Put Away the Tech, Part 2 by Scott Harris

Attend a lecture at a local college or even look around at pictures internet, and you’ll see nearly every student behind their (usually Apple) laptop. They are allegedly taking notes, but research suggests otherwise. 

A 2010 study (Journal of Information Systems Education, v21 n2 p241-251 2010  Examining the Affects of Student Multitasking with Laptops during the Lecture.  Kraushaar, James M.; Novak, David C.) found that students spent 40% of their time on things unrelated to coursework. Ninety percent of students were engaged in unrelated activities for at least five minutes, and 60% were distracted for half of the class.

While colleges can block the internet in lecture halls, few do. This begs the question of why any professor or teacher would allow their students to take notes on computers. Some like Dr. Laurie Santos at Yale, have banned laptops. Yet even she got so tired of students asking for exceptions, that she made an exception. However, they have to apply, and she quarantines them in the cheap seats, where they can’t distract anyone else. (See picture below) 

Dr. Santos teaches “Psychology and the Good Life,” the most popular course at Yale. She knows the research is wildly against taking notes with computers. Taking notes by hand has many benefits. Students can type much faster than they can write, which would seem to be an advantage. Yet when an experimental and control group are set up, the students taking notes by hand did better on conceptual understanding, both an hour later and seven days later.

But the typists did better on detail, surely? No. The hand writers did better on that, too. It seems that you can’t keep up writing by hand is the beneficial part. That you have to evaluate, synthesize and condense what is being said is the very thing that forms memory hooks. Typists can essentially record verbatim what is being said; thus, the integration necessary for memory formation is not occurring. 

Then it occurred to researchers to tell the typists to synthesize and not record verbatim. It had no effect. It seems we just can’t help ourselves. If we can keep up, we will. Typing allows to record without really thinking.

Scott K. Harris teaches The Moral Sciences: A.P. Macroeconomics, A.P. Psychology, and Philosophy. He holds a B.A. in History/Psychology and a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership. He has also taught U.S. History, World History, International Baccalaureate’s Theory of Knowledge, and coached swimming and water polo. He piloted curriculum for Stossel-in-the-Classroom and is an associate producer for izzit.org.  

Put Away the Tech, Part 1 by Scott Harris

While I use technology in my classroom, I pride myself on conducting a fair amount of our learning “old school.” 

We write rough drafts by hand, creating word webs, outlines, and other pre-writing on notebook paper. I can then give feedback in real time, and together, we create a wonderfully organic document, from which something beautiful emerges: a clear, concise thesis. 

An endangered species on many campuses, the clear thesis is often discovered accidentally. One way to discern whether a student really knows how to write a solid thesis is, after having written their first paragraph, ask them to underline their thesis. Many aren’t certain, and point to one thing or another, looking for confirmation. I don’t give it. They need to think more about the topic, about what they want to say. They should be able to tell me what they want to say. 

Many point to something so vague that it does not separate itself from any anti-thesis. Or the student in Gifted/Talented English comes with a complex, multi-faceted first paragraph that could really be an outline for a book. They are so used to being praised for such writing that they are often shocked when I tell them that this paragraph won’t work at all. 

When I ask them to underline their thesis, they’re unsure not because they don’t know, but rather because they have managed to squeeze three viable theses into an opening paragraph! When I tell them to pick one, they really don’t want to, because “issues are more complex,” etc. “Do you know what’s not complex?” I ask. “A thesis.” 

When student finally learn to write a clear, concise thesis – and a methodology for doing so – they find it liberating. Too often they’ve had to stumble across a thesis nearly a page in, or had to respond to writing prompts without developing ideas as much as responding to them. 

Doing all of this by hand is much faster than with technology, allows for arrows and redirects to be made, and is teaching process in a non-linear way. Typing pre-writing on a word processor gives the impression that thought falls forth from one’s head like soldiers marching in columns. 

Once students have written what they want by hand in a solid rough draft, it is time to type it up. One of the benefits of a typed rough draft before the final product is the clarity of thought (or lack thereof) emerges, once messy penmanship is eliminated. Development, connections and refinement are easier to see now. So why not start that way? Because development, connections and refinement are second order concerns. If the ideas and clear thesis are not created first, there is nothing to develop, connect, or refine. First things first.

Scott K. Harris teaches The Moral Sciences: A.P. Macroeconomics, A.P. Psychology, and Philosophy. He holds a B.A. in History/Psychology and a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership. He has also taught U.S. History, World History, International Baccalaureate’s Theory of Knowledge, and coached swimming and water polo. He piloted curriculum for Stossel-in-the-Classroom and is an associate producer for izzit.org. 

Is it an izzit day? by Elizabeth Harris

What do you read when you have no books and a high-school classroom full of struggling readers?

Nearly a decade ago I had to answer that very question as I began a new chapter in my career – teaching English and Academic Literacy at MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas. During the interview process, my principal challenged me both professionally and personally. She explained that my classes would be full of students who need a teacher to see beyond their well-documented disabilities and challenges. Enthusiasm for what you are teaching and respect for the students must be displayed every day. You must believe in them even when they don’t believe in themselves. Can you do that while teaching students who are struggling or resistant learners?

Challenge accepted.

The first week of school brought another challenge that I had not anticipated. My classroom was nearly empty. A few desks and small tables were scattered amidst four white walls, but there was not a single book in the classroom. No books, no bookshelves, not even a filing cabinet.

My search for high-interest, expository texts or current event-based materials began immediately.

During this time, I discovered izzit.org. I was thrilled to find an organization dedicated to providing quality teaching materials. Although the emphasis of the materials is primarily in the economic or government and business realm, the topics readily lend themselves to cross-curricular learning experiences.

In my Academic Literacy classroom, From Poop to Profits becomes a lesson about problem solving, innovation, and overcoming obstacles.

Bee the Change becomes a lesson about learning to take risks in the face of hardship, and the importance of being committed to follow through in order to effect change for your family and community.

Paradox of Progress becomes a lesson about facing change. When is change good? When is technology enough? Or too much? Who decides?

The Singing Revolution becomes a lesson about individual acts of heroism, the power of choice, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Each engaging izzit.org video depicts real people facing real challenges and demonstrates the importance of perseverance and individual choice. My students cheer whenever they see the izzit.org icon. “Is it an izzit day?” is a favorite question.

Whether teaching my struggling readers, students with learning disabilities, or second language learners, izzit.org provides excellent educational resources for teachers that can easily be adapted to teaching any level of secondary students. Teacher guides coupled with quality films and documentaries depicting real world situations provide students with authentic learning opportunities that extend beyond the classroom walls. In my classroom, videos frequently serve as springboards for student-driven, inquiry-based research projects. This type of learning promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and higher level processing as well as collaboration.

Several years ago after reading a current event article from izzit.org titled “Kidneys for Sale”, even my most apathetic student had an opinion. We paired this with a similar article and then viewed a segment of the video from the Drew Carey Project: Vol. 1. My students were engaged and did not stop talking about this topic even as we were ready to move on. So, I changed my lesson plans. Students continued generating meaningful questions and talking with their parents outside of class – about organ donors and organ transplants.

Their momentum carried us from learning about how to become an organ donor to learning which other organs can be successfully transplanted. As students questioned, we expanded our research. The culminating effect that year is that students began to learn why some people need organ donations. And they wanted to do something to help. One young lady challenged her family to begin eating more vegetables and become healthier so that they won’t need organ transplants. Others decided to raise awareness about how to become an organ donor.

Momentum continued and one final project brought all of my classes together in a collaborative effort. Students’ inquiry-based research led them to learn about several diseases such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). When students read an article about a young boy with DMD and learned it is a fatal childhood disease that affects boys, they wanted to do something. Their ideas flowed.

Students planned, developed, and carried out several events on campus and in the community to raise $1,500.00 dollars toward research for finding a cure. Through a grant proposal, students published a calendar outlining their journey and continuing efforts to raise awareness for their cause. Calendars were sent to principals, counselors, and librarians at each middle school and high school campus in our district.

Instead of focusing on their own challenges, this project provided a platform for students to realize their potential and celebrate their ability to impact the world around them. Participation at this level is empowering.

Curriculums may change and textbooks will come and go, but izzit.org current event updates and educational videos remain a constant in my classroom because they provide opportunities for students to grow and learn together

Don't Let Tenses Make You Tense - by Lindell Long

Why do we have tenses? A writer is able to pinpoint time with the use of a particular tense but is it really necessary to know if it’s continuous or a perfect tense? In the English language, we have the simple tenses of present, past and future. The more complicated tenses such as continuous and perfect also have a present, past and future form. Then we add them together and have a perfect continuous which also has a present, past and future as well. Whew!

Now imagine you are from another country trying to learn the English language. All of these tenses can be confusing. Couple the number of tenses with all of the irregularities in the English language and it is understandable why an English Language Learner (ELL) can become frustrated.

If the amount of tenses wasn’t confusing enough, tenses also involve changing the verb! Remember

verb conjugation? While native English speakers take verb changing to be commonplace, many other languages do not change the verb. ESOL students from Viet Nam and China (speaking Mandarin) find changing a verb totally unnecessary and exceedingly strange.

How do other languages express time without changing the verb? Many other languages use indicator words without changing the verb. The indicator word determines when the action happened. For example, some words such as now, before, after, yesterday, tomorrow and today indicate when something happened or will happen. Additional words such as just, already, since, right now and later also serve as indicator words. Vietnamese and Mandarin languages use the context of the sentence to establish time or use an indicator word but not change the verb. While English has indicator words, they are used in conjunction with changing the verb as well.

To help an ESOL student, a cheat sheet or flash cards can be created with a formula for creating the

tenses properly.

                                                    Present                            Past                                       Future

  (progressive) continuous:     can+verb                         was+verb                             will be + verb

    

                           Perfect            have+verb                      had+ verb                             will have + verb

Present perfect continuous   have been + verb          had been + verb                  will have been + verb

As far as changing the verb, the present is the only time all of the persons are not the same. The most difficult form of verb change is the third person singular requiring an “s” or “es” ending. This is very difficult for many students to understand and remember and the source of many grammatical errors. Games, puzzles and reviews help students remember the change for the present tense. 

Using an indicator word with the tenses will make learning the English language form of tenses a little more familiar for ELL’s. Learning an ELL’s home language grammatical structure can help an ESOL 

student’s teacher understand some of the more difficult concepts to learn and why the concepts are difficult to comprehend. Don’t be tense teaching tenses, chart it out!

Lindell Long teaches ESOL at Clover Middle and High Schools in Clover, South Carolina, a position she’s held for the last 18 years. She’s married with 4 children and so many pets her family fears she’ll bring home a stray yak one day. 

I've been framed! - By Lindell Long

The criminal declares, "I've been framed."  The word has other uses besides planting evidence to incriminate others. We can frame a picture or frame a house. A frame can give structure to build upon. Have you thought about framing a sentence? 

Many of my ESOL students need a framework to form a proper sentence, especially in the early stages of English acquisition. The order of our words within sentences is often different from the order of words in sentences in a student's home language and a frame is an easy support for helping the student express himself.

Many times a student is required to write about cause and effect. This assignment could be for science, health or a literature assignment.

Giving the student a framework helps flesh out the sentence so the student can concentrate on the words that make a cause and effect sentence.

I was ____(sick)__________so I ____(stayed home)___.

I feel ____(sick)___because____(I ate a lot of candy)____. 

The ___boy_____ did/did not ____pass___ because he did/did not study.

In order to ____(win)_, you might have to ___(train harder)_______.

Because of _( high winds)__,the roof came off during the ________

(hurricane)_.

The words inside the brackets are examples of words students might use to fill in the blanks – the framework. Notice that the sentences are all framed to provide cause and effect examples.

Frames can be used in any subject. Think of social studies and the causes and effects of war. Frames help express the results of science experiments or the motives for the protagonist and antagonist and the results of their actions. Frames are very versatile.  

To aid an ESOL student or any struggling student, a word bank could be added to the sheet with the terms of the lesson.

Lindell Long teaches ESOL at Clover Middle and High Schools in Clover, South Carolina, a position she’s held for the last 18 years. She’s married with 4 children and so many pets her family fears she’ll bring home a stray yak one day.

Do you wanna help?

Teachers, we need you!

For more information, email Susan Gable Director of Educational Curriculum at: opportunity@izzit.org.

Writing Across the Curriculum by Love Merryman

How do you teach 7th grade students to write a five paragraph essay? You give them something to write about.

When newcomers arrive in St. Marys, a coastal city in South Georgia, their initial reaction often is, "This place is fabulous!" The residents here love their country and are dedicated to life in the United States, largely because Kings Bay Naval Base is located there. At least 40 percent of our students' parents are connected in some way to either King Bay or the naval base in Jacksonville, FL, just thirty miles away. Our students frequently have unique life experiences, having moved here from Spain, Italy, or other U.S. locations such as San Diego, California, Washington, or Hawaii.


Such diverse backgrounds elicited strong, informed opinions when the class began discussing American- made versus internationally-made products. Should we participate in the global economy extensively or just buy American? That was the impetus for excitement when the class viewed Free Trade, a wonderful izzit.org video. Taking the enthusiasm of seventh graders, and applying it to the five-paragraph essay assignment for all students was almost delightful when presented in segments.

First, the students watched the video, identifying important parts about trade and economy. Their discussion included comments about raw materials, transportation of materials, wages of workers, buildings for manufacturing, and tariffs. They noticed how Hong Kong, now part of China, had grown economically because of its free trade policy. They heard from Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman, who discussed myriad factors affecting economic decisions in countries such as Estonia.

After brainstorming, they began the first leg of their assignment:"Write a paragraph about manufacturing a 'Made in the USA' product." The next day students shared their paragraphs and the conversation naturally led to production in a global economy. The second leg was to "Write a paragraph about producing and selling a product in a global economy," and the students had to look at the experience from a different perspective.

When they returned the next day, they were excited to share their writing and compare their results. They did an excellent job articulating their differences. Thirteen-year-olds were discussing their cell phones and the multitude of countries in which the parts may have been made. Next, the real body and writing challenge  began: "Choose a position, either American-made or globally produced and give at least four reasons to support your argument." Then a brave student asked, "What if I can't choose?" I suggested that if he couldn't, he should present at least three reasons for and against each perspective.

The next day again was spent sharing the delightful, informative paragraphs. And the information learned was resonated in the writing of the students: "A global economy could lead to more interdependent societies/countries, thus WORLD PEACE."

Not only had they watched an interesting and informative video, but they also had created the body for their essay and only needed to add an introduction and conclusion. Have you ever seen seventh graders excited about writing across the curriculum? I have, and they had something important to say!

Thank you, izzit.org!