Chapter 6 is a great tool for the textbook analysis assignment, so I am glad to have read it before I started looking into textbooks. I will definitely look back to the Textbook Feature Analysis on page 184 as I analyze my textbook. Questions 2-5 will help me assess areas that I had not previously put any thought into - sidebars and pull boxes, typography, color, and symbols and icons. While reading a boring text with just black and white print can be boring, too much color, symbols and sidebars can be overwhelming. While looking through the text i will think about what activities would work well with the text, if any.
However, what I really want to talk about is Chapter 7, "Building a Community of Learners." I first want to start with PBIS because I think when they threw it in the text it was a little confusing. PBIS is part of what is called MTSS, Multi-Tiered Support System which includes both PBIS and RTI. PBIS is used in many schools in Rhode Island, all of which have been trained by members of the Sherlock Center here at RIC. From all of my almsot 4 years as a college student and zero years of being teacher, I think D&Z did a poor job discussing it. They threw it out there and say "We certainly hope this is not just another fad or mandate to be piled onto teachers, however." Research has shown PBIS to be effective in the schools in which it is implemented. Tier 1 is universal, for all student sin the classroom. At this tier, students collaborate with each other and their teacher and devise a system or procedure for the classroom. Students have a say in how they conduct their classroom expectations and environment. This is a crucial aspect in creating a community that establishes success, belonging, and value before students can establish academic belonging, success and value. For student who express excessive problem behavior, supplemental intervention is applied in tier 2, which may include checklists, behavior systems or a check-in, check out system. In order for students to work well together in an academic setting, respectful behavior must be established early on with each other and the teacher. PBIS offers that opportunity and so much more.
Now I've cleared that up for myself, I like the five points they mention that help teachers build a community in the classroom. High school is so much a social sphere as it is academic. Some students may be timid to ask questions in fear of looking dumb, or may not try their hardest because its cooler to look like you don't care. Developing a classroom where all students feel safe to ask any question and work to their full potential will not only aid them right here and now, but in the future as well in college and their future careers. I particularly liked the idea of "using jigsaw activities in which small groups of students give presentations to help the rest of the class learn about various aspects of a topic. Students dive into the material, while practicing teaching and presentation skills and helping their peers in an academic setting.
Connecting learning with students' lives and larger issues around them is also extremely important, not just for building community but for students to understand the importance of what they are learning and how it will affect them outside the walls of the classroom.
More comments on your and Alisha's blogs! Can't stop, won't stop. (Everyone else waits until after the weekend and at that point I want to be on to other classwork).
ReplyDeleteI did not know what PBIS was (thanks for explaining it), and you are right D&Z glossed over it. Their comment about hoping it was not a fad to be piled on teachers was less of a knock on PBIS and more of a straight dig at the Gates Foundation and its incessant armchair pedagogy backed by truckloads of cash.
The safe learning environment should be highly valued but it often does not occur, even in college. Though I'm not sure what he did, Dr. Brell somehow created the best environment I had ever seen when I took FNED 346. It might have just been a good group of students in that class, but I suspect it was something he did because I was far more willing to participate and the same seemed true of the others. Unfortunately I was not looking for whatever he did when I took the course, so I cannot reveal his secrets. I will have to ask him one of these days.
Hi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI’m on the same page as you when it comes to analyzing textbooks— a balanced combination between color and attracting sidebar information is best! I think that you bring up a great point about considering these features when analyzing the textbook of our choice for the upcoming assignment. It’s important to reflect on these textual elements, because they can either enhance or detract from the reading process. Make sure that the material is somehow related to the topic at hand in a meaningful way, and hopefully the information will be fun and exciting for the students to think about.
I really appreciate how you clearly explain PBIS and its implementation in many RI schools. In a couple of my courses thus far, I’ve briefly examined the PBIS system. I’m glad that I read your post tonight, because I just touched on PBIS in my SPED 433 course earlier this evening (so my mind was refreshed and ready to take on your post!). I think that you offer clarifying information about PBIS and its three tiers; the first being universal, the second targeting a smaller group of students, and the third providing extra intervention for the few needing it. Thanks for sharing a thoughtful, passionate post with us! I agree that Jigsaw activities are effective tools for getting everyone engaged and interacting as they “dive” into important material and help each other in an academic setting. Do you have any ideas about how to create this welcoming atmosphere filled with opinions and critical questioning?