Transcript Document

SOCIAL LEARNING
Group Collaboration
Prepared and Presented by
Julie Love
Fellow, North Star Writing Project
2006
Social Learning, Explained
 “Youngsters must be shown how to get
involved with the ideas on the page –to
laugh, cry, hoot, holler, scream, ridicule, or,
perhaps, more quietly, to reflect, to
appreciate, to judge. We can teach these
things, not merely by assigning a number
of pages to read but by reading,
discussing, reflecting, questioning, and
probing for answers –all these with the
students” (Alm, 1957).
A New Hat
I once had time to discover with
children…I now assign it for
homework.
I once saw beauty that inspired
me to learn…I now read
words about it.
I once knew the names for the
flowers of the field…I now
yank out weeds on the
weekend.
I once took walks by the
hour…I now say,
“Tomorrow….”
Handout
LETTER BRAINSTORM AND ROUGH DRAFT
– do not concern yourself with conventions
Personal - 2 minutes
In the space below, introduce yourself by sharing some basic
information such as the size of your immediate family and
current living situation. State where you live and how long
you’ve lived there.
Professional – 3 minutes
Now, include details about your educational work experience either
as a student and / or as a teacher / administrator. Describe
your current position as an educator.
Experience – 4 minutes
Write steadily for three minutes about your personal experience with
small groups. Consider your personal learning style and
comfort level within small groups such as planning
committees, staff development, and continuing education
courses. If you are a teacher, how often do you schedule
small group learning activities?
Others’ Ideas – 10 minutes
While in small groups, introduce yourselves and jot down each
others’ first names (make it a goal to try to use them in
conversation). Initially, try taking turns and using the
information you wrote for “personal” and “professional” above.
Once acquainted, discuss the “experience” level by recording
each others’ responses on this sheet and then transferring
your group’s conclusions to the plain-sided piece of the puzzle.
Corporately, decide how to share this information with the
whole class.
Inside Address
Name
School / or street address
City, State, Zip
Date
Salutation
Dear Julie,
Body – type in four paragraphs, indenting each paragraph and
leaving space between each paragraph.
Paragraph one – personal information
Paragraph two – professional information
Paragraph three – personal experience with small group
learning activities
Paragraph four – goals, ideas, and future plans for the use of
social learning
Closing
Sincerely,
Print name (place
signature in the space
above).
Personal
I am an almost-empty nester. I live with my
twenty-year-old son, east of Denton in a
house my husband and sons built. We live
close to Lewisville Lake, though not on the
lake. My husband of thirty-two years teaches
at Baylor in Waco and lives there Sunday
night through Friday night. Our youngest, a
daughter, attends Baylor. Our oldest son is
married and lives in Dallas.
Our family has moved around a good deal.
We’ve lived in this current house for five
years. Prior to Denton, we lived in Plano,
Malaysia, Austin, California, and Lubbock.
Professional - Past
I began college at Texas Tech University in Lubbock when I was eighteen. I
quit after two years when my husband graduated and we moved to
Austin.
I completed a thirteen-month certification program in dental assisting at
Austin Community College. I worked in the medical help profession for
seven years.
My husband and I began our family in 1982, which is when I decided to
become a stay-at-home mom.
I began my re-emergence into the field of education when my middle son
experienced emotional trauma in kindergarten.
I home schooled both my middle son and my daughter for five years,
eventually working with all three children for two of the five. My children
and I were involved in a very active Austin home school community
group.
I enrolled in 1997 at Collin County Community College in Plano with no idea
about where I was going and what I was going to do; I just knew that I
was hungry for an education. I was forty years old.
I graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a
Certification in Secondary Education, 2001. Aside from the births of my
children, this was the proudest day of my life. I was forty-four years old.
Professional - Present
Currently, I teach tenth grade English at
Denton High School. In my five years of
teaching English at DHS, I have taught all
levels but twelfth grade.
Research Support
 “Assigning more writing, using less response,
and using more praise doesn’t mean leaving out
all criticism or lowering standards. Students
need the experience of writing a great deal and
getting minimal low-stakes response because
they tend to associate writing with criticism and
high stakes. If we are not so much teaching
writing but rather using writing to promote
learning, it makes particularly good sense to use
lots of minimal and low-stakes response”
(Elbow, 2000).
Research Support, cont.
 “Teachers who value the child’s present
conceptions, rather than measure how far
away they are from other conceptions,
help students construct individual
understandings important to them” (Brooks
and Brooks, 1993).
Research Support, cont.
 “As we order these books and create
these choices, we may have to remind
ourselves that literature circles are
independent or recreational reading.
During this special part of the day, we are
not working at kids’ instructional level but
their fluency level. Simply: in literature
circles kids must be reading books they
can read” (Daniels, 2002).
Research Support, cont.
 High schools must be more personal. The
approach needs to change from a more teacheroriented to a more student-centered one (18).
 Key Principles…out of eleven
 “Learning environments should be personalized.
 Students should be constructing meaning rather than
being filled up with information.
 Faculty should teach kids first and subjects second”
(Daniels, Bizar, and Zemelman, 16).
Research Support, cont.
 “Does the teacher respect us as learners? Does
the teacher care about what she is teaching?
Does the teacher work to involve us in the
learning?”
 This question, stimulated by the “best practice”
of the National Writing Project (Summer, 2006)
and a publication featured during that session,
prompted a decision to monitor students’ interest
through active letter-writing (Peterson, 2004).
Your Turn
Complete the LETTER BRAINSTORM AND ROUGH
DRAFT attached to your handout. As you hear the
timer sound, move the to the next section. READY…
WRITE…2 minutes…
3 minutes…
4 minutes…
NOW…
Others’ Ideas
Small Group Time – Visually, locate the area
marked with the stationery clipped to your
packet handout. Move to that location and
sit as a small circle, with your seats turned
so that you are facing each other. First,
introduce yourselves. Then, discuss the big
concept of social learning. READY…
MOVE…10 minutes…TALK…
For Your Consideration…
What do you personally think
about social learning? What
is your personal learning
style?
Discuss specific activities and
experiences you’ve had with
social learning, such as
planning committees, staff
development, and continuing
education courses.
Discuss anticipated and actual
outcomes. Surprises?
Disappointments?
Were there physical challenges
and difficulties?
Let’s put it together…
 3 minutes…Summarize your group’s
findings in a collaborative effort.
Plan to do things differently…
I began the 2006 – 07 school year with a
plan. I attended the North Star Writing
Project determined to learn some different
strategies for reaching my students. My
biggest concern grew out of the apathy I
observed in my students for reading, with
very few reading for pleasure, many more
choosing not to read at all. Another
concern was the growing difference
between ability levels among my students.
My Plan…
 Students will work in small groups often,
at least once a week.
 Implement (adapting when needed) as
many NSTWP strategies as possible
with my students.
 Work closely with NSTWP mentors,
particularly second semester when
classes would be opened for
observation and research.
Objectives
 Build community
 Diminish anxiety, especially
in area of writing
 Increase student choice,
especially in area of reading
Successful Activities / Student
Exemplars
 Letter writing – student to teacher, beginning of
semester one, end of semester one, midsemester two
 Personal narrative paper – informal presentation
to class
 Personalized journals – established “Quiet
Write” at least once a week (often more), and
used daily for personal planning, etc.
 Students’ choice – personal poetry study and YA
novels for literature circles
Discoveries…
Students need to walk and
write and talk and interact
in order to learn.
I cannot control this process
every minute; it will get
noisy sometimes.
Students’ lives are rich and
valuable; they need to
discover the gold hidden
inside.
I need to let go and let them
learn; I might recapture
the spirit of discovery I
have been missing.
Handout - Stationery
Using the colored print
paper included in
your handout packet,
write me a personal
letter.
Feel free to use the
letter format
provided.
References
Alm, R. S. 1957. Teaching reading is our business. English
journal. 46.1, 11 – 19. Qtd. in English journal. 2007.
English journal. 96 3, 11.
Brooks, J. G., & Brooks, M. G. 1993. The case for
constructivist classrooms. In search of understanding.
Alexandria, VI: ASCD.
Daniels, Harvey, & Bizar, M., & Zemelman, S.
2001. Rethinking high school. Best practice in
teaching, learning, and leadership. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.
References, cont.
Daniels, Harvey. 2002. Literature circles. Voice
and choice in book clubs & reading groups.
Portland, MN: Stenhouse.
Elbow, P. 2000. High stakes and low stakes in
assigning and responding to writing. Everyone
can write. New York: Oxford University Press.
Peterson, Art. 2004. “Digging deeper: teacher
inquiry in the summer institute demonstration.”
Internet: The Voice.
I’m not going to be like everyone else; I’m
just going to have to be myself.