Learning to Learn

1. Learning to Learn SLMS/NYLA Leadership Retreat ’09 August 4 Carol Koechlin 2009

2. Focus Questions • How do we best prepare our learners for their future? • As we move from the Information Age to the Knowledge Age, how can we take advantage of real world processes and technologies to spark inquiry and propel learning? • How do we instil positive mindsets about learning to learn? • How do we design for High Think assignments? • How do we ensure that assignments build understanding and Learning 4 Life? Carol Koechlin 2009

3. It’s not a box! • So what is it? • Think about the box. • Think outside the box. • Open the box. • Transform the box. Carol Koechlin 2009

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5. Learning Literacies • Reading • Writing • Listening • Communicating • Media Literacy • Visual Literacy • Information Literacy • ICT Literacy • Global Literacy • Emerging Literacies Carol Koechlin 2009

6. Teach THINK!Teach Learning 4 Life Carol Koechlin 2009

7. Learning to Learn The best thing we can be teaching our children today, is how to teach themselves. David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents • An Organized Investigator • A Critical Thinker • A Creative Thinker • An Effective Communicator • A Responsible Information User David Loertscher Carol Koechlin 2009

8. Words from the wise…. “Teacher-librarians cannot continue to be accomplices to mediocrity.” Allison Zmuda in an audio conference presentation to Treasure Mountain Oct. 2007. The power of the library media specialist to contribute to the school has never been more vital, more feasible or more exciting than it is today. Zmuda &Harada Librarians as Learning Specialist 2008 Carol Koechlin 2009

9. Brain Based Learning The more we understand the brain, the better we’ll be able to design instruction to match how it learns best. Wolfe 2001 Carol Koechlin 2009

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11. The more fully we process information over time, the more connections we make the more consolidation takes place, and the better the memory will be. • Wolfe 2001 Carol Koechlin 2009

12. Problems/Possibilities JigSaw Puzzle Model Carol Koechlin 2009

13. Problem • As we move from the Information Age to the Knowledge Age, how can we take advantage of real world processes and technologies to spark inquiry and propel learning? Carol Koechlin 2009

14. Our Problem:boost achievement with real world processes and technologies Investigate perspective • A – teacher-librarian • B – teacher-technologist • C – classroom teachers • D – principal • E – students • F – parents Challenge: brainstorm solution ideas • ABCDEF • ABCDEF • ABCDEF • ABCDEF BIG THINK – as a group assess solution ideas Carol Koechlin 2009

15. Getting Assignments to Students 24/7/365 • Link assignments from your School Library Homepage • Set up a blog - calendar, RSS feed • Create a wiki -collaborative work space • Use Google Docs and Spreadsheets and Office Live Workspace • Cloud Computing • Advantages • Often free • Projects stored on a remote server • Usually more reliable than local networks • Available from any computer 24/7/365 • Meet with students in their world In Command! by R. Williams and D. Loertscher Carol Koechlin 2009

16. How can I better organize my school and personal space resources? Carol Koechlin 2009

17. How does your personal learning network work? • Think about how you are informed: • Who do you read, watch, listen to, consult ? • Where, when and how do you gather information and for what purpose? • Think about your information tools • Consider how you process information and who you share with. • Now create a visual to represent your personal information network. Carol Koechlin 2009

18. David Warlick’s Personal Learning Network Carol Koechlin 2009

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20. How do we encourage positive mindsets about learning to learn? Carol Koechlin 2009

21. Mindset: the new psychology of successby Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. Fixed Mindset • Leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to • Avoid challenges • Get defensive and give up early • See effort as fruitless or worse • Ignore useful negative feedback • Feel threatened by the success of others As a result they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential. Carol Koechlin 2009

22. Mindset: the new psychology of successby Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. Growth Mindset • Leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to • Embrace challenges • Persist in the face of setbacks • Use effort as a path to mastery • Learn from criticism • Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others • As a result they reach ever higher levels of achievement. Carol Koechlin 2009

23. Reinforcing EffortMarzano, Pickering and Pollock2001 • Studies have demonstrated that some students are not aware of the fact that the effort they put into a task has a direct effect on their success relative to the task. • ‘the effort belief’ Carol Koechlin 2009

24. Design for Understanding Carol Koechlin 2009

25. What is understanding? “You understand it only if you can teach it, use it, prove it, explain it, defend it, or read between the lines.” Wiggins and McTighe Carol Koechlin 2009

26. Building Understanding Read View Listen Connect • Think • Question • Reflect Carol Koechlin 2009

27. Ban those Bird Units • What are bird units? • ‘all about’ projects • fill-in-the-blanks worksheets • term ‘report’ • textbook ‘research’ • cut, paste and plagiarism • assessing product only • only bells and whistles • “no thinking required” Carol Koechlin 2009

28. The Art and Science of Teachingby Robert Marzano Active Processing Using Macrostrategies • Summarizing and note taking • Nonlinguistic representations • Questions • Reflection • Cooperative learning Carol Koechlin 2009

29. The Think Models: • apply critical and creative thinking. • build cross curricular literacy skills. • are engaging and effective. • empower students to build deeper understanding. • infuse information literacy skills and information technologies. • are best practice for an information and technology rich learning environment. • are a framework for designing successful assignments. • provide opportunity for differentiated instruction. Carol Koechlin 2009

30. Education is about learning!Integrating Differentiated Instruction +Understanding by DesignCarol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe • Learning happens within students, not to them. • Learning is a process of making meaning that happens one student at a time Carol Koechlin 2009

31. Provide many paths • Classroom teachers can work to the benefit of many more students by implementing patterns of instruction likely to serve multiple needs. • Tomlinson and McTighe Integrating Differentiated Instruction + Understanding by Design Carol Koechlin 2009

32. Knowledge of students • Readiness • Interests • Preferences Carol Koechlin 2009

33. Differentiated Instruction in the Library • Learning Materials (Content) • Ways of Learning (Process) • Ways of Demonstrating Learning (Product) • Learning Environment Carol Koechlin 2009

34. Consider designing your WebQuest using a THINK model at the Processing Stage. • Introduction • Task • Process • Information Sources • Evaluation • Conclusion Carol Koechlin 2009

35. What about a wiki? • Design collaborative workspaces for students based on the THINK models. Carol Koechlin 2009

36. CollaborationGuided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century by C.Kahlthau, L. Maniotes & A. Caspari Factors that Inhibit Success • Lack of time • Confusion about roles • Poorly designed assignments Factors that Enable Success • Constructivist view of learning • Team approach to teaching • Competence in designing process assignments • Commitment to developing information literacy Carol Koechlin 2009

37. Advice to Action Model Carol Koechlin 2009

38. How do we build strong teaching partnerships? • Consider the strategies that are effective for you. • Consult with three other collaboration experts. Record suggestions. • Return to home tables and share. • So What? Which strategies do you plan to try? Carol Koechlin 2009

39. New Skills of a Participatory CultureNew Media Literacy Project – White Paper • Play • Performance • Simulation • Multitasking • Distributed Cognition • Collective Intelligence • Judgment • Transmedia Navigation • Networking • Negotiation Carol Koechlin 2009

40. The BIG THINK • Elevates projects • The product isn’t the end, it is the beginning! • Transform learning into something new • Collective knowledge building Bottom line –Build on student understanding to keep the thinking flowing! Carol Koechlin 2009

41. BIG THINK Strategies • Conduct active discussion • Present a problem • Challenge with a new question • Invite students to create new questions • Write about larger ideas, concepts and process of learning • Collaboratively build charts, diagrams, maps etc. • Interact with an expert • Play/ Create/ Innovate • Take action • Take part in the real world Carol Koechlin 2009

42. BIG THINK about unit content • So What? • What are the important ideas we explored? • What does this tell us about the topic? • What does this mean? • What new understandings emerge? • What Next? • What new questions do I/we have? • What else do we want to explore? • How can we use what we know to do better next time? • What action can I/we take? • How can I/we make use of this new knowledge in the real world? Carol Koechlin 2009

43. Content Example Who deserves the ‘Book of the Year’ award? • So What? What makes a book great? • What Next? How can we promote our favorite reads? Carol Koechlin 2009

44. BIG THINK about unit process What strategies did we use to learn? How did these strategies work for us? Which worked well or didn’t work well and for whom? • So What? Could we have learned more in the time we had? Are we all getting better as learners? • What Next? How can we use our findings to improve as learners? Carol Koechlin 2009

45. Process Example Do collaborative Web 2.0 writing environments enhance quantity and quality of production? • So What? How does our writing measure up to traditional writing standards? How does writing change in Web 2.0 environments? • What Next? How do learners feel that writing should be assessed in Web 2.0 spaces? Carol Koechlin 2009

46. Well designed assignments: Build character development • Curiosity and wonder • Responsibility • Motivation and effort Meet the learning needs of today’s students • HIGH THINK • Challenge and innovation • Teamwork • Global citizenship • Authenticity Carol Koechlin 2009

47. Our BIG THINK • How do we ensure that assignments build understanding and Learning 4 Life? So What? • At your tables develop criteria for best assignment design What Next? • Develop action plans for collaboration and documentation Carol Koechlin 2009

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