Written Connections to Baggio, Clark, Dervin:
Dervin:
The information in the Dervin reading was full of ways that related to and can be used to improve and change the way I help my students make sense of the information they are expected to learn. My job is to help facilitate the making sense of information, and if I can better understand how my students use the information I provide to bridge the gap from not understanding to understanding then my students success rate will increase. The way that lessons are scaffolded to break up information into smaller and more understandable pieces supports Dervin’s statement that “discontinuity is a fundamental aspect of reality.” I see this meaning many things, but one idea that came to me from this quote is that when teaching an overarching topic, one must break down the complex pieces before being able to coherently and proficiently understand how they fit together and how they relate. This happens consistently in both subjects that I teach. Other connections that I see in this reading is the idea that information that we may see as an observer is a direct assumption, while getting information from the actor (or consumer, or student) is much more accurate, and can guide them through the gaps in a much more efficient rate as assumptions lead to limited results. Another connection I saw was that our experiences dictate our world and our reactions, this is why teaching a class full of students is so hard to do, as many different experiences, ideas, and assumptions as all my students have, I have my own experiences, ideas and assumptions. This leads to divergent thought processes. For example, just factoring in the different strategies my 6th graders have for multiplying two digit numbers based on what they were taught in their varied elementary schools coupled with the advice their parents gave them while practicing their math facts can be quite a mix of steps and strategies. Understanding their sensemaking strategy is sometimes my biggest job while teaching, and bringing in my students awareness of sensemaking and the gaps they must bridge is essential for them to see how consistent and gritty they need to be in order to master the content each year of school.
Baggio:
The three short chapters in Baggio were quick reads and really enjoyable because they were relatable and useful to my teaching practice. Chapter 4 focuses on prior knowledge. One of the hallmarks of a great lesson is a hook that gets students' attention, and many a time that hook incorporates prior knowledge so students can integrate what they already know by using familiar ideas to add this new information to. Since the brain has already made these connections before, it is easier to understand this new information by going down the same path. Since most people are visual learners it reinforces the fact that sensemaking of content is aided by pictures, graphs, and charts. Incorporating visuals into lessons is not only just good teaching, it gives all students a leg up in understanding the content (especially written words) and is one of the ways that a teacher can help students bridge the gap while keeping cognitive load at an ideal amount.
Clark:
Narrowing down the reason behind having a training is just as important in the classroom as in the business world. Identifying what you want the end objectives (or what people will be able to do at the end of the training) helps to serve as a backwards planning method that will save time and effort in the long run. The 4 ingredients of instruction mirror the stages a teacher takes to plan a lesson or a unit. The content in the training must be reviewed by doing a pre assessment of trainees (students) to optimize the information and the time (our most valuable resource). From that pre assessment the trainer can then design the specific information taught. If there is an issue, specific struggle to be targeted, this will help inform instruction. This first step in the process is how I identified my research topic in semester 1 of this program. I realized a key struggle and then set out to discover a possible solution. The type of struggle, or information that needs to be taught will influence the methods of instruction, and the level of taxonomy that is being presented.
Key Ideas session 4:
Baggio Chapters 7-9
“Align the learning intention with learners attention”
Organize Visuals to be read left to right
Less is more in visuals
Have clear objectives and provide visuals that align with those objectives by knowing the learner, have objectives match the visuals.
“Content is king”
Mix up the display every few slides
The form attracts the attention
Things exist in a relationship with each other
Cultures have an influence on perception of visuals
Audience imagination is powerful
Input/Process/Output (these three steps are sense making)
Humor detracts attention
Clark Chapters 3-6 Core Ideas
Questions:
How can I create visuals to guide my students verbalization recording?
How talking yourself through the steps can help bridge the gap?
How can visuals help structure verbalization?
How can organizing and structure help or hinder sense making?
What visuals can help bridge gaps in understanding math word problems?
There are multiple steps in 6th grade math, how can visuals or verbalization or a combination of both help make sense of how to solve problems?
Since concept discrimination is the primary skill that determines if someone can do a job correctly, how can I take visuals to help my students make sense of what math procedure they should use to solve a problem correctly?
Dervin:
The information in the Dervin reading was full of ways that related to and can be used to improve and change the way I help my students make sense of the information they are expected to learn. My job is to help facilitate the making sense of information, and if I can better understand how my students use the information I provide to bridge the gap from not understanding to understanding then my students success rate will increase. The way that lessons are scaffolded to break up information into smaller and more understandable pieces supports Dervin’s statement that “discontinuity is a fundamental aspect of reality.” I see this meaning many things, but one idea that came to me from this quote is that when teaching an overarching topic, one must break down the complex pieces before being able to coherently and proficiently understand how they fit together and how they relate. This happens consistently in both subjects that I teach. Other connections that I see in this reading is the idea that information that we may see as an observer is a direct assumption, while getting information from the actor (or consumer, or student) is much more accurate, and can guide them through the gaps in a much more efficient rate as assumptions lead to limited results. Another connection I saw was that our experiences dictate our world and our reactions, this is why teaching a class full of students is so hard to do, as many different experiences, ideas, and assumptions as all my students have, I have my own experiences, ideas and assumptions. This leads to divergent thought processes. For example, just factoring in the different strategies my 6th graders have for multiplying two digit numbers based on what they were taught in their varied elementary schools coupled with the advice their parents gave them while practicing their math facts can be quite a mix of steps and strategies. Understanding their sensemaking strategy is sometimes my biggest job while teaching, and bringing in my students awareness of sensemaking and the gaps they must bridge is essential for them to see how consistent and gritty they need to be in order to master the content each year of school.
Baggio:
The three short chapters in Baggio were quick reads and really enjoyable because they were relatable and useful to my teaching practice. Chapter 4 focuses on prior knowledge. One of the hallmarks of a great lesson is a hook that gets students' attention, and many a time that hook incorporates prior knowledge so students can integrate what they already know by using familiar ideas to add this new information to. Since the brain has already made these connections before, it is easier to understand this new information by going down the same path. Since most people are visual learners it reinforces the fact that sensemaking of content is aided by pictures, graphs, and charts. Incorporating visuals into lessons is not only just good teaching, it gives all students a leg up in understanding the content (especially written words) and is one of the ways that a teacher can help students bridge the gap while keeping cognitive load at an ideal amount.
Clark:
Narrowing down the reason behind having a training is just as important in the classroom as in the business world. Identifying what you want the end objectives (or what people will be able to do at the end of the training) helps to serve as a backwards planning method that will save time and effort in the long run. The 4 ingredients of instruction mirror the stages a teacher takes to plan a lesson or a unit. The content in the training must be reviewed by doing a pre assessment of trainees (students) to optimize the information and the time (our most valuable resource). From that pre assessment the trainer can then design the specific information taught. If there is an issue, specific struggle to be targeted, this will help inform instruction. This first step in the process is how I identified my research topic in semester 1 of this program. I realized a key struggle and then set out to discover a possible solution. The type of struggle, or information that needs to be taught will influence the methods of instruction, and the level of taxonomy that is being presented.
Key Ideas session 4:
Baggio Chapters 7-9
“Align the learning intention with learners attention”
Organize Visuals to be read left to right
Less is more in visuals
Have clear objectives and provide visuals that align with those objectives by knowing the learner, have objectives match the visuals.
“Content is king”
Mix up the display every few slides
The form attracts the attention
Things exist in a relationship with each other
Cultures have an influence on perception of visuals
Audience imagination is powerful
Input/Process/Output (these three steps are sense making)
Humor detracts attention
Clark Chapters 3-6 Core Ideas
- Procedures are defined steps to complete a task and are linear or branched
- Concepts have specific features or characteristics and are more efficient than facts because you can have a mental representation of a concept.
- A process is how something works (flow, systems, phenomena) and gives people a better understanding of why they do certain procedures or why they need to know certain facts.
Questions:
How can I create visuals to guide my students verbalization recording?
How talking yourself through the steps can help bridge the gap?
How can visuals help structure verbalization?
How can organizing and structure help or hinder sense making?
What visuals can help bridge gaps in understanding math word problems?
There are multiple steps in 6th grade math, how can visuals or verbalization or a combination of both help make sense of how to solve problems?
Since concept discrimination is the primary skill that determines if someone can do a job correctly, how can I take visuals to help my students make sense of what math procedure they should use to solve a problem correctly?