Constructivist Learning with differentiated instructional practices & classroom management

Constructivist Learning with differentiated instructional practices & classroom management CED605 Unit 4 Harvey Hoyo, Ed.D. Course Custodian National University – Orange County

Where are we now? • ASCA National Model • Learning • Instructional Strategies • National Guidance Standards • RTI Interventions

Chapter 7: Your Students Want Active, Authentic Learning • Authentic Learning = learning that students recognize to be important in order to develop into capable, knowledgeable adults. • From the Wisconsin Center on Organizing and Restructuring, standards for authentic instructional methods should emphasize higher-order thinking, depth of knowledge, connectedness to the world, and substantive conversation…

What is Constructivism? • A paradigm based on observation and scientific study -- about how people learn. • People construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. • When learners encounter something new, learners have to reconcile it with previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what is believed, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. • Learners are active creators of their knowledge. • Therefore, learners must ask questions, explore, and assess what they know.

A Constructivist School Counselor in the classroom • In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. • Key is to understand the students' preexisting conceptions, then guide the activity to address them and then build on them.

Constructivist Activities • Encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves, they become "expert learners." Students learn HOW TO LEARN. • You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences, students find their ideas gaining in complexity and power, and they develop increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information.

Constructivist ViewYour main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection process. .

Counselor’s Constructivist Lesson Design • Students control their own learning process, and they lead the way by reflecting on their experiences. This process makes them experts of their own learning. • You create situations where the students feel safe questioning and reflecting on their own processes, either privately or in group discussions. • You create activities that lead the student to reflect on his or her prior knowledge and experiences. Talking about what was learned and how it was learned is really important.

Constructivist Lessons • Rely heavily on collaboration among students. - Students learn about learning not only from themselves, but also from their peers. - When students review and reflect on their learning processes together, they can pick up strategies and methods from one another.

Differentiated Instruction • A process through which the facilitator enhances learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment • Allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students’ needs. • Variance occurs in the way in which students gain access to the content being taught (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003).

Three Ways to Differentiate • Content • Process • Product for students • Either one, two, or all three- as appropriate

1. Content • A change in the material being learned by the student. . . - If the character lesson objective is for all students to find examples of honesty, some of the students may be learning to use a topic sentence and supporting details, while others may be learning to use pictures from a history book to defend their viewpoint.

Process • The way in which the student accesses material. - One student may explore a learning center while another student collects information from the web.

Product • The student shows what he or she has learned by developing a product. - Differentiation of product refers to the way in which the student shows what he or she has learned. For example, to demonstrate understanding of the term empathy, one student may create a skit, while another student draws a stick figure graph.

Differentiation- Responding to student needs • Students’ readiness • Students’ interest • Students’ learning profile.

Readiness • The skill level and background knowledge of the student. • Diagnostic assessments to determine students’ readiness.

One Readiness Strategy • KWL: - What do you know? - What do you want to know? - What did you learn?

Interests • Topics that the student may want to explore or that will motivate the student. - Ask students about their outside interests - Include students in the unit-planning process.

Learning Profile ● Learning style (for example, is the student a visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learner) ● Grouping preferences (for example, does the student work best individually, with a partner, or in a large group) ● Environmental preferences (for example, does the student need lots of space or a quiet area to work).

Sample Strategies- Multiple Levels of Questions - Adjust the types of questions and the ways in which they are presented based on what is needed to advance problem-solving skills and responses. - Ensures that all students will be accountable for information and thinking at a high level and that all students will be challenged. - All students benefit from this strategy because all can learn from a wide range of questions and responses.

In a classroom settingQuestioning - Tips • Use wait time before taking student answers • Adjust the complexity, abstractness, type of response necessary, and connections required between topics based on readiness and learning profile • Encourage students to build upon their own answers and the answers of other students • If appropriate, give students a chance to talk to partners or write down their answers before responding

Discussion Questions promoting higher-level thinking • With Bloom’s Taxonomy - Higher Levels: Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application

Bloom’s EVALUATION • making value decisions about issues • resolving controversies or differences of opinion • development of opinions, judgements or decisions • do you agree that ...? • what do you think about ...? • what is the most important ...? • place the following in order of priority ... • how would you decide about ...? • what criteria would you use to assess ...?

Bloom’s SYNTHESIS • combination of ideas to form a new whole • what would you predict/infer from ...? • what ideas can you add to ...? • how would you create/design a new ...? • what might happen if you combined ...? • what solutions would you suggest for ...?

Bloom’s ANALYSIS • subdividing something to show how it is put together • finding the underlying structure of a communication • identifying motives • separation of a whole into component parts • what are the parts or features of ...? • classify ... according to ... • outline/diagram ... • how does ... compare/contrast with ...? • what evidence can you list for ...?

Bloom’s APPLICATION • problem solving • applying information to produce some result • use of facts, rules and principles • how is ... an example of ...? • how is ... related to ...? • why is ... significant?

Discussion Questions promoting higher-level thinking • Bloom’s Lower Level Thinking Processes - Comprehension - Knowledge

Bloom’s COMPREHENSION • interpreting • translating from one medium to another • describing in one's own words • organization and selection of facts and ideas into a graph • Retelling the concept in the student’s own words.

Bloom’s KNOWLEDGE • remembering • memorizing • recognizing • recalling identification • recalling information • who, what, when, where, how ...? • describe

Flexible Grouping • Work as part of many different groups depending on the task and/or content. • Placed in groups based on readiness, other times based on interest and/or learning profile. • Groups can either be assigned by the counselor or chosen by the students. • Students can be assigned purposefully to a group or assigned randomly.

Flexible Grouping • In a career unit, the counselor may allow groups based on student interest in particular occupations, but assign students to their assessment inventory based on their general reading ability.

Flexible Grouping Tips • Ensure that all students have the opportunity to work with other students who are similar and dissimilar from themselves in terms of interest, readiness, and learning profile • Alternate purposeful assignment of groups with random assignment or student selection • Ensure that all students have been given the skills to work collaboratively • Provide clear guidelines for group functioning that are taught in advance of group work and consistently reinforced.

Flexible Grouping GuidelinesCalling the groups back together • Signals: - raise your arm; students do likewise - switch off lights • Transition: - Prior to starting – announce transition points, with given timelines, & directions

Compacting • The process of eliminating teaching or student practice due to previous mastery of learning objectives.

Compacting • Involves a three step process: - assess the student to determine his/her level of knowledge on the material to be studied and determine what he/she still needs to master -createplans for what the student needs to know, and excuse the student from studying what he/she already knows -create plans for freed-up time to be spent in enriched or accelerated study

Compacting • For example, a ninth grade class is learning to identify the learning support systems of the school. • Diagnostics indicated that four athletics already received the info from their summer training camp. These students are excused from completing the identifying activities, and are focused on post-high school learning opportunities for athletes.

Compacting • Thoroughly pre-assess the learner’s knowledge and document findings • Explain the process and its benefits to the student • Create written plans and timelines for study • Allow student choice in enrichment or accelerated study

Managing Classrooms • KEY Principle: consistency, a sense of fairness, and courage. • Understand the psychological and developmental levels of your students.

Classroom Management Techniques for the Counselor • Focusing = demand student attention before you begin. • Wait and don’t start until everyone has settled down. • A soft spoken voice often has a calmer, quieter classroom than one with a stronger voice. Students sit still in order to hear what you are saying.

Classroom management Techniques: Be organized • Uncertainty increases the level of excitement in the classroom. • Outline what you and the students will be doing this period with whatever limits announced. • Consider including time at the end of the period for students to do activities of their choosing or those assigned by their regular teacher. You may finish the description of the hour’s activities with: “And I think we will have some time at the end of the period for you to chat with your friends, go to the library (2 students only), or catch up on work for this class.”

Managing a classroom: monitoring • Circulate. Get up and get around the room. As students are working, make the roundschecking on their progress. • Make a pass through the whole room about two minutes after the students have started a written assignment providing individualized instruction as needed. • Students who are not yet quite on task will be quick to get going as they see you approach. Those that were distracted or slow to get started can be nudged along. • Do not interrupt the class or try to make general announcements unless you notices that several students have difficulty with the same thing. • Use a quiet voice and your students appreciate the personal and positive attention.

Managing Classrooms: Modeling • “Values are caught, not taught.” • Be courteous, prompt, enthusiastic, in control, patient and organized provide examples for students through your own behavior. • If you want students to use quiet voices in your classroom while they work, you too will use a quiet voice as you move through the room helping students.

Managing Classrooms: non-verbal cues • A standard item in the classroom of the 1950’s was the clerk’s bell. A bell sat on the teacher’s desk. With one tap of the button on top he had everyone’s attention. • Use facial expressions, body posture and hand signals. Take time to explain what you want the students to do when you use your cues.

Managing the classroom: Feeling Tone • Students enjoy interacting with you – interact with as many as possible; it shows you know them. • Students like to know about you and your interests. Share a little about yourself. • Have a quiet place where you can steer youngsters needing less interaction. Let them get their work done first and then come back to enjoy the rest of the lesson.

Managing the Classroom: Low-Profile Interventions • Most students are sent to the principal’s office as a result of confrontational escalation. • Caution not to reward the misbehaving student by becoming the focus of attention. • While monitoring, anticipates problems before they occur. If your approach to a misbehaving student is inconspicuous., others in the class are not distracted.

Managing Large Groups • Direct Verbal Techniques • Indirect Verbal Techniques

Managing Students in Large Groups: Direct Verbal Techniques - Modulating voice to draw attention to you - “Johnny, would you please stop talking to your neighbor and look directly at me.” - Asking disruptive student a question - Walking near the disruptive student - Praising others exhibiting on-task behavior

Managing Students in Large Groups: Direct Verbal Techniques • Request disruptive student move closer to you • Giving the student a warning to discontinue disruptive behavior • Giving on-task students a raffle ticket for a future drawing • Withdrawing a privilege (e.g. snack time) • Placing student on time-out • Ignoring off-task behavior

Managing Students in Large Groups: Indirect Verbal Techniques - Praising student when following directions - Friendly reminders to entire group about being good listeners - Redirecting the entire group to assigned task

Managing Large Groups • Non-verbal techniques to address disruptive behavior: - Direct eye contact (50%) - Walking near the disruptor while continuing with lesson (30%) - Silence (for a few moments during lesson until student discontinues) (20%)

Constructivist Learning with differentiated instructional practices & classroom management