Conceptual Understanding (Julie Stern)- Chpt 4

This post is connected to a PRSD8 book study with a group of colleagues from across the district. It is based on Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding written by Julie Stern, Krista Ferraro, and Juliet Mohnkern. Here is a link to the Padlet where the full conversation is happening.

https://padlet.com/MrsKannekens/io3wjfwoxn3x

While chapters 2 and 3 are full of tidy little strategies that seem to say to me, “You can do this!”, chapter 4 gets into the realm of needing to find that ‘just right’ conceptual question, at which point I get overwhelmed.

The part of the chapter that really struck me was the MIRROR on page 89 (Secondary):

“ many teachers worry about the amount of time that instruction for conceptual understanding takes, especially compared with traditional instruction. We used to think that the depth of study into a concept and corresponding topics inevitably meant that we had to spend more time with fewer topics, which was scary. But the better we got at teaching this way, we realized students learn more factual content because they actually remember what they’ve learned and are able to make insightful connections throughout the year demonstrating a depth of understanding.

Page 89 (Secondary)

The authors then talk about confronting the myth that if we cover the material (eg. tell students something or go over it in class), they will learn it. And I do agree that as a high-school teacher I have often, when students can’t seem to grasp or remember, fallen into the false thinking that the answer is just to better break it down step-by-step. This, of course, leads students to not be real learners but instead to become reliant on spoon-feeding. And perhaps because it looks like learning has happened when the pages look so well thought-out and put together in the students’ binders that we convince ourselves to carry on in this manner. Shifting direction and jumping (or falling) into the abyss of Concept-Based learning seems so uncertain and risky and messy.

Yet, as I am convinced that we really need to shift to teaching our kids to really think, instead of just regurgitate and recall long enough to spit back out for a test, we need to jump into that messy bog. Since I don’t currently have my own classroom, I have been fortunate to have this conversation around planning and implementing Concept- Based shifts with colleagues across the district. For some it is implementing the chapter 2 and 3 strategies (easier) but for other brave souls, it has been working together to try and implement a Concept- Based shift.

One such example has been with Ingrid Dekker’s grade 8 Social Studies class in Burdett. Our provincial grade 8 Social curriculum circles around the big concept of “World View”, which certainly does lend itself to conceptual framing. Although it has felt boggy and messy at many points, there have been some incredibly engaging conversations as we connect Japan to Russia to the Middle Ages – beliefs, customs, connections to the environment, political power… And then there is this somewhat related side project where we’ve been researching Man Made Wonders of the World for a writing and research project ~ and wouldn’t you know, there has been so much linking and cross-over because we’ve been asking precise questions (see image below) and having the big discussions, not just memorizing definition and gathering facts.

Conceptual Understanding (Julie Stern)- Chpt 3

This post is connected to a PRSD8 book study with a group of colleagues from across the district. It is based on Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding written by Julie Stern, Krista Ferraro, and Juliet. Mohnkern. Here is a link to the Padlet where the full conversation is happening.

Link to book study Padlet

I have to start off with the words that I’ve written in my book each time I’ve heard Julie speak (page 63/ page 83 Elementary?): Students are really bad a transferring (so we need steps). Strategies 7-10 are actually direct ways that teachers can teach their students ABOUT the process of concept based teaching in two words: UNCOVER –> TRANSFER. I’m learning that this direct teaching of the PROCESS is so important; it is something that I’ve often neglected as a high school teacher, as I assume that someone should have taught this by now.

I’m finding that chapter 2 and 3 are the most used part of my book – I find that I’ve been using the strategies from these chapters most often. Here are some thoughts on several of these strategies (from the Secondary edition):

Strategy 1: Individual Journaling – This is such a simple way to engage in thinking and responding to a CONCEPTUAL question. Figure 3.1 has several question types.

This can be a fairly quick writing task in a journal, but here are some other ways to make the learning accessible and contiuous:

• use a digital journal space like Seesaw. This gives students the option to not just type a response but substitute or add a voice or video recording. This makes this type of activity accessible for young learners, ELL Learners, or as a differentiation for students who have great ideas but struggle with the physical writing/typing process. In Seesaw, it is also possible to extend to an annotated response by adding photos, drawings and labels
  • an added bonus is how easily teachers can then share and discuss responses on screen
• use Flipgrid; once again, it improves entry points for young ‘uns, ELL learners and struggling writers – but it is a great platform for all students to gain practice and confidence in oral speaking skills. More importantly, Flipgrid allows for a back and forth conversation, as students can respond to each other’s initial responses
  • Amber P – I hope that you’ll tell our study group how you’ve been using this Flipgrid response process with you 3rd grade students
  • again, Flipgrid has the bonus of watching student responses as a class in quick succession

Strategy 2: Four Corners – I occasionally use this as debate strategy in high school Social Studies. I like the idea of offering this as a method for discussing multiple choice options. Although it does get students physically moving, if your class is large, I also find that are always shenanigans occurring in the deep corners by students who are less engaged. The multiple choice option might allow for quicker discussions and more movement.

Strategy 3: Take a Stand, Then Divide and Slide – My Social Studies brain is all over this, but it is just such a great TWEAK to turn any subject area into a Concept Based activity. It helps us focus on the concepts, instead of just minutia of content.

Strategy 4: Gallery Walk With Chalk Talk – The “Chalk Talk” routine comes from Making Thinking Visible – a book by Ron Ritchhart et. al. (Many of us attended his PD session in Lethbridge in November.) Benefits include getting students physically moving, giving a voice to each student, and encouraging thinking and responding to deeper conceptual issues.

Strategy 5: Concept Attainment – If there was one strategy that could really transform our classrooms into conceptual thinking spaces, this is it. The downside is that this powerful strategy requires considerable pre-planning in order to have the right examples in place for the powerful learning to occur.

Strategy 6: SEEI Presentations (State, Elaborate, Exemplify, Illustrate)– Interestingly, this is the strategy that I’ve heard about most often as being employed by high school teachers after they’ve read this book or attended PD. (eg. EBHS physics teacher, Brandon Robinson, and psychology teacher, Shylohdawn Bonogofski) Imagine how it shifts the typical high school class experience of passively “copying notes” into an active, engaging activity that produces greater understanding.

Conceptual Understanding (Julie Stern)- Chpt 2

This post is connected to a PRSD8 book study with a group of colleagues from across the district. It is based on Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding written by Julie Stern, Krista Ferraro, and Juliet. Mohnkern. Here is a link to the Padlet where the full conversation is happening.

Link to book study Padlet

The title of Chapter 2 really made me stop in my tracks: “How Do We Establish a Culture of Deep Learning?” In our role as Instructional Coaches, this is one of things that Cathy and I ponder often. Perhaps it is even our GREAT QUEST. In general, many of our schools and teachers are quite traditional in their approach to teaching and learning. We still have lots of the ol’ … “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it mentality.” It’s been a challenge to get teachers to realize that:

1. Yes, it is broken; we are not creating the kinds of learners and thinkers that will be well adapted to future employment realities, and then

2. We need to shift and tweak our teaching away from a “linear” regurgitation model to a thinking model.

So this chapter 2 reminds me again that we will not all get to conceptual-based teaching easily (or ever?) But all teachers can start to make tweaks to their instruction that move them toward being thinking classrooms. Part of our Deeper Learning division plan has been to provide opportunities for staff to learn about these shifts toward thinking classrooms:

• a focus on teaching and using with protocols; We have often shared this Protocols document from EL Education
• PD opportunity in Lethbridge with Ron Ritchhart, author of Making Thinking Visible ; We have been featuring his strategies in our monthly newsletters and linking to his website These are strategies that teachers can try out in their current instructional model – without have to turn their lessons upside down. I think that this is an important starting place to offer junior and senior high teachers
• district-wide PD with Julie Stern – although the shift to teaching for conceptual understanding seems overwhelming, perhaps her book breaks it down into more manageable bits
• copies of Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding for all staff; Since many of our teachers don’t read “education books”, how do school leaders leverage these books at their sites? Maybe starting with the strategies in chapter 2 is a good idea?
• our newly released #PRSD8pdbingo has bingo squares that encourage teachers to try some Deeper Learning moves such as using protocols

This is certainly a start, but there is a big gap between providing information and learning opportunities and having people implement. The strategies listed in chapter 2 of the secondary book offer a good place to dig in and get started. Strategy #4 (pg. 33 secondary) is a strategy from the Ron Ritchart PD: “I used to think…. but now I think…” I had recently discussed this strategy with Gayle from New Brigden as a tweak to bridge to Deeper Learning; she used it the next day with her grade 1-5 combined class after a presentation on snowmobile/quad safety and was blown away by its impact:

https://twitter.com/NBSchoolPRSD8/status/1202442823259156480

Strategy #2 (pg. 31 secondary) is the use of Intellectual Journals – journals where kids think and write about their thinking. As many of our schools adopt the use of Seesaw as a digital portfolio, this is one of the uses that they are most excited about – having students write about, or just audio record, the thinking that went into an assignment and how they are growing as thinkers.

For other strategies, Stern suggests direct teaching of lessons to highlight the shift in thinking: #5 (Contrasting Traditional Learning with Conceptual Learning, #6 (Building Common Concept-Based Language), and #8 (Simple Versus Sophisticated, Static Versus Dynamic Ideas).

This gets me to thinking: are these lessons that Cathy and I should develop and offer to team teach or co-teach with interested teachers?

I can see this especially at the junior/senior level based on the lesson suggestions she’s given. Are there similar lesson-type strategies for teaching students to think conceptually in the elementary edition? Would co-teaching these with a coach be beneficial? (This is a pretty common coaching model that we haven’t used as much in Prairie Rose.)

School Leaders – are some of these strategies places where you could provide instructional leadership for our staff?

Book study colleagues – let me know what you think about these ideas!

Conceptual Understanding (Julie Stern)- Chpt 1

This post is connected to a PRSD8 book study with a group of colleagues from across the district. It is based on Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding written by Julie Stern, Krista Ferraro, and Juliet. Mohnkern. Here is a link to the Padlet where the full conversation is happening.

The concept of teaching for Conceptual Understanding is certainly compelling. Any teacher who has taught for a few years realizes that students come into a year without remembering lots of the facts and ideas from previous years. This would suggest that our current methods -often focusing on facts – are not “sticking”. On page 12, Stern points out that our current curriculum design models stop at the topical level – topics and facts are locked in time, place, and/or situation. On page 15, she discusses what is so familiar to my high school experience: “By the time they reach middle school, they have been conditioned to retrieve knowledge on cue without deep understanding. But we continue to expect transfer.” In fact, I think this is often where we are tempted to give up and say, “They can’t do it.” “It’s too hard to teach this way.” And our most academic students aren’t currently interested in the deep understanding –> they just want to know what to memorize (safely) so they can get that top score and move on. So developing conceptual understanding at this level will be tough on teachers because there will be resistance.

On page 16 (secondary) there are several important reminders for me:

• academic transfer -from one school assignment to another –> this does not take learning far enough to stick
• transfer to real world situations or problems – how they solve problems beyond ‘teacher-constructed parameters of academic exercise’ –> this is the real goal

Like Dawn, I find even thinking about the creation of unit plans in a Conceptual Understanding framework to be daunting. The biggest hurdle in my mind is finding the RIGHT question. I think if someone just gave me a question, I could bumble through the rest, but so much seems to depend on the question (p.26 “questions can make or break a unit). Fortunately, there are some helpful question starters in the Secondary book on page 24 and 25. And I kind of thought that there was ONE question/unit but p.25 suggested that a unit at the secondary level (depending on unit length/grade) should have 5 to 9 statements.

Impactful quotes

quote p. 1 (Bruner, 1977) – “Grasping the structure of a subject is understanding it in a way that permits may other things to be related to it meaningfully.”

scary quote from page 22 – “….Concept-Based unit planning: It is hard work! The complex interplay among content, questions, concepts, and skills in a Concept-Based unit makes planning tough.”

Trying Something New: Padlet for Digital District Wide Book Study

Last fall around this time we tried our first ever district-wide digital book study. Our school district is vast, so providing regularly scheduled Professional Development is challenging. Yet, I fully believe that there is so much power in learning and studying together that I am always looking for ways to facilitate this.

Each teacher in our district got a copy of this book at our district-wide PD Day ~ an easy choice for a book study!

In our first attempt, we used one of my favourite, versatile, edtech tools, Flipgrid, as our platform. There were some brilliant moments, but like in almost every scholarly book study I’ve been a part of, attendance waned at the end. As we were trying something new, we gathered post-study feedback into the process (read about it here), and while most people got over their video issues for posting on Flipgrid, many participants did not love that aspect – being on camera – and this was evident in our post survey.

So, during sign up for the new study, I included a question about preferences: do you prefer to type or make a recording for your responses? While most participants indicated that they could endure video posting if they had to, the majority wished to be typists. So, to honour these wishes, I knew I should find a sharing platform other than Flipgrid. Even though you can record a video without ever showing your face, the mention of recording on Flipgrid makes some teachers uneasy so the search was on.

As I am an edtech junkie, I did consider making the book-study a co-study in fun edtech learning tools. Why not post to a different platform every week to help teachers and administrators get a taste for all of the possibilities out there? But alas, sense prevailed and I chose a single platform:

Padlet

Padlet is one of the earliest tools in the edtech space. Fortunately, it has done a remarkable job of morphing to meet the capabilities of newer tools (read about that here). It is often criticized in recent times as it has drastically reduced its free capacity. Fortunately, perhaps because I have been a user for at least 8 years, I have seemed to retain more free capabilities, so it makes so much sense to use it for this purpose.

So, why Padlet for a book study?

• users can post their response by typing, audio or video
• users can also add a picture of a page/diagram/image and comment on it
• there is a drawing canvas that users might choose?
• we will be colour coding the types of posts (green: study info; blue: initial chapter response for each individual; yellow: additional response to peers’ chapter responses)
• there is a comment space connected to each post so that we can generate feedback and conversation; typists will use this comment space; those who prefer to audio or video comment will make a new post and colour it yellow
• there is a “like” button – our plan is to use it as a “view counter” – as in, yes, somebody has read this post
• users do not need to have an account; they can join the Padlet via link (or QR code) and will just show as ‘anonymous user’

I do have some predictions of user concerns with this platform and will document them here:

• Potential Concern: “The page is too busy.” ~ As Padlet is essentially a single page with posts on it, some readers will feel overwhelmed. Hopefully the colour coding will help, and I have set the newest posts to go to the top, which should also help considerably.
• Potential Concern: “The posts, especially the typed ones, will take up too much space.” ~ Fortunately, you can add links and upload documents to Padlet, so for the long-winder typists, typing ‘off-site’ and adding a link to their Google Drive or other site is a work-around.

In the end, the platform is just one aspect of whether or not a book study is successful. While people’s level of comfort or frustration with “posting” can be a factor to their participation, there are much more powerful forces that typically cause academic book study attempts to fizzle.