Diversity

In an effort to close the achievement gap between students in poverty and students not in poverty, teachers need to start connecting classroom content with the lives of their students. Not only is that connection important, but teachers also have the responsibility to ensure that their students can function in our social and economic society. This includes students from all races and financial backgrounds. Derek Bok from the Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University gives some suggestions on how college level teachers can effectively teach in racially diverse classrooms. His suggestions can also be applied to classrooms of all ages.

Suggestions for Teaching in Racially Diverse Classrooms (pdf)

Check out the entire online document.

Education Related Websites

Diversity in the Classroom


Africana.com
http://www.africana.com
This encyclopedia site features African and African-American history and covers a vast number of topics, informative articles, multimedia presentations, and community rooms.


ESL Resource Center
http://eslus.com/eslcenter.htm
This site provides thematic units as a feature that integrates native listening materials in the RealAudio format. It is recommended for secondary teachers and students.


Ask Asia
http://www.askasia.org/
This site offers an expanded Teacher’s resource section on Asia, with lesson plans, maps, photographs and other exciting examples. The student section comes with articles and maps.


Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students
http://www.carts.org
Traditional arts and folklore are provided on this site for teachers and students. There is a Regional Resources section that is considered the highlight of the site.
Organizations


Academy for Educational Development
http://www.aed.org


Activities Integrating Math, Science, and Technology Education Foundation
http://www.aimsedu.org


Best Practices in Education
http://www.bestpraceduc.org

Exploring Technology and School Reform
http://www.ecs.org/


National Academy of Sciences
http://www.4nas.edu/nas/nashome.nsf


National Association of Bilingual Education
http://www.nabe.org


National Alliance of Black School Educators
http://www.nabse.org


National Center to Improve the Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media, and Materials (NCIP)
http://www2.edc.org/NCIP


National Dropout Prevention Center
http://www.dropoutprevention.org

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Funding Sources


FastAID
http://www.fastaid.com
Scholarships for instructional use.


Grant Opportunity Resources
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/grants
A good collection of links on finding money and writing proposals.

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Lesson Plans


Academy Curriculum Exchange
http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/
Lessons plans in Language Arts, mathematics, social studies, science and miscellaneous are offered for elementary through high school grades.


Arithmetic Lesson Plans
http://mathforum.org/arithmetic/arith.units.html
This a great site for lessons plans for arithmetic!


Hands-On Technology Program
http://www.galaxy.net/-k12
This site includes a collection of activities that has a list of material, provides instructions and teacher notes on categories such as Physical Science, Life Science, Earth Science, and Math for grades 1-6.


Awesome Library
http://www.awesomelibrary.org
There are 22,000 links on this site. Each main category in this library has lesson plans that include links to other lesson plans.


Teacher Talk Forum-Lesson Plans
http://education.indiana.edu/cas/ttforum/lesson.html
This site offers links to lesson plans in 20 different areas of home economics, icebreakers, reasoning, and conflict resolution.


Printable Worksheets
http://www.kidsdomain.com/grown/links/Printable_Worksheets.html
Links to materials that are good for developing independent work skills can be found on this site. Language Arts


Booklist
http://www.ala.org/booklist
From the American Library Association, the online companion to the Booklist magazine. This site offers reviews for children and adult books, media, and reference materials.


Cool Word of the Day
http://www.edu.yorku.ca/wotd
This website provides a “cool” word for the day and its definition. This is a fun way to build vocabulary skills, daily.


Wordsmyth
http://www.wordsmyth.net
This is an online dictionary and thesaurus designed for upper-elementary to college levels. A discussion board is also offered for engaging conversations.


Create Your Own Newspaper
http://crayon.net
This is a great way to supplement your writing program. Create Your Own Newspaper provides downloadable links to authentic newspaper and broadcast stories and allows for creativity and experimentation with the art of journalism.


Phonics Room
http://members.aol.com/phonicsrm
This site has activities organized by “most” of the alphabet.


TeenLit.com
http://www.teenlit.com
This is a wonderful forum for teen writers to publish their work, review and discuss other books. This site is maintained by two Michigan teachers.

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Mathematics


Appetizers and Lessons for Math and Reason
http://whyslopes.com
This is a good site for teaching students basic math concepts, reinforcing learned skills, and providing time fillers for end of the period activities.


Brain Teasers
http://www.eduplace.com/math/brain


Flashcards for Kids
http://www.edu4kids.com/index.php

Everyday Mathematics
http://www.kent.wednet.edu/curriculum/math/edmath/

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Science


An Inquirer’s Guide to the Universe
http://sln.fi.edu/planets/planets.html
This is a wonderful site to build student interest in the universe. Information on space, science fact and fiction, and writing about space is included. There are also suggestions on how classroom teachers can use the instructional guide.


Ask Dr. Science
http://www.ducksbreath.com
As Dr. Science is a humorous, yet not quite scientific, site where Dr. Science answers your science questions, such as why doesn't’t a boiled egg turn vaporous.


Ask Science Questions
http://www.sciencepage.org/question.htm
This sight provides links that enable you to send science questions to be answered by scientists. Questions can be posed to Antarctic Experts as well as Volcanologists.


Dinosauria
http://www.dinosauria.com
Although this site is more suitable for secondary level students, children at all levels enjoy the pictures. This site features a number of interesting dinosaur images.


Electronic Zoo
http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm
This is a huge repository of animal information. The Zoo is organized by animal, and clicking on an animal gives you a long list of links to related sites on the Web. Also featured are veterinary information and animal organization information.

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Music


Bulletin Boards for the Music Classroom
http://www.musicbulletinboards.net
Great bulletin board ideas, many categories such as boards to teach, seasonal boards, ideas on boarders, student brag boards and many others.


KIDiddles
http://www.kididdles.com
The “musical Museum” section of KIDiddles contains a list of hundreds of children’s songs in alphabetical order. A message board comes with this site that allows you to ask for help if you cannot remember a title, just some lyrics.


MusicKit: The Virtual Music Classroom
http://www.musickit.com
This is a good site that offers strategies on teaching music, integrating music into the curriculum, and sample activities for kids. Includes planning guides, lesson plans and classroom resources.


Science of Sound
http://www.galaxy.net/-k12/sound
This site includes 17 activities about the relationship between sound and animals, and music and communication in general. Includes experiments with instructions, materials and teacher notes.

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Read an Excerpt from Eric Jensen's Super Teacher

Not all learners process information in the same way. As a whole, our schools are designed for the “average” student - not the student who is the square peg in the round hole. Countless learners have been labeled “troublemakers” when, in fact, they are simply learning by divergent thinking.

Eric Jensen in “Super Teaching” talks about “matchers” and “mismatchers” and how our system is generally set up for “matchers”. “Matchers” tend to:

“Mismatchers” tend to:

“Mismatchers” are not being negative or obstinate for the sake of being difficult, nor are they trying to prove you wrong; they are merely processing information in the way that is natural for them to do so. “Mismatchers” do, however, pose particular challenges in the classroom (unless you recognize this as their learning style and have a strategy for dealing effectively with it). The good news is that “mismatchers” are not particularly difficult to identify.

Key points for dealing effectively with “mismatchers”:

Other points in Eric Jensen’s information below deals with:

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Diversity & Differences

Taken from:
Super Teaching. Eric Jenson. The Brain Store, In. San Diego, Ca. 1998

"Learners aren’t navel oranges being prepared for market on a conveyor belt; learners are, rather, as diverse as all the produce in the world.  To prep them adequately, we must tend to them individually and with respect for their differences."

Eric Jensen

Learners Who March to a Different Drummer

This chapter is about the student who is exceptional; that is, they catch our attention because they are not your “average” learner - the square peg in the round hole phenomenon.  The educational conveyor belt moves quickly.  Teachers have only so much time in the course of a school day; and students who don’t move along at the pace expected of them, often feel lost and lonely and uncared for.  They may be gifted learners who are bored with the standard.  They may be learners who process information differently.  Or perhaps, they’re dyslexic.  Chances are that their difference, whatever that is, if not attended to sensitively will manifest as a classroom discipline problem.  This learner is less likely to feel comfortable in a traditional group setting, and less likely to get good grades.  This does not mean, however, that the exceptional learner cannot succeed in school.  It probably does mean, however, that you will have to shift your point of reference when judging this learner’s abilities and progress.  Learners aren’t navel oranges being prepped for markets on a conveyor belt; learners are, rather, as diverse as all the produce in the world.  To prep them adequately, we must tend to them individually and with respect for their differences.

Matchers and Mismatches

Our brain tends to either match up information input with familiar data, or it mismatches it, looking for what’s different.  Or, more often than not, it functions somewhere along a continuum between the two processes.  The degree to which a student learns by noticing similarities versus differences is highly individual.  Virtually no one does either type of information processing 100 percent of the time, but tendencies do exist.  About 50 percent of Americans match and mismatch evenly – they do both with the same frequency.  On the other hand, about 10 percent of the
American population mismatches constantly.  And about 40 percent are habitual matchers.

The degree to which a society or culture matches or mismatches is culturally reinforced.  In some countries, like Japan, it’s simply bad etiquette to mismatch, so you have a nation which has a high percentage of matchers.  In Israel, on the other hand, you have a majority culture that encourages questioning and critical thinking: thus, mismatchers make up a high percentage of the population there.  Because Australia was used as a penal colony by England, it has a higher percentage of mismatchers to a small degree than other countries.  The “California greener grass syndrome” also influences the balance of matchers and mismatchers in a particular area.  For example, those who tend to emigrate are mismatchers, “different thinking: individuals who are comfortable with change.  This is partly the phenomenon that has influenced California’s diverse self-selected population.  In America, more matchers live in the Midwest than in any other part of the country.  On the other hand, states with relatively high percentages of mismatchers include Vermont, Oregon, California, and Washington.

Matchers likely work at the same job for years, keep the same friends, eat at the same restaurants, and do many of the same activities year-after-year.  It would not be uncommon to hear a matcher make generalized statements using words like: everyone, always, we, never, all.

Mismatchers, on the other hand, tend to prefer change over sameness.  They like trying new things, going to different restaurants, taking an alternative route home, and generally experimenting more.  They find exceptions to the rule.  It would not be uncommon to hear a mismatcher use words like: but, and not always.  If a sign says “No Trespassing,” a matcher will likely obey, while a mismatcher will wonder, “What’s in there?”

Those who are matchers tend to:

 

Those who are mismatchers tend to:

 

Mismatchers are not being negative or obstinate for the sake of being difficult, nor are they trying to prove you wrong; they are merely processing information in the way that is natural for them to do so.  Mismatchers do, however, pose particular challenges in the classroom (unless you recognize this as their learning style and have a strategy for dealing effectively with it).  The good news is that mismatchers are not particularly difficult to identify.

Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar?  You’ve told your class that you’ll be ready to start the next lesson in 10 minutes.  Inevitably, a student raises his hand and says, “It’s been 11 minutes, teacher.”  Or let’s say you’ve distributed a hand-out that contains a misspelling; a student raises her hand and says, “How come this is spelled wrong?”  Or you ask your students to begin an activity and one chimes in, “Why aren’t we doing this the way Mr. Jones’s class did it last year?”  If you say to a mismatcher, “You’ve got two choices”, he/she is surely thinking, “Why not three?”  You might also notice that though most students respect classroom rules, mismatchers often break them.  It is almost as if they are obsessed with trying to find an exception to the rule.  These kinds of responses can drive teachers (and other students) who are matchers crazy if they don’t understand that this is a natural and normal way for some people to filter information and develop patterns.

Key points for dealing effectively with mismatchers:

 

We have probably labeled countless learners, “troublemakers” when, in fact, they are simply learning by divergent thinking.  Think of the question, “Is this person filling the mold (matching ) or trying to break the mold (mismatching)?”  The next time a student says, “Hey, you misspelled a word on this worksheet,” say “Thanks for finding that. IF you’d like, you can be in charge of proofreading handouts.”  Learn to appreciate that mismatchers love to learn, they simply learn by differences, not similarities.

QUOTABLE
We have probably labeled countless learners, “troublemakers” when, in face, they are simply learning by divergent thinking.

Multi-Cultural Diversity:

Many learners feel like they don’t fit in the system.  It’s easy to feel that way when the system has been designed by a different culture than their own.  As our concern has grown for meeting the educational needs of an ever increasing multi-cultural society, so has our awareness of distinctive patterns, expectations and needs within cultures.  These patterns significantly affect the way students’ communicate and the learning styles they develop.  Although it’s critical to avoid generalizations, knowledge of cultural patterns can be highly useful for problem solving in the classroom.  Use the following chart as a guide but use your own experience as a rule.

Examples of Culturally Reinforced Conversational Styles
  Blacks Hispanic Anglo Am. Indian Asian
Conversational Eye Contact Low Low High Medium High
Assertiveness Moderate Low Low-Mod Low Low
Ways to Align Call for Unified Expression Call for Silence Call for Silence Call for Silence Ask for Silence
Conversational Style Direct personal truth-issue oriented Passive Containment

Non-confrontrive representative, compromising, peace oriented

Direct combination issue truth compromise Casual calm, historical
Use of Emotion As a valid source of expression To be held back until confront point to be managed To be contained as much as possible To be Avoided
Reaction to Heated Dialogues

As long as talking is going on, it's OK
Verbal threats rarely serious

Extremes: withdraw or high response to verbal can lead to pent-up violence Discomfort: threats taken seriously Discomfort: Avoidance Discomfort: keeping emotion out

As always, ask students for clarification.  Check things out.  Avoid assuming that everyone within a cultural group is the same.  The patterns outlined here are only that – general patterns.  There are always exceptions.  And there is a great deal of variance within cultures, as well.  Being aware of cultural patterns can help us increase our sensitivity to another person’s frame of reference – to more fully understand another’s point of view or experience.  Most of us have limited exposure to other cultures and background.  Due to this, it is easy for us to be ethnocentric in our thinking and problem –solving strategies.

Today’s culturally diverse population is demographic reality.  In 1995, one-third of all students in American schools were non-White.  This rapid change in demographics has created new economic and social problems in schools.  Let’s take a look at some of the issues educators are trying hard to remedy.

The items below are generalizations and are not always correct:

 

Some of the arguments that are posed by those opposed to updating our educational system and meeting the needs of our changing demographics are:

 

What is the right approach to take?  First, how do you feel about the issue?  Get informed and learn more about the history, customs, and issues of other cultures.  Second, find out what your school’s policy is regarding multiculturalism?  Find out how textbooks are selected, how curriculum is created and what the state mandates are.  What structures have been put in place to help you respond to diverse demographics? Key into your students.  Are they thriving in school?  Or are they barely surviving?

There is new evidence that what we call “race” is very different than what race is genetically.  The landmark book on the topic, The History and Geography of Human Genes, Cavalli-Sforza, et.al (1994), concludes that once human genes are removed for skin coloration and physical stature, “races” are nearly identical!  In fact, the variations among individuals is so much greater than those among races, that the whole concept of race is genetically meaningless.  Surprisingly, sub-Saharan Africans are closer to Southern Europeans than they are to Australian Aborigines.  Native American tribes were of three blood lines, genetically, not one.  Caucasians are genetically in between the Mongoloids and the Africans.

A culture can be any group of people that shares common values or experiences.  Therefore, cultures can exist within cultures.  For instance, the Anglo culture might share certain general characteristics; and within that culture, i.e., rural, urban, liberal, conservative, female, male, Catholic, Jewish, middle-, lower- or upper-income subgroups may share other cultural traits.  So then, the question becomes, to what degree are people influenced by their culture(s) and what sub-cultures do they identify with?  It logically follows then that there is no one “black” culture, just as there is no one “white” culture or any other culture.  Even in a school that was racially homogenous, you would have different cultures: the upper achievers, the socialites, the athletes, etc.  thus, the automatic grouping or stereotyping of people by color represents faulty thinking.  The Chinese student in your classroom who was adopted by Caucasian parents at birth will most certainly have very different cultural attributes than the student who is a Chinese refugee.

Male and Female Differences:

If a single culture based on race does not exist, then certainly culture based on gender does not exist either.  Cultural attributes by gender are influenced by many things.  The two most important distinctions, however, are sociological and biological.  Our discussion here will be limited to the biological distinctions, since may volumes have been written already about the sociological implications of gender. You Just Don’t Understand, by Deborah Tannen (1991) and Men are from Mars and Women from Venus, by John Gray (1992) are two very popular ones should you care to study this topic further.

Obviously, there are noticeable biological differences between the sexes; but are there differences inside the brain, as well?  Many researchers have reported clear-cut brain differences between men and women.  Although some things can safely be said about certain differences, there is still some dispute over the scope and magnitude of other differences.  Taken altogether, the evidence suggests that male and female brains are organized along very different lines from very early in life.  Variances within the same sex do exist, but certainly not to the same extent as those found between the opposite sex.

It seems that post-conception hormonal influences are the primary difference-maker between the genders.  Not all females are five-foot-five and not all males are five-foot-nine.  But on the average, males are taller than females.  The range of differences listed below should be view like a continuum.  In the same spirit of averages, neuroscientists have found many sexually determined differences in the biology of females and males.  Some of these differences are.

 

Different Developmental Stages:

Children's’ brains develop at varying rates which can differ from a few months to three years and still be considered “normal.”  In addition, differences have been found in the developmental rates of boys and girls.  This makes the assessment and grouping of children by age problematic.  We don’t group teachers or business people at their jobs by age; why should we group children in school this way?

In a study of two hundred right-handed children, the boys outperformed the girls on spatial tasks.  But linguistically, the girls show earlier dominance than the boys.  Boys often have trouble in learning to read early in life because of right brain specialization.  Since reading is both spatial and linguistic, it makes sense that girls generally learn to read earlier than boys.

The Brain not only grows differently, it decays differently.  We now know that the right brain of females has longer plasticity than that of males.  This means it stays open to growth and change for more years in girls than in boys.  The degeneration of nerve cells in the male brain precedes that of females by 20 years.  Although the rate of loss by females is greater than that of males, it is still not enough to overtake them.  The researchers say that their estimates of cell loss are conservative.

One of the reasons why adolescent boys are more physical than adolescent girls is that the part of brain used for such is more developed at that time in their life.  On the other hand, in females, the part of the brain used for interpersonal skills is more developed and plays an integral role in teenage girl culture.

Gender-Differences in Thinking:

Researchers report that female and male brains function quite differently with regard to sensory perception.  In fact, when we say that the sexes live in different worlds, we may be more right than wrong.  Females often report having experiences that males don’t understand, such as intuition, food cravings or social interaction clues.  Some of the differences, of course, are related to our social conditioning.  The challenge for researchers is conducting experiments that have been controlled for cultural and social bias so that biological differences can be isolated.  Some of the differences that have been documented follow:

 

Hearing:

The female ear is better able to pick up nuances of voice, music and other sounds.  In addition, females retain better hearing longer throughout life.  Females have superior hearing, and at 85 decibels, they perceive the volume twice as loud as males.  Females have greater vocal clarity and are one-sixth as likely as a male to be a monotone.  They learn to speak earlier and learn languages more quickly.  Three-quarters of university students majoring in foreign languages are female.  Females excel at verbal memory and process language faster and more accurately.  Infant girls are more comforted by singing and speech than males.

Vision:

Males have better distance vision and depth perception than females.  Females excel at peripheral vision.  Males see better in brighter light; female eyesight is superior at night.  Females are more sensitive to the red end of the spectrum, excel at visual memory, facial clues and context; and are better able to recognize faces and remember names.  In repeated studies, females can store more random and irrelevant visual information than males.

Touch:

Females have a more diffused and sensitive sense of touch.  They react faster and more acutely to pain, yet can withstand pain over a longer duration than males.  Males react more to extremes of temperature.  Females have greater sensitivity in fingers and hands.  They are superior in performing new motor combinations, and in fine motor dexterity.

 

Activity:

Male infants play with objects more often than females. Females are more responsive to playmates.  The directional choice, called “circling behavior,” is opposite for males and females.  In other words, when right-handed males walk over to a table to pick up an object, they are more likely to return by turning to their right.  Right-handed females are more likely to return by circling around to their left.

Smell and Taste:

Females have a stronger sense of smell and are much more responsive to aromas, odors and subtle changes in smell.  They are more sensitive to bitter flavors and prefer sweet flavors.  Females are more susceptible to the damaging effects of alcohol than males.

Problem-Solving Differences:

Males and females have very different ways of approaching and solving problems.  The following is a summary of the differences found in problem-solving tasks between genders.

In general, females do better than males in the following areas:

 

The problem-solving tasks that favor males are:

 

There are many activities in which females excel over males: assembly, needlework, precision crafting, micro-production, communication, sewing, nursing, pharmacology, and many of the arts.  On the average, girls read earlier than boys.  And in general, females are more intuitive and multi-tasking, they relate better interpersonally, they score higher on matching exercises and on non-verbal skills, and are more likely to attribute failure to lack of ability rather than effort.

In general, males are more: single-task, issue-oriented, visual-kinesthetic, inductive or deductive and more likely to attribute lack of success to opportunity or effort, not ability.  Though it is true that more boys than girls are identified as “developmentally slow,” if we were to account for natural differences in developmental stages between girls and boys, we’d suddenly find that up to 75 percent of these boys would immediately be reclassified as normal.  In addition, the areas in which males excel: gross motor skills like sports, mechanics, construction and sculpture, aren’t always graded or valued in our traditional school setting.

So, we know that these differences are both environmental and genetic, but what can we do about them?  Should education try to be culture or gender-bias free?  There are real differences among cultures and between the sexes; does equal education mean that everything should be done the same for all individuals?  These are complicated questions.  And unfortunately, there is no single absolute good answer for each of them.

What we can do, however, is become more aware and informed.  Learn the differences between culturally-reinforced stereotypes and physiological or genetic differences.  Open up discussions with colleagues about the research and its implications.  In the classroom, keep expectations high and avoid stereotyping.  However, modify your expectations about an individual’s behavior and learning based on what you know about them.  Be holistic and ecological, using a “systems” approach to insure greater success.  Educate others about differences.  Many problems may not be problems at all.  They may simply be an expression of the “natural” way in which a particular sex or learning style generally operates.  Eliminate groupings by age or grade.  They tend to cause feelings of inadequacy.  Learners may be being measured erroneously against others at a different developmental stage, rather than by the effort they extend.  Instead, students can be better clustered by age ranges, (i.e.,. 5 to 7 year olds, 8 to 10 year olds, 11 to 13 year olds, etc).  The bigger your bag of response strategies to deal with the exceptional students and the variety of learning styles they rely on, the more successful you will be.

Attention Deficit Disorder:

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are related conditions that fall under the rubric of learning disorders.  At this time there is no consensus about the definitive cause of ADD/ADHD, but there are numerous theories. 
ADD/ADHD is most typically characterized by learners who are easily distracted, talkative, forgetful, have poor concentration and productivity and are low in achievement.  Additionally, ADHD is also characterized by hyperactive behavior.  As quoted by authors Judyth Reichenbert-Ullman and Robert Ullman (1996):

At least two million children in the United States are currently taking stimulant medications (including Ritalin, Dexedrine, and Cylert) for ADD.  That is more than 1 in every 30 children ages 5 to 18.  In 1988 half a million children were being prescribed stimulants for ADD.  The number has quadrupled in only eight years and is doubling every two years.

Let’s take a look at the parts of the brain that regulate attention the brain stem and limbic system.  The influence of complex variations in the efficacy of chemical neurotransmitter molecules determine our attention patterns.  Norepinephrine and dopamine (both catecholamines) are the principal neurotransmitter systems that process attention.  Some researchers say that an insufficient number of these molecules may cause hyperactivity (Barkley, 1995).  It is thought that learner attentiveness may be optimized with a “normal” middle level of these catecholamines.  But is there more to it? 

Other researchers believe that ADD/ADHD is a combination of conditions: a “rule-following” disorder ( in the linguistic-motor system where words and actions match up poorly); a high motivational threshold (it takes a great incentive for seemingly simple tasks); and a problem of self-regulation ( a disturbance in the child’s ability to use self control with regard to the future).  The disorder is so situational, that if we take an ADHD child out of school and put him/her in a different setting, the symptoms often disappear (Barkley 1995).

By using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, it was discovered that ADHD children had a smaller corpus callosum, particularly in the region of the genu and splenium and it anterior.  Therefore, some researchers suggest that deviations in normal corticogenesis may underlie behavioral manifestations of this disorder.  Translated this means that children with attention deficit disorder may suffer from a right hemisphere syndrome.  Simply put, the left and right side of the brain don’t talk to each other as well as they should.  Another theory holds that many learners labeled ADD/ADHD are really normal; and simply exhibiting learning styles that can be disruptive in the classroom setting (Grinder, 1989).

Very often problems associated with ADD/ADHD are treated successfully by drug therapy.  While some times vitamin B-6 works, Ritalin Tm and Cylert Tm are the most popular drugs prescribed.  Stimulant drugs like Ritalin TM work to normalize the brain’s reaction to distracting stimuli, improving concentration and focus.  While the drug seems to work miracles for some, a growing contingency of parents are concerned about the principle behind prescribing behavior-altering drugs at an early age.  Some people are worried that serious other problems are being masked by drug therapy.  Some are concerned that drugs for the treatment of ADD/ADHD are over prescribed when alternative therapies (like homeopathy, psychological counseling, and diet changes) might be effective.  (Reichenberg-Ulman & Ulman, 1996). Others are concerned about
the side-effects of prescription drugs or a life long dependency upon them.

The best recommendation for treating learners who exhibit symptoms of ADD/ADHD is to start with the simplest things first.  Begin eliminating variables.  Discover if the student is more kinesthetic or has a rule-following cognitive disorder.  Then focus on diet changes.  Stay open minded about symptoms and treatment.  If one classroom strategy or method of treatment is not working, it’s not a hopeless case.  Switch to another.  Seek professional advice; and get as many opinions as possible.

It is true that many more boys than girls are diagnosed as ADD/ADHD; however, since most hyperactive behavior disappears in boys over time, it’s a dubious sex-based label.  When differences are factored in between normal male and female developmental stages, the label and condition gets diluted even more.  There is a considerable movement developing worldwide that focuses on creating appropriate gender-based learning models that consider developmental stages, and other differences, between genders.

Michael Grinder, author of the book Righting the Educational Conveyor Belt, says that some students diagnosed as hyperactive may, in fact, simply be expressing their particular learning styles.  A kinesthetic learner may want to move around, touch, tap, hit, try out, and engage his/her body in almost everything.
 
This learner is more likely to be male.  If the teacher is visual, the movement may be attention-getting and, at times, annoying.  To the teacher, this is a “problem student” but, in fact, the student may be perfectly “normal.”

 

QUOTABLE

Children with attention deficit disorder may suffer from a right hemisphere syndrome.  Simply put, the left and right side of the brain don’t talk to each other as well as they should.

Dyslexia:

Dyslexia, a reading disability, in individuals with apparently adequate intellectual and perceptual abilities, has also become a subject of great debate.  Perhaps the most promising research on dyslexia (and hyperactivity) comes from researchers who have made strong correlations to inner ear problems.  It seems that infection-related fluids (effusion) interfere with hearing which interferes with auditory perceptions and processing.  Some studies have shown an incidence of cerebella-vestibular dysfunction in dyslexics which has been successfully treated in many dyslexics with a combination motion-sickness drugs and repatterning exercises.

Some research correlates dyslexia to factors like: excessive lead in the water supply, emotional problems stemming from inadequate family stability, food additives (especially red dye, aspartame, preservatives and artificial flavors), excess sugar, a couch-potato lifestyle, refined carbohydrates and excessive television watching.  Whichever turns out to be the cause, it will be some time before we know for sure. There is understandably enormous difficulty in isolating specific behaviors and testing all the variables that could possibly influence them.  Unfortunately, as difficult as it is to find a definitive cause for dyslexia, it is just as difficult to determine how to effectively deal with this troubling reading problem.  Various strategies, however, have been suggested; and each of them uses brain research applications to help the learner manage the disability.  For treatment option, contact www.fastforward.com.

 

The Influence of Color:

Researchers M. Livingstone, et. Al. (1991) say that our brain processes sensory information on two separate parallel paths.  The faster sensory system notes the location in the background. The slower system, in the foreground, processes what the objects are.  In dyslexics, the faster system is sluggish and doesn’t delete quickly enough the previous word or words seen.  As a result, when eyes move from word-to-word, the reader experiences blurring and fusing of words.  Special colored lenses (called Irlen) can help the reader successfully deal with this problem.

On the other hand, others disagree with this approach.  They say that the supported benefits of tinted lenses are unsubstantiated.  They also contend that recent experiments have proven that the intervention of colored lenses in insupportable.

 

Influence of Sounds:

Since dyslexics are frequently right hemisphere dominant, they miss out on many key sounds.  In addition, a split second delay in the routing of information within the brain, when it has to cross hemispheres twice, creates a time delay in understanding oral instructions.  This makes super-attentive listening a requirement for dyslexics.  But that can get exhaustive when it has to go on for more than a few minutes. As a result, the dyslexic child tends to lose attention and fall further behind in learning.

Re-training the Eyes:

Some researchers suggest that dyslexia has to do with spatial orientation.  They have defined a point of perception in space, which is called the “visuo-awareness epicenter.”  The location of this epicenter varies among individuals.  For example, a boxer’s epicenter is 16 feet above his head; a racecar driver’s 30 feet in front.  For best reading, the epicenter may need to be within inches of the head – above and behind. When the brain is re-trained to be in control of this roving center of awareness, reading improves dramatically.  This method is not a panacea but a learning process.

Inner-Ear Problems:

Some researchers have made strong correlations of dyslexia to inner-ear problems.  It seems that infection-related fluids (effusion) interferes with hearing which interferes with auditory perception and processing.  That would make sense, since many dyslexics have hearing difficulties.  Why?  A hearing defect in the range of 500-cycles-per-second prevents hearing the quieter; more easily confused voiceless consonants, such as M, N, P and B.  The left hemisphere is specialized for hearing clicks and other closed sounds, while the right is more sensitive to vowels.

Prenatal Influence:

Some research suggest that dyslexia may be influenced by prenatal affects.  It is thought that during key times of cell migration in the developing embryo, certain groups of neurons end up in the “wrong” areas causing poor reading but encouraging mechanical or creative abilities.  Many creative people, (i.e,. composers, painters, producers, athletes, singers, and musicians) confirm that they are dyslexic, including Cher, Mohammed Ali, Madonna, and Dustin Hoffman, just to name a few.

A large number of students who are having a tough time in school have learning disabilities that can be successfully treated and/or managed.  Stay informed.  The information available on learning disabilities is growing.  Find out what school and community resources are available to assist you.  Keep a printed list of your findings available for easy access when necessary.  Share your information with others.

Drug Abuse:

The problems of drug abuse are surprisingly widespread; not only with regard to the types of drugs used, but who is affected.  Suffice it to say, anyone, even students from “functional” families in good neighborhoods, can have problems with drugs.  The diverse panel of drugs being widely used by students in most schools today include the following:

Learn to read the behaviors of habitual drug users.  Have someone from the local police department come to your school and talk to your staff and students about the appropriate steps to take when you suspect someone is a drug abuser.  Find out what your school’s policy is on drug use and be ready to act on it.  When you have a student who you think is with drugs, seek intervention.  You may be the best hope he or she has in getting help with the problem.  Ask for assistance from your school’s psychologist, nurse or counseling department.  Ignoring the issue will not chase it away.  Be proactive, don’t wait until a student overdoses and everyone says, “Why didn’t anyone do anything”

 

Gifted and Talented Learners:

Are there learners who are “more intelligent?”  The way this question is answered depends on what you mean by intelligence.  If you buy into the notion of a fixed intelligence, you could say that some learners are more intelligent.  But our intelligence is not fixed and can develop in many ways with proper enrichment.  Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (1993) suggests gifted and talented programs are, at their best, ignoring what we now know about the brain.  At worst, they are very elitist and damaging. Why?  The determination of who is gifted and who is not is based on an outdated model.  The following reflect some of the false assumptions gifted programs make:

False: Giftedness can be measured or predicted.
True: The majority of society’s greatest contributors were not identified as gifted in school.
False: So-called average (or below average) students do not benefit from an enriched gifted program.
True Research suggests that all learners benefit from enriched programs.
False There are only a few truly gifted learners.
True Master Japanese violin teacher Suzuki proved he could teach competent-level violin playing to any child.  Glen and Janet Doman of the Institute for Human Potential in Philadelphia have been teaching babies math and reading skills before age three.  Unless there is brain damage or a specific disease preventing it, each of us can develop some form of genius.
False Special talents and abilities are genetic.
True Research suggests that genetics account for about 30 percent of the special talents of individuals.  This means that the majority of our talent, intelligence, and ability is up to us and our environment.
False There is something special about gifted learners (Those who are dominantly visual learners are more often labeled as “talented and gifted”).
True Visual learners are often quieter, read better, focus longer, and pay attention to the teacher.  For many teachers, having a student like this is a real “gift” in their class!  The irony in this is that many individuals who have made major contributions to science and society (i.e., Steven Hawking, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Spike Lee, and Quincy Jones, just to name a few) were all labeled “problem” students at one time or another.  What does this tell you about the value of labeling?  Maybe it’s time to re-examine how we assess learners.  Creating enriched environments for some and not others (based on somebody’s erroneous declaration of giftedness) is not only unfair, it is illogical.  How about pullout programs for students with special needs – are they ineffective, as well?  The key to answering this question is understanding that there is a difference between teaching content and process.  Many pullout (special education) programs teach primarily content.  They simply teach it slower, using more flexibility, and stronger relationships.  By itself, that’s not bad.  But in the larger context of education, it does more of a disservice (unless it is done “right”) than a service since students then become stigmatized as “slow learners.”  The impact of this label on a student’s self-concept can be devastating and lifelong.

Is There a Better Way?

Should we end all pullout programs?  No. However, doing it “right” means that all pullout programs should be teaching process and values, not content.  For example, rather than teaching students to spell particular words, teach them a system of how to spell.  Rather than always facilitating the learning activities, teach students how to facilitate their own learning.  Teach them about eye-accessing cues, learning style profiles, graphic organizers, and mind maps, communication and social skills.  Help them gain increased self-confidence through mastering skills and strategies rather than content.  These students should be out of regular classes just long enough to receive the additional training they need to return comfortably to mainstream classroom.

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Successful Interactions

It’s All About People

Teacher/student interactions impact students’ lives more than you may realize.  This is likely the most important aspect of a teacher’s job; and the part for which the teacher is usually least trained.  Interaction happens when a student asks questions, when the teacher asks questions, during discussions, when ideas and feelings are expressed and even during pre- and post-class encounters.  Many students have made major life decisions based on conclusions drawn from teacher/student interactions.  You might hear a person say something like: “Oh, I could never do that.  I don’t have the talent.”  It is possible that this person had a fourth-grade teacher that said as much to them.  Another person says, “I’m thinking about becoming an attorney.”  Her tenth-grade teacher said she had an aptitude for business, legal and communication work.

When was the last time you heard a student talk about a lecture they heard a year ago?  Students don’t generally remember things like lectures, or classroom activities. They remember things that impacted their emotions.  A teacher has a lot of influence.  Be careful what you suggest.  Every single interaction matters, no encounters are wholly useless, there are no insignificant people!  It’s been said that “we are all therapists, whether we know it or not.”  In other words, with each and every interaction, there is an opportunity to heal or damage.  There is no middle ground.  Students aren’t left feeling neutral after an interaction because it’s human nature to draw conclusions. Every interaction is initiated with the intention of accomplishing a result.  The outcome is important, but so is the vehicle for the outcome.  When a student asks a question, he or she will either feel good for asking it or not.

Let’s Process

Since learning happens when students are receptive to it, we want them to feel good.  If their state of mind gets clouded by negativity, embarrassment, hurt, or rejection, they are likely to shut down.  The process, therefore, becomes as important (if not more) than the product or end result.  If you say, “Who knows the answer to this question?”   For instance, an inherent assumption exists that the answer is the most important part of the interaction.  There are two items as important as the answer, however:  the process and the context.  Process involves: 1) how the student arrived at the answer; 2) the way in which the question is asked; and 3) the way in which the teacher responds or acknowledges the answer.  The context refers to the circumstances surrounding the asked question.  If you ask the question with an intention to empower and support, you will come across in a different way than if you ask the question to determine who has the correct answer.

Successful interactions have three qualities.  First, each person feels respected and treated fairly.  Second, both people receive desirable outcomes.  Third, each person experiences a sense of completion or closure.  Successful interactions are not accidents.  They are a result of your creation of classroom conditions which make it safe and worthwhile for students to interact openly with their teachers.

If your students don’t participate, share, or ask questions, you can be sure that it’s not that they have nothing to say.  Classes naturally generate lots of questions and responses.  Expression is a natural human trait and it is an unnatural circumstance which suppresses it.  A classroom that encourages interaction and, at the same time, structures it into appropriate formats, will have some guidelines.  The following suggestions will help set the stage.

Class Agreements or Groundrules

When a person is speaking, others are expected to remain quiet.  Encourage students to share from their own experiences or creations rather then telling others how “the world is.”  This allows students to learn to validate, honor and respect themselves as well as their thoughts and feelings because the teacher is placing a priority on what the student says, not what some textbook says.  Of course this also means that an answer that the student comes up with, or figures out is perfect for sharing, too.

Time

Be sure to allow sufficient time for interactions.  Class allotments may vary from as little as 10 percent of class time to as much as 80 percent, depending on the nature and circumstances of the course.  If the teacher rushes interactions, students will withdraw from contributing

Role Modeling

You can encourage students to open up and share about themselves by doing it yourself (self-disclosure). Or ask students to share how they feel about interacting with other students, their parents, their teacher, etc.  Tell your students that questions are appreciated and that it’s safe to ask them.  Tell them that you always support them, and you will not use interactions as a way to make them wrong or to pick on them.  Let your students know that their questions don’t have to be the “question of the year” to be worthy of asking: and that it’s better to ask it than to let it go unanswered.

Remember you are the one who creates a sense of openness in the classroom.  It’s not the students, the administration, or the outside world.  You have the power and the ability to make your classroom perfectly safe.  Develop a procedure for scanning the room for raised hands whether it’s going row by row or section by section.  One of the most frustrating experiences for students is to have something well up inside of such importance that they are willing to risk sharing it with the group, only to have a teacher miss their hand.  Again, it’s easy to blame the student for not raising their hand high enough, but blaming doesn’t serve you as a master teacher.

Look, listen, feel, see, notice, scour, perceive and search the room constantly for cues that a student is ready to share something.  Your student will give you non-verbal clues more readily than the verbal ones.  You have to begin to notice the raised eyebrow, the shift in posture or breathing.  For some students, it’s very invalidating not to be recognized.

 

Body Language That Invites Interaction

Once you have recognized a student and they begin to speak, move further away from them.  This encourages annunciation and a sense of inclusion for the rest of the class.  Make eye contact with the speaker.  Shift your physiology from stance of presenter to stance of listener.  Shift internally, as well, from a visual mode to an auditory or kinesthetic mode.  The listening role is softer and more receptive and relaxed. 

The proper physiology is the one that gives the message to the student, “I’m interested in you, your question, your well-being, and I respect you.”  This means an erect but not rigid posture, full face-to-face attention, with shoulders facing the student.  It means both hands are at your side or clasped behind you.  Anytime your communications seem to be off, check your physiology.  Is it possible that you look bored, hostile, aggressive or close-minded?  When you want to invite participation, nod your head and end your comments or questions on an ‘up’ voice tonality.  Then, indicate with a nod of the head or eye contact or with a motion of your hand that it is time for the student to speak.  Instead of pointing, gesture towards the student with an open hand, palm up.  This is usually accepted by questioners as less intimidating or confrontational.  Hence, they feel their comments are more likely to be welcomed in the future.

QUOTABLE

 

One of the most frustrating experiences for students is to have something well up inside of such importance that they are willing to risk sharing it with the group, only to have a teacher miss their hand.

Questioning Strategies

So far, we have mentioned several steps for inviting interaction: 1) keep your eyes open for signs of a question or comment; 2) check your physiology before you recognize the speaker; and 3) indicate with an outstretched arm and open palm gesture that it’s appropriate to speak.

Also, make sure the speaker has the attention of the class. If not, have them wait a moment until the rest of the class is ready.  Be sure each person has heard the question.  If necessary, have it repeated.  Be sure you ask in a tone that lets the class know that the question is worth hearing.  For example, “John, that question is important and I want everyone to hear it.  Will you please repeat it?”  Avoid blaming; rapport will be lost by making comments such as, “The class was being rude, please ask the question again, John.”

If you want the student to adjust the volume of their voice, you might use your hands like a movie director, raising them from low to high or from high to low.  Of course, you can also cup your ear or lean towards the speaker to indicate your need for greater volume.  Maintain rapport with the speaker by being ready to match tonality, tempo, volume, gestures, posture and breathing.  When the student is done talking, thank or acknowledge them.  This reinforces student respect and encourages contributions.

Should You Interrupt?

Ordinarily, students are best served by being allowed to speak uninterrupted and without corrections or changes to what they are saying.  There are three instances, however, when you ought to interrupt a student; and those three exceptions are: 1) If the interaction is extremely unclear or dragging on when the attention of the class has dissolved; 2) if the question contains an initial premise which, as stated, makes the rest of the question invalid or inappropriate to answer; or 3) if the comment contains any damaging, profane, critical or hostile language which you cannot, in good conscience, leave uncorrected . If your need to interrupt, do so respectfully, let the speaker know why and then allow them to continue.

While a student is asking their question, quiet your mind.  A tendency exists to either “check out: or begin daydreaming or to be overly engaged and reactive to the question.  Let the student complete the question without being corrected for errors if it doesn’t affect the essence of the question.  If the student asks a question to which your response is anger or other strong emotion, pause for a moment, allow yourself to relax and get centered before answering.

QUOTABLE

Your students are more interested in how much you care than how much you know.

A Framing Your Interaction

When answering a student question or dialoguing with them, it’s important to have framework for your responses.  Some suggestions follow:

 

Reflective Responses

When a student asks a question or makes a comment in class, they risk being thought of as wrong, stupid or inadequate.  One of the biggest reasons students don’t ask more questions in class is most have been embarrassed at one time or another.  Reinforce the student by giving immediate acknowledgment for asking the question or for asking a certain type of question.  You might say, “Thanks for asking, Joe.  The answer is…”, or “I’m glad you brought that up, Joe…” Or you simply thank the student for asking and answer the question. After this however you must decide which answering techniques will best serve the student and their question.   Some strategies and examples follow:

Student "What's the real cause of a recession?
Teacher "I like your question, thanks for asking it. Some say it's related to interest rates, employment rates, and teh overseas value of the dollar. Would you agree or disagree, and why?"

 

Notice that you have opened up the possibility that the student may already know the answer.  It’s a form of acknowledging the awareness and reservoir of information we all have.  Another possibility is to turn to the group and ask, “Who would like to offer some possible answers to Katie’s question?”  Here you are using the question as a way to empower others and to invite participation.

Respect the student and the question.  This means avoid jokes about it or making light.  Stay with the sincerity and intent of the question.  Avoid judgments about what the student should have known and studied, or about the quality of the question.  Use the student’s name when responding.  For example, “Good question, Jenny.  I like questions that deal with central core issues.”

An excellent way to encourage future questions is to make sure that the answer you give is brief.  First, give the big picture overview, then the specifics.  Students get turned off by longwinded answers.  They’re often boring and it defeats the purpose of involving the students.  Remember that an important objective when answering student questions is to build rapport.

The way some students learn is by mixing and contrasting.  If you ask. “ Why is the ocean blue?”, you may have a student who says,  All oceans are not blue.  What about the Red Sea?”  Respect each person’s style of thinking.  The way some students learn best is to find exceptions to the rule.  They are not being negative or sarcastic.  Others, of course, will do the opposite.  If you ask, “How are these cars different?”, you may have a student who says, “They’re not, they’re practically the same.”  It’s quite possible that a student learns best by matching and comparing.  Trying to discover the thinking style of others, rather than showing them how they are wrong, is important when wording a reflective response.  Once you understand how each student tends to process information, you will be a big step closer to consistently successful outcomes.

Handling Hostile Questions

One of the most critical things a teacher does is to maintain rapport with their students.  When you get a hostile question, it is because the rapport has been broken.  The moment you hear a hostile question, relax, center yourself, and re-establish rapport.  Then discover the student’s needs and do whatever is necessary to re-create a new alliance.

Matching a student’s body language is one easy way to encourage rapport.  For example, if a student is sitting down, lower yourself to their eye level.  A student’s verbal cues can be matched by listening to the content of their message.  Ask yourself what is going on in the student’s world to cause such action.  What does the student believe in order to ask that particular question?  Please yourself in the student’s shoes to understand it from their point of view.  Listen for predicates such as “I feel that…” or “I hear that…” or “The way I see it…”  Match the predicate used by the student and/or their tone, tempo, and volume.  If a student is aggressive, your calculated response might start off somewhat aggressive becoming softer and more receptive as you continue to speak.

Open your response with one of these three rapport-builders, “I appreciate…” or “I agree…” or “I respect…” Complete the sentence as you and the student move towards co-creating a mutually satisfying solution. As an example:

Student: You don’t know what you are talking about. This is really stupid!
Teacher:  Maybe you could help me out a little.  What doesn’t make sense to you and
                  what are some things we could do about it?

Listen, empathize and respect their point of view.  Repeat back to them what you think their point is so they know they have been understood.  Always handle an irritated participant completely so that the rest of the group can relax and move on with the day.  Even if you need more time with them later ask for an appointment with the upset person from the front of the room so that they know you care and are willing to work thing out.  Never leave someone upset, hurt, or brooding in your audience or classroom.  Never make fun of anyone except yourself from the front of the room.  And never embarrass others or you risk shutting down the rest of the group and reducing positive interactions. 

What’s Changed?

 

Old:

“Raise your hand if you can tell me how the United
States might decrease unemployment?”

New:

“Everyone get ready to answer this question:  What are some of the ways that the United States might decrease unemployment?”

Asking content Questions

Checking your intention when you ask questions of others.  An optimal outcome for each question that you ask is to empower the student who answers it.  Thus, make sure that your questions are asked with compassion and that they can be easily answered by the student.  It is your job to build students’ self-worth; and this is not done when students feel unsuccessful.  Therefore, eliminate trick questions unless used in the separate context as a learning tool.  Ask questions with the full expectancy of engaging the class in a productive way.  The new way engages the whole class in the learning process and encourages the student to contribute.  It’s an old idea and a simple one: Involved students are more successful!

 

Old:

“Today we’ll be discussing history, so open your books to page 20.  Now who has something they’d like to share about what they’ve learned?”

New:

Kevin, you know a great deal about guns.  Since we’re discussing the civil war now, I’d like you to be a class consultant in that area for today.  Just signal me when you have something you’d like to add.”

Choosing a Responder

How do you decide whom to call on?  This depends on what you want to occur in the classroom. What outcome do you want?  Do you want everyone kept on their toes?  Do you want to work with a few students who need extra help?  There’s no one answer.  Successful teachers match their methodology to the desired outcome.  Consider the impact of the following decisions:

 

Teacher Response Tips:

Types of Questions

There are many ways to ask useful questions in the classroom.  Let’s take a closer look at three of them:  the recall question, the analytical question, and the application question.  The recall question is intended to elicit stored data from prior knowledge or experiences.  The best description is that it’s close to a stimulus response mechanism.  The recall question draws from students the kind of information that a card file or computer might store.  Here are some examples of recall questions: 

Identifying Which one is your favorite book on teaching?
Completing This chapter is on successful classroom _____________
Matching What other books are similar to this one?
Listing Name all of the important chapters in this book.
Observing What subtitles do you see on this page?
Reciting Earlier I said there are how many types of questions?
Describing Describe the cover of this book.
Defining What’s the definition of a successful interaction?

 

The analytical question requires processing and is usually associated with cause and effect.  It requires different thinking skills than recall questions.  Some examples of analytical questions are:

Comparing What do you and your students have in common?
Sequencing I what order should you call on your students?
Inferring What can you infer from the first sentence onthis page?
Classifying How would you rate this book so far?
Contrasting In what ways is this book different from the last one you read?
Analyzing What could you say about that answer?
Organizing How could you arrange this information better?

 

Analytical questions also include those which require distinguishing, grouping, explaining and experimenting.

The application question requires the student to move beyond the immediate information to arrive at their own constructed knowledge.  In this creative thinking process, students have to use fantasy, make-believe, and invention, Examples are:

Applying What would happen if you learned all the tools in this book?
Generalizing Now that you’re a better teacher, what can you say about your self-esteem?
Speculating What would happen if every teacher knew what you now know?
Modifying How quickly can you adapt this book to your own classroom?
Forcasting Based on last year’s growth, how good will you be next year?
Distorting After you teach one great class, are you the best teacher ever?
Deleting What is it you want to ignore about this book?
Inventing I wonder how many ways you could tell others about this book?

Application questions also include those which require theorizing, stating examples, judging, imagining, and extrapolating.

Handling Right and Wrong Answers

When you get an answer you like, use the opportunity to follow up.  You might say to the student, “Can you tie that excellent answer into what others have said:” Most importantly, remember to always acknowledge and thank the student for their contribution.

Many educators are fanatic about students exhibiting the “right” answer.  They reward students who know it and penalize those who don’t.  These educators argue that either a student knows the answer or doesn’t but that there’s no in-between ground.  In this massive technological and information age, ask yourself, “Is it more useful to teach students facts or to teach them strategies for finding and creating information when they want it?”  To be successful in modern day life requires that students know how to arrive at an answer, and how to apply information from various angles for problem solving.

It ought to be permissible for your students to fail momentarily with a “wrong” answer.  Draw their attention, at this point, to the process that will lead them eventually to a successful answer.  Failure is encouraged in the larger context of being successful; and in fact, failure is the information needed to become successful.  Lead students to ask the questions:  Was the strategy I used useful?  Would I use it again, If not what’s an alternative strategy?  In this framework, a wrong answer is not a failure.

 

 

Quotable

“Wrong” answers can sometimes be more useful than correct ones. The process by which the student arrived at the answer is what is most important.

Some educators believe that our handling of wrong answers had led to an artificially low ceiling on performance.  In a direct, single-answer recall situation, the student who offers the wrong answer may actually be using a higher order, more successful strategy for learning than the student who comes up with the correct answer.  Many students read more ambiguity into a question than is usually intended, leading them to wrong answers.

Yet the strategy for most teachers is to encourage the simplest or most efficient path to the answer rather than stressing that there are many paths.  The real problem with this strategy is that you end up with inflexible learners.  It has been declared that teachers listen for expected answers rather than hearing the ones they get.  The student who does not frame their ideas the way the teacher does fails.  As you increase your awareness of multiple learning strategies, you’ll discover that your students may show dramatic gains in test scores, enthusiasm and even IQ!

Tips for Handling Incorrect Answers:

 

Make sure to use your senses to find out if the student feels complete with the inter action.  Does he/she feel good about what was contributed or learned?  You can tell by their physiology, posture, expressions, and voice.  If a student feels successful, they will beam with confidence and self-worth.  If their eyes are dropped, shoulders are slumped and voice is lowered, you can be sure the interaction did not achieve the intended result of empowering the student.  If you are the least bit unsure, check it out with the student:  “Jane, now that we’ve talked about this for a moment, what are you feeling or thinking?”

Student Sharing

Sharing is just as important for tenth graders or college students as it is for second graders.  It’s valuable for many reasons.  One is that everyone is on equal footing.  If this activity is handled properly, it can be an opportunity to: 1)  learn about others: 2) gain confidence in speaking to a group; 3) gain acceptance from the group; 4) learn and discover something about oneself; 5) gain a sense of self-worth.

If you notice other are losing attention while a student is sharing, you may need to refocus the class and encourage the speaker to include classmates in the sharing process.  You may also have to remind students that what’s being shared might relate to them.

The teacher’s primary role during student sharing is to stay “in relationship.”  Be sure you provide eye contact and create rapport through either nodding or matching some of the gestures.  The way to respond is to put yourself in the student’s shoes for a moment, suspend judgment, and join his or her reality without being caught up or paralyzed by it.  When a student shares something, simply respond with comments such as, “I appreciate your sharing, thank you.” Or, “I enjoyed what you had to say, thank you.”  Or, “thank you very much for sharing yourself.” Or, “Great, thank you.” Or, “I respect what you have to say, thanks.”  In that way, the student knows he or she is appreciated, heard and respected.

If you want to validate a student’s contribution further, this can be done by referring to a student’s sharing at a later time in class.  For example, “As Johnny said earlier…” This technique is extremely powerful, because it is a major boost for a student to be quoted by the teacher!  Another tool for validation is to write student comments on a flip chart or the chalkboard, saving them for the whole class to see.

Student Guidelines for Sharing:

 

Responding to Creativity

Imagine a student coming up to you and saying, “I made up a new theory on why the Civil war happened.”  Or another student saying to the English teacher, “I have a new kind of poetry.”  Or a math student saying, “I am making up a new way to find square roots.”  While some teachers would respond receptively, others might raise eyebrows skeptically and ask for proof.  If your outcome is to foster self-esteem and creativity in the thought process, you’ll respond with enthusiasm and support.  Say to that student, “That’s terrific.  Tell me more.”  These brief moments can make a big difference in a student’s life.  Be ready for them.

 

Discussion and Inquiry

Teacher-led discussions have the capacity to enliven, inform, inspire and, perhaps most importantly, allow students to understand how others think.  If done poorly, students will be resentful and unwilling to participate in the future.  If you plan to have a discussion or inquiry process, first get clarity on your intended outcome.  If your outcome is to pursue the truth, you are in trouble!  After all, whose truth are you after, yours or a student’s?

Nobel prize-winning physicists David Bohm, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein have all said that there is “no fixed reality.”  Reality is constructed from the point of view of the observer.  We each participate in the momentary creation of our own experiences, our truths and subsequently, our universe.  Therefore each of us has a different, yet equally valid, truth.  The quest for a single “truth” in the classroom is not useful.  It is only useful to evaluate the relative merits of a point of view or a suggestion.  Be open to alternative ideas.

Pre- and – Post – Class Dialogues

One-on-one contact is important for both teacher and student.  If the interaction is positive, just listen; If there’s a problem, however, be extra alert.  When a student talks to the teacher about something, you can be sure it is important to them.  What you do or don’t do in these moments is very important. Often when a student comes to you, they’re feeling unresourceful and helpless.  Your outcome must be to empower them, and to add to their resoucefulness so that at the completion of the interaction, they feel stronger and more able than before.  These times are prime opportunities for assisting the student to think and problem-solve!

If the student’s head is hung low, you have two choices.  One of them is to change their
Physiological state.  Politely ask the student to move their head more upright to eye level.  This will immediately pull them out of the “victim”, or “poor me” physiology and get them into another state, probably auditory or visual instead of kinesthetic.  Another possibility is to match the posture momentarily so that the student feels a commonalty with you. Assume a posture that is similar, pace your voice tempo with them and match breathing, if possible. Then lead them to a more resourceful state.  The following is an example of ineffective dialogue between a teacher and student:

Do You Make This Mistake?

Student: Look I'm doing awful in this class. I don't see how I can get my grades u, and I just flashed on the final next week
Teacher You sound really concerned. Thanks for talking to me about it, maybe you're right, our class was an earful.
Student "Well, that's not exactly it...

 

Notice that in the first sentence, the student used visual words: look, see, flashed.  The teacher responded with mismatched auditory words: sound, talking, and earful.  This does not encourage good rapport!

 Here’s a Winner

Student: Get a load of this. I keep a stiff upper lip when studying, but it all boils down to the same old thing I'm knee deep in trouble
Teacher Thanks for touching base with me. There's a couple of things that'll help you come to grips with this if you can just hang in there while we build a strong foundation.
Student Good idea, I can handle that.

 

Notice that in the first sentence the student was in the kinesthetic mode: get a load, stiff upper lip, boils down to, knee-deep.  The teacher matched the information modality and was, therefore, able to offer some strong support for the student in a way he could hear it.

When a student does come to you with his/her problem, that is good.  They are asking for your help which is the first step towards resolving the problem.  You have already established some trust with the student or they would not be approaching you. The following steps will ensure good communication:

 

Resist the temptation to offer advice, especially if the conversation is personal.  Rather, stay focused on the student’s ability to solve their own problem with you guidance and confidence in their ability.  The following example reflects a positive outcome:

Student I need some help. I just don’t feel motivated to do my homework.
teacher Thanks for coming to me, I’ll do the best I can to help you handle it. As far as your home work situation, what do you feel is going on.
Student Well, I’m not sure, I’m just not motivated.
Teacher What other possibilities are there?
Student I guess I could… (student names choices)
Teacher Which of those choices do you feel best about?
Student I like the one that… (student names a choice)
Teacher Good, I’ll do what I can to help you make it work. In fact, how about if you check with me in a week? I want you to know you did great finding some solutions; you’re very resourceful. I bet you’ll find even more probable solutions.
Student I didn’t think I knew any solutions.
Teacher Take a deep breath… how do you feel now? Is everything OK or is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
Student Actually, I feel pretty good.
Teacher Good… thanks for stopping by and good luck.

 

Drawing Out Information

If a student cannot offer any suggestions or solutions to their problem, then what do you do?  The following examples reflect two ways to draw out information:

1.  If the student says “I don’t know the answer.”  You might respond with “I appreciate you sharing that, but I wonder, if you actually did know the answer, what would you say it is?”

2. You could say, “Do you know anyone in this class who might know the answer?  How do you think that he or she might answer that question?  Why don’t you give it a guess!”

One of the most useful ways to help students with problems is to help them cut through the vagueness to get at the core of the problem.  Ask specific questions.  The following examples reflect productive questioning responses by the teacher:

Student This doesn't make any sense to me.
Teacher

What specifically doesn’t make sense?
Student I’ve always disliked math
Teacher

 Always? What about when you were in pre-school?
Student I can’t go through with this.
Teacher

 What would happen if you did? (“What prevents you from following through?”)
Student They don’t let me ask questions.
Teacher

 Who specifically, won’t let you as questions?
Student This is much too hard.
Teacher

 Compared to what?

 

You can also add “softeners” in font of you questions to insure that the student receives your questions gently and respectfully.  Before your question, add the phrases, “I’m wondering… Or you can say, “I’m curious.  What prevents you from following through?”  And, “Would you possibly be able to tell me how specifically…?” These conversation devices can reduce defensiveness and encourage positive rapport with the student.

  

Quotable

It’s not what happens that counts, it’s how we respond to what happens that counts.

In this chapter we explored classroom interactions including student questioning strategies, sharing, discussion and student/teacher meetings.  Keeping your intended outcome clearly in mind – greater student self-worth, greater student resourcefulness and completion - is tantamount to success.  Positive interactions are not the main course of the meal, but optimize learning; ineffective ones poison it.  Your students will be learning a great deal more than content as you help them problem-solve their way to a bright future.

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