Stretching the Brain

 It is a good thing to come out of your comfort zone and grow as a person.  Sometimes I fight it because I don't want the challenge but I am a much better person as I reflect on what I just went through.  As a teacher I am constantly being placed out of my comfort zone for my own growth.  Adding another tool to my tool belt.  At the same time I am asking my students to do the same.  Why?  Because I know it is for their own good.  I know that they will grow, learn, and become better than when they started in my class.  I can see the whole picture.  I see the potential, I establish the expectation, and I use my tools to get them to the goals they set.  My tools are my instructional models I can use interchangeably depending on my students, and our environment.

One tool is the Concept Attainment Model.  In Instruction: A Models Approach by Thomas Estes and Susan Mintz, it explains that this type of teaching instruction helps students to categorize their thinking by comparing and contrasting examples (p. 62).  Some items to be categorized can be relatively simple such as an apple or banana.  

FRUIT

Winsap      Gala      McIntosh       Jazz      Fuji

As students become older they can learn more abstract concepts in the same model.  "...students can learn the important distinctions between examples and non examples-allowing development for more sophisticated ideas and generalization." (p. 63).  I would use the more abstract concepts for my gifted and talented students.  One of the goals in the gifted and talented program is to expand the higher level of thinking and to have my students know how to be able to use their reasoning skills with deductive and inductive reasoning.  A great lesson on how to use the Concept Attainment Model is from "Cult of Pedagogy":

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/concept-attainment/

I just love how straight forward it is with the examples and non examples used for this model.

Another tool for instructional strategies is The Concept Development Model.  "Concept development moves beyond the definition to inferences that are not observable" (p. 83).  To be able to infer is a difficult concept for many students to understand at first.  What exactly is inference?  This website explains what it is and how to teach it to students: 

https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/inference

My gifted students seem trained to be the first ones to answer a question or solve an equation, but when I ask open ended questions from a book that doesn't necessarily give them the answer they struggle to know what to say.  They'll say: "Mrs. P, that wasn't in the book!"  I often explain that inferring is the message in-between the lines.  What it is saying without saying it.  Once, my students understand how to do this our group discussion become incredible.  In the Concept Development Model the teacher is usually the guide/facilitator to provide the opportunity for students to link those concepts (p.84).  I've also mentioned how important differentiating is in my past post and it still holds true to me as a teacher.  "The concept development model is inherently differentiated-it means a variety of student needs in the way it is structured and implemented" (p.91).

The next tool I want to write about is the Cause-and-Effect Model.  As a gifted and talented teacher my role is to guide and facilitate my students to that higher level of thinking.  I don't teach a ton of new subjects, my students come to me for enrichment in subjects they've already mastered.  But I still could use this model for my small groups I just honestly don't use it very often.  "The cause-and-effect model begins by examining a specific situation and ends by generalizing about courses of action in similar situations" (p. 99).

This next model is one I use more often and that is the Cooperative Learning Models.  It's perfect for my small groups.  The main part of this model is that students get that face-to-face interaction.  Here they can explain how to solve problems, share information, and make those connections with their prior knowledge (p. 184).  In this model there are four different learning models: jigsaw, graffiti, academic controversy, and student teams-achievement division.  In the jigsaw model for cooperative learning there is an expert group and a learning group.  I use this type of model when I set up my Literature Circles.

One students is the "expert" for that week of our reading.  It can be the discussion director or creative connector.  They become the expert in that area while reading our book then the next week they come together into that learning center and teach their group what they found while reading through that lens.  This website provides more detail here about how to hold literature circles.  

https://www.inspiredelementary.com/literature-circles-101/

I find that through these literature circles, my students are following the cooperative learning model and are using that higher level of learning.  "Many studies have shown that when correctly implemented, cooperative learning improves, information acquisition and retention, higher-level thinking skills, interpersonal and communication skills, and self-confidence" (p. 201).

The last tool I want to talk about is the Inquiry Model.  Typically this is used in science based studies but I have found I can use it when my students do their genius hour projects.  My students research their chosen topic, they will introduce their process and present the problem or project.  Next, they will gather data, create a visual, explain, analyze and evaluate their projects.  The only thing we don't use from the Inquiry Model is the hypothesis portion.  I like this type of instructional tool because I see my students interests and work ethic become more personal to them.  They want to learn more because they have chosen it for themselves.  The Inquiry Model creates the shift from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards (p.211).

See, there are so many tools in my tool belt to use for whatever purposes my students need.  I hope you can come to find one instructional strategy that you have found to be most useful to try in your own classroom.  Come out of your comfort zone, explore, and learn alongside your students.  It much more rewarding.

References

Estesm H., Thomas.  Mintz, L., Susan.  Instruction: A Models Approach Seventh Edition.  2016. Pearson Education, Inc.

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/concept-attainment/

https://www.inspiredelementary.com/literature-circles-101/

https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/inference

Direct Instruction "In Learning You Will Teach, and In Teaching You Will Learn"

I am on a journey that has multiple roads I must go down at the same time.  One road of my journey is being a Gifted and Talented Teacher.  Another road is leading me down my aspirations of coaching.  My other road is my path to study and earn my Masters degree.  These roads don't mention my personal journey I am on as well.  Some days I would love my journey to be a Netflix and Chill kind of routine.  But, I am grateful for the opportunity to be stretched and continuously learning in this chapter of my life.  My classes bring subjects and content of things I might not have had the motivation to learn on my own.

I have been a part of the classroom for many years.  I have incorporated many types of models of instruction for each classroom and matched it to my students needs.  I learned what type of learners they were: visual, auditory, verbal, physical, logical, social, and solitary and which teaching instruction would give my students to best path to learn.  This infographic of 7 Different Types of Learning Styles Infographic summarizes each type of learning style.

https://elearninginfographics.com/7-different-types-of-learning-styles-infographis/

Also, in the book Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong, he gives teachers fountain of information on the importance of teaching with different techniques to reach all students learning intelligence.  He states: "MI theory makes its greatest contribution to education by suggesting that teachers need to expand their repertoire of techniques, tools and strategies, beyond the typical Word Smart and Number/Logic Smart abilities predominantly tapped in the U.S. Classroom."  I have also, and still am, refining my teaching style.  There are so many amazing teachers out there who actually share there art with other teachers like me and I just can't get enough.  I am a firm believer that I should continually improve myself as a person and educator, stay out of my comfort zone, and keep striving for greatness.

My focus today is on one of the instructional models, Direct Instruction.  This type of model is one of the most commonly used by teachers in our teaching instruction.  In Instruction: A Models Approach by Thomas H. Este and Susan L. Mintz it summarizes that the goal for our students is to have clear targets, diagnostic testing, realistic goals, tasks in single steps, positive reinforcements, and good records (pg. 43).  As we teach with direct instruction we are able to teach a targeted goal of what was learned, what is to be learned, and guided practice with independent practice to further student mastery skills and understanding.  After that process it is impetrative to review the new content and provide corrective feedback.

Since Direct Instruction has multiple steps to guide our students to understand learning. not all students learn the same way as I have previously suggested with multiple intelligences.  Also, not all students learn at the same level which is why differentiation is so important for student engagement.  I usually differentiate direct instruction to fit the needs of my gifted students.  In a general education classrooms there must be differentiating since student learning is on so many various levels.  My gifted students meet in small groups of about 4-14 students.  There is still differentiating within these groups of giftedness.  The book Instruction: A Models Approach the direct instruction strategy is to:

1. Have flexible grouping which allows students to practice new knowledge and skills with peers of similar interest, skills, and achievement.

2. Produce various questioning based on the learner's readiness, experiences, and interest (pg. 55).

The questioning comes from the well known: Blooms Taxonomy.  It coincides with exactly what I want to accomplish and the strategies to get my students to think in certain ways.  It is adaptable in many ways so I can teach my gifted students at the higher level they need.

As for Gifted Students I focus on an enrichment approach with an emphasis on the analysis, evaluating, and creating from Blooms Taxonomy.  My students quickly gain understanding of new materials so they need to spend more of their time on analyzing, and evaluating.  Naphtali Hoff reiterates the importance of differentiation...  

Direct Instruction also has a certain routine for students.  It shows repetition, the ability for teachers to fix mistakes so students can correct themselves, teachers use signals, and involved questioning.  My school district has recently adapted the ECRI program into our primary grade levels.  The repetition and routine is what makes this a successful adaptation for primary students learning the sounds of letters, forming their words, and decoding.  Research has shown that repetition gives the student the ability to remember what is being taught.  APL nextED shared an article encouraging the importance of repetition which says: "Repetition is a key learning aid because it helps transition a skill from the conscious to the subconscious."

Focus and Repetition

ECRI

My gifted students are a part of ECRI repetition and routine but come to their groups with me to enhance their knowledge and focus on the advancement levels with their needs once a week for a 30-45 min.  I've used many different instructional models but when I do use Direct Instruction I spend more time on the independent practice.  This is where I monitor my students using their new skills, oversee what they create, design, demonstrate, and how they creatively invent other various creations.  I know my students do not need as much time going over new content but what they do need is the enriching activities where their minds connect the new skills they've learned.  My students are producing what Seymour Papert, a well known advocate for children's learning process, has established as "constructionism".  In Invent to Learn by Sylvia Libow Martinez, and Gary Stager, Ph.D. they mentioned that constructionism is the students learning as a reconstruction rather than a transmission of knowledge.  Also, that students can extend an idea with manipulative materials to construct a meaningful product. (p. 35-36).  My students are being makers, tinkers, and engineers and I am there to direct them.  Direct Instruction can be a powerful tool for students to master new skills.  What can be even more empowering for students is, as teachers, know what their learning styles are and create a direct instructional model that fits each students' needs.

"We believe in kid power and know that teachers hold the key to liberating the learner." -Invent to Learn

References

https://elearninginfographics.com/7-different-types-of-learning-styles-infographis/

APL nextED.  2020, March. Focus and Repitition in Learning.  APL nextED.https://aplnexted.com/focus-and-repetition-in-learning/#:~:text=Repetition%20is%20a%20key%20learning,time%20and%20gradually%20becomes%20easier.&text=Additionally%2C%20spaced%20repetition%20is%20also,skills%2Dbased%20and%20factual%20knowledge. 

Armstrong, Thomas.  2018.  Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom.  ASCD.

ECRI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrbAIxfDfY

Estesm H., Thomas.  Mintz, L., Susan.  Instruction: A Models Approach Seventh Edition.  2016. Pearson Education, Inc.

Hoff, Naphtali. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw7VAgYctTI&t=52s

Martinez, L., Sylvia, Stager, Gary Ph.D.  2019.  Invent to Learn.  Construction Modern Knowledge Press.