten too off track.
ReplyDeleteI like that you focused on the organizational skills of students in your post. I am also a person who struggles with organizational skills which causes me more anxiety and frustration in the long run. I think that we can aid our students in their organization by setting aside time in class for students to organize their materials, meet with the teacher and work on anything that they are behind in for the class. If students wanted to work on homework from other classes I would say that they are welcome to do so if they are caught up on the work for the class and approve it with the teacher. However, this eats away from important time that teachers could be using to further the curriculum so it would have to be something students highly value and feel that they need.
ReplyDeleteReally liked you referring to the part of Beuhl's chapter that refers to language as a living organism. I think that this is especially true in today's world of hyper-connected youth that speak a language in their everyday lives quite divorced from the standardized forms of English taught in schools. I also think that language adopts the norms of society including new words as well as changing the ways old words are used within the contexts they are used in. We as a society are constantly evolving and the mediums we use for communication are also evolving with us. Not only that but the meaning and purpose of language is deeply contextual and as the context changes so does the meanings behind our word selection. Language is also an intrinsic part of our thought processes and some even suggest that it shapes the way we think. How we think of and about language in classrooms and focus our students attention to it is extremely important and is at the foundation of developing critical literacies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning Buehl's discussion of language as a living organism. I do agree that language is constantly changing. Tying in last Monday's class discussion, I think it's important for us as educators to think a lot about what our teaching philosophies are when it comes to language. I come down heavily on the side of embracing language change. In the example we looked at in class, someone used the more modern meaning of "literally," to add emphasis or intensity instead of to say "in a literal sense." The reader who is willing to expand their language toolkit to allow new usages of words would be able to take meaning from and understand that text better than someone clinging to traditional usage of "literally."
ReplyDeleteThat's a fairly innocuous example, but it becomes more complicated when we consider vernaculars that might be used by our students. In my future classroom, I would personally never mark down a student for writing or speaking in a vernacular, as long as their answer demonstrated disciplinary thinking and understanding. Realistically, whether or not we can expect the same from the people in charge of their future success is a different story. Where do we find a middle ground between embracing the ways our students feel comfortable speaking and expressing their ideas, and giving them access to the disciplinary or white mainstream discourse that may open up more opportunities for them?
It is good that we are finally talking about note taking. Some students do it, some don't. And i think think that all students need to take notes. I think forcing a student to take notes may work out in the long run, but do we really want to be the teachers who patrol the class while lecturing and take points off when the student isn't taking notes? To counteract the problem of students not taking notes, the teacher could just upload his powerpoint/lecture online after class, so all students have access to all the information whenever they need it.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, "What kind of strategies do you think should be done to counteract this problem?" I think what can be done is to give students the option to take notes in class. Now, this may seem ridiculous since nowadays, if taking notes is optional, that basically means it is required, but some students feel the need to write everything a teacher says or has written on the board which can do more harm than good. I think one way that can help improve solve this problem is to give students (electronically or physically) a sheet where you the teacher have made, but with blanks missing. Not just blanks though, since students will just skim their textbook to find the answers, Mix some sections up; have a matching section, give them a multiple choice question, a question that has them write the answer out. Perhaps even assign it for homework, since the point of homework is to have students study and practice the material.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've noticed with note-taking is that it has become more open-ended the further up in education. In middle school and the beginning of high school, it seemed to me that taking notes was very rigid. There was a lot of information presented on the board and you had to write all of it down vigorously. However, towards the end of high school, as the focus has changed to the big ideas, especially in history, taking notes is up to the note taker. I take notes on the important things I feel have meaning to the subject. I don't know if there is a similar method used in other subjects.
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your question about analogies, I really am unsure about them. I do believe that analogies can be useful in the classroom, but students may not understand them or they may not be appropriate to use in the classroom given the demographic makeup of the students. It ties back in to our lively discussion last week about the use of language in the classroom. Language in the classroom is changing and you can't mandate students to speak a different way. And the use of analogies can conflict with students' language. However, if you know your students, then you can tailor your analogies to fit the language of your students.
"One thing I've noticed with note-taking is that it has become more open-ended the further up in education. In middle school and the beginning of high school, it seemed to me that taking notes was very rigid."
DeleteI agree with that statement. In those years students don't have the ability to organize abstract academic vocabulary and themes. I know for my students a majority of them are given graphic organizers, but by the start of the second semester I am hopefully weening them of organizers. Also, I think for most teacher we rule as one format of note taking is the only way we take notes. I think it would be good idea to expose them to diverse array of note taking strategies such as Cornell, outlining method, charting method, mind mapping. Each one is a valid way, but it must fit the needs and type of learner.
In my recent observations in the in the classroom, I have been in what is known as a AVID (advancement Via Individual determination) classroom a few times. My discussion with the teacher of this classroom focuses on helping to prepare students who would not normally go to college due to socioeconomic condition or home life paralleled with a lack of intellectual capital necessary to be successful in College. This class is designed to be able to teach the students how to learn, how to take notes, to stay organized, and other great skills. While reading the first portion of your blog post, this experience was brought to mind. I really think that furthering these traits and introducing this intellectual capital would be very helpful for students beyond the high school experience and really equip them to become successful members of society. Having a literacy of life seems quite beneficial to encourage.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your story connection to comparison of studying and prepared for the work. I try and establish myself as someone that is both organized and try to study very well and part of that comes from my experience in multiple different classrooms and taking extra time to focus on my education by looking at how the teacher structures the lesson. This made me think about what strategy works for me to interact with the teacher and the work. It results in an improvement in learning process and thinking about certain strategies that work in one classroom but works better in a different classroom. To answer your question, I would say that it is possible if it can be structured in a way presents an effective value to students that goes beyond the classroom.
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