FLEXIBLE GROUPING PROJECT - Blog Post #1

Welcome to your "Partnership for School Success" with Rowan University.  This blog is designed to serve you, for the remainder of this school year, as we consider how to meet an array of learning needs via flexible grouping. 

At our first workshop, you experienced FLEXIBLE GROUPING via 3 stations "21st Century Skills" style:

1. Communication and Collaboration  (for a supportive learning community)
2. Creative Thinking
3. Critical Thinking (critically thinking about Bloom's Taxonomy and LOTS to HOTS)

Let's begin by looking at these 3 areas in relation to your own classrooms.  You have classrooms full of children with a myriad of differences and an array of learning needs.  Different needs and challenges can often be extremely frustrating for a teacher who has so many curriculum learning outcomes that are also needed.  How can you transform yourself into a teacher who looks at your different students and says, "Not right! Not wrong! Just different!"?
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It starts with a decision... a mindset... and then the willingness to create "A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY" for all students. When a teacher addresses differences via his/her instruction, it creates "A Land of Opportunity" for students. You may watch this video via this link .
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"A Land of Opportunity" is a SUPPORTIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY! 

1.  A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY IS FULL OF COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION:

It can be exhausting with all the needs of your students and the challenges of teaching content while addressing their needs. You can hardly breathe with the extra demands that you feel are being put on you. The weekend comes and you have individual and family time/responsibilities, and of course, much more work to do to prepare for next week.  I do feel your pain! Let's put bandaids on both heart and head, as we remember to do the same for our students.
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As you look into the eyes of your students, you want them to communicate with you:

• What do they know or not know? 

• How do they learn or not learn?

 

• Why do they do what they do or not do it? 

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You want to be the "all seeing eye"...

...but the enormity of the situation often leaves you bug-eyed!

The secret really is FLEXIBILITY and a whole lot of the 100 - 0 principle. 

Please consider this video link and think of your students as your "customers". 

http://www.100-0principle.com/

The 100/0 principle reminds me of another principle:

• The Q-TIP principle - Quit Taking It Personally

You can give and give and get nothing in return.  Please, do not take it personally!  Collaborate with others to get ideas from and realize that they are going through similar challenges.

To maintain a SUPPORTIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY, you will need to Q-TIP and be FLEXIBLE!

Understand that being FLEXIBLE in your style and classroom management is a must for your "rubberband not to snap".  

A Supportive Learning Community allows for flexible classroom management, communication, and collaboration!

2.  A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY ALLOWS FOR CREATIVE THINKING!

FLUENCY and FLEXIBILTY are the first steps to creative thinking.  Push your students to name as many things as they can think of on a certain topic.  Then, push them to see how many they can name in different catagories or different uses for.  Here are a few activities / links to get you to thinking about incorporating creative thinking in your classroom.

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002783/flex.htm

http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2009/09/creative-thinking-fluency.html

http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2009/10/creative-thinking-flexibility.html

http://www.sanchezclass.com/creativity-activities.htm#fluency

3.  A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY ALLOWS FOR CRITICAL THINKING FROM LOTS TO HOTS!

Blooms' Taxonomy shows how to move from

L ower

O rder

T hinking

S kills to

H igher

O rder

T hinking

S kills 

 Before ever getting to the pinnacle thinking skill of creativity, there is a whole lot of critical thinking that can take place via analyzing and evaluating. 

 http://pinterest.com/lisa77584/bloom-s-taxonomy/



http://ebookbrowse.com/blooms-taxonomy-activities-grades-3-5-pdf-d385978719

Pushing for Higher Order Thinking Skilles includes knowing how to ask the right questions. I continue to observe teachers who ask closed questions... questions that require only a "YES!" or "NO!" answer or a fill in the blank answer. That might be okay for the first step or two of thinking, but not for the rest. Here are some words to get thinking started at a higher level. We'll call them "question starters":

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REMEMBERING

• QUESTION STARTERS: tell / list / describe / relate /locate / write /find / state /name

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UNDERSTANDING

• QUESTION STARTERS: explain / interpret / outline / discuss / distinguish / predict / restate / translate / describe

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APPLYING

• QUESTION STARTERS: use / solve / show / illustrate / construct / complete / examine

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ANALYZING

• QUESTION STARTERS: analyze / distinguish / compare / contrast / catagorize / classify

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EVALUATING

• QUESTION STARTERS: judge / choose / select /justify / debate / verify / prioritize

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CREATING

• QUESTION STARTERS: create / predict / compose / plan / construct / design / devise / formulate / imagine

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How about our emphasis with technology? Have you tried hooking Bloom's with technology in these ways?

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