Grey Matters: Teaching the way the brain learns

Grades versus Growth

11/14/2017

Grades versus Growth

When I was a parent for the first time I noted every single thing the tiny human did…and drove my pediatrician nuts because the moment something seemed out of the ordinary, she would receive a phone call. And then she gave me a piece of advice that continues to resonate almost a decade later and extend to most aspects of of daily life. That sage bit of wisdom was to, “Observe over a three-day period rather than every single moment”. For example, in the case of the tiny humans and eating, her advice was, “Over the course of three days, they should have some protein, some vegetables, some fruit, some starches…” and, well, you get the idea.

I’ve extended this advice of looking over a period of time, rather than a single point in time, to teaching and assessment.

Brain Target 6: Evaluating Learning
Assessment is tough and a letter grade doesn’t always provide the full picture of a student’s knowledge. Vicky Krug, Assistant Professor at Westmoreland County Community College, featured in the documentary Grey Matters: Teaching The Way The Brain Learns aptly describes letter grades from tests as measuring “a single point in time” of the learning journey. Krug continues, “The tests are good tests, but it’s one instance”.

Jeremy Mettler, featured in the documentary Grey Matters: Teaching The Way The Brain Learns, makes the case for measuring growth as part of evaluating learning (Brain Target 6 of the Brain Targeted Teaching Model), “Growth can be many different things from speaking up in class to working through math problems and for Mettler, “It’s probably one of my favourite things to measure because it gives me a more holistic picture of a student’s progress.”

Portfolios can help.

Portfolios are a great way to capture progress over time, painting a more accurate picture of a student’s knowledge base. If you're interested in building a more complete picture of your students’ knowledge base consider these tips to get started using a portfolio:
1. Outline the goal of the portfolio.Are you using it to track short term student progress, such as a unit study, or more long-term progress?

2. Who’s the audience?
Is it for you, the teacher, to have a tangible representation of your students’ progress? Is this for parents to obtain a more detailed picture of their student’s work load? Will it go to a fellow teacher? Is this a student project? Outlining the audience will aid in how the student’s work is curated.

3. Will you grade it?
If you are grading it, who’s selecting the work to be included? Have you shown students the grading rubric? Is the rubric standardized?

Further reading

For more reading on Portfolios, check out:
https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/classuse.html
http://etale.org/main/2015/11/18/3-reasons-to-use-portfolios-in-education/

Purchase the film

If you would like to order Grey Matters: Teaching The Way The Brain Learns for professional development, please click here.
More about the model

For more information on the Brain Targeted Teaching Model, check out www.braintargetedteaching.org.

Get social with us

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Twitter: www.twitter.com/changethelens

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Assumptions

10/10/2017

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Yesterday morning I was chatting with the check out person at our local grocery store and asked after her daughter, who I knew was starting kindergarten. The mom said that she loved it so much, she would come home, eat dinner and ask if she could go back to school after dinner.

Cute, right?

Then the mom said with a laugh, “That won’t last long. She’ll hate it. I hated school.”

“Not necessarily,” I said, “Great teachers help.”

That 90 second social interaction stuck with me for the rest of the day and got me thinking, “How much of how children feel about school is dictated by their parents’ attitude? After all, children model (unconsciously or consciously) their parents/parental figures attitudes and beliefs.

Why would you, as a parent, have the expectation that school is something that all kids will eventually hate?

Research studies indicate parents and parental involvement in school are the biggest contributors to students’ academic success. More than what school, how we teach, and what we teach. Parental involvement matters. Annie Murphy Paul, author of Brilliant: The Science of Smart writes more about this here: http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/24/the-single-largest-advantage-parents-can-give-their-kids/

And this isn’t just about showing up to the Parent-Teacher conference or jumping on the PTO; rather it’s about getting involved in your child’s learning journey - knowing what they are excited to learn and why, understanding the things that they are struggling with and directing them to extra resources. Helping them connect what they know to what they already know. And above all, continuing to talk to them about the process of learning.

Learning isn’t something that stops. It’s a continuous process, filled with moments of frustration, “I don’t get it”, “Oh this is kinda like”, and that beautiful moment of “I totally get this”.

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How Questions Reflect Growth

6/8/2017

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I’ve a love hate relationship with questions in class. As a student I was convinced I had the dumbest questions and there was no way I was going to ask them, because, in my head, I just knew everyone was going to fall out of their chairs laughing at me. A few decades later, as a parent and educator, I still have a love hate relationship with questions, only this time, it’s because I’m afraid of not knowing the answer, and also thinking, “What? You mean I don’t know everything?”

Imagine my astonishment when I was filming Jeremy Mettler in class, and he’d responded to a student’s question, with a very calm, “That’s a good question, I hadn’t thought of that,” during a discussion on the government shutdown from a few years ago. Or one of the students in Mr. Holbrook’s class who said “I don’t know” because he knew it was ok to own not knowing.

If educators are going to build creative thinkers then they have to be prepared for questions and they also have to be prepared to not know the answers to the questions.

That’s a lot to wrap your head around, especially when you’re used to being in charge and knowing the answers.

There’s also a very good chance you’re going to tangent from the original learning objective outlined in your lesson plan.

Which is awesome and terrifying at the same time.

Here are some ways to encourage questions in your classroom, and stay on track:

When introducing a new unit give students a few days notice and ask them to come to class with 3 things they know and 3 things they want to know. Build that into your lesson planning.
Give students a question and vocabulary log for them to note questions and unfamiliar words that arose for them during class. You can either give students time at the end of class to share and poll to see how many students have similar questions. Or, collect them during an activity, to review and discuss with the class, noting how many students had similar questions. It’s a great way for students to see shared inquiry.
Encourage students to connect what they’re learning with what they already know. Build in 5-10 mins at the end of the class for students reflect on how what they learned is similar to something else. Graphic organizers are great to help them link the knowledge.
Once you feel your students have mastered the concept, brainstorm new things they can do with that knowledge. Their question log may prove to be useful during this exercise. For example, after watching this TED Talk during a climate change unit in a Grade 3 class, students brainstormed ways to turn their unused green spaces into mini forests. Fun and empowering.

Students who ask questions are students who are engaged and growing.

Who’re taking risks.

Who may fail.

And ultimately learn.

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Grades versus Growth

Assumptions

How Questions Reflect Growth

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