kitchen table math, the sequel: Power Teaching

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Power Teaching

Redkudu just sent this link:



Any thoughts?

I have one thought, which is that the gestures are probably a good idea.

Scratch that, I have two thoughts.

Thought number one: "engagement" is good. Loud & crazed engagement maybe even better! (I'm kidding. I think.) I assume that's why KIPP uses call and response teaching.

Thought number two: gestures are good.


Gestures add valuable information to teachers' math lessons
Gesturing Helps Grade School Children Solve Math Problems

Power Teaching
exo on Power Teaching
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9 comments:

Exo said...

Hey, I used it.))) I modified it and called a "Power Learning". (Also found it online).
I introduced as an experiment into all four of my 8th grade advanced classes, which I taught the Living Environment Regents to in the 2nd Marking Period. I used couple of things: The initial call "Oh, sweet mama, how exited I am to learn... (whatever the aim says)", "WoW" for correct answer, and "It's cool" for incorrect; "class"-"yes" call was used to get the attention during the lesson. I also used the points system (+ point for timely and uniformed call, and - for lost attention). 5 pluses added to 1 percent up in everyone's marking period grade, 5 minuses brought everyone's grade down.
We also set up a chart, where we compared the unit quizzes results (using power learning system - experimental group, prior to this - control; all four classes also were compared to each other based on the plus points collected and avarage test results. In addition to averege, we check for number of students in each class whose results were above 90. I used the same tests for all classes and taught the same material at almost the same pace.)
Now, discipline improved drastically. It was much easier to get and maintain their attention. I dropped "Wow" and "It's cooL" responses pretty soon, since it seemed to direct their attention from the actial answer to just joy of saying "Wow".
Most of the students greatly enjoyed this experiment and even tried to make other teachers to use this method. Some (the most advanced kids, who can keep their attention on the subject without "dog training" complained in the beginning, but we agreed that at least it was benefitial since this method allowed other students to be attentive and the whole class could move along faster. (The hypothesis for our experiment was that "Power Learning" allows students to pay attention better, and thus increases retention of the material as demonstrated by increasing number of students who can achieve 90 and above and increase of avereage grade on tests).
I kept the system even after the experiment was completed (we collected data for 2 marking periods) because the students insisted.
And results did clearly demonstrated that more students in each class were getting 90 and above, and almost everybody's results improved as compared to when I did not use this method. Of course, the results were better for classes who collected more pluses, than where students still manage to loose attention.
Which simply shows, that discipline is important for learning, and this system is just a tool. There are other tools, too. But in many cases they are not achievable in our public schools, where administration does not support teachers, and students have no consequences for their actions.

July 27, 2008 at 2:06 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

exo

HI!!!

omg - this is Old Home week!

First Becky C, now Exo!

July 27, 2008 at 2:28 PM
Redkudu said...

I still have a LOT of questions on this. :) I'm going to be interested in what people say. I'm not sure I'm crazy about it, for reasons I can't put my finger on, but I'm also coming from the high school perspective too. Then again, I'm not completely adverse to it. It started in 1999 so considering everything in public education is usually about 10 years behind, it's right on target to be the next talked-about thing, which is why I'm starting to see references at the various sites I visit.

Here's their website: http://homepage.mac.com/chrisbiffle/Personal17.html

Everything they offer is free to download: http://homepage.mac.com/chrisbiffle/FileSharing37.html

I haven't downloaded anything yet though.

I've been scouring different videos though, in search of one thing: I haven't yet found one where the students do any writing or practice on paper of what they're learning. For high school English, that's problematic, but then again most of the videos are snippets.

After watching this video again I notice they call these "Critical Thinking" activities at the end, and I'm just reading Willingham's article about teaching critical thinking now, so it's all a little serendipitous.

July 27, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

well, here's my "gut," such as it is

I also had a negative feeling ---- having to do with content -- too much direct instruction on higher level thinking!

I want to see kids learning content, not learning what the categories of thinking about content are

I also thought the yelling-peer-teaching business was silly, but I'm not sure about that

offhand, I would say that this teacher has taken Englemann (and all the other "chanting" direct instructionists) and revised it into something that could be acceptable to constructivists (i.e. benches facing forward to the sage on the stage instead of desks facing forward to the sage on the stage)

I think answers spoken in unison are an extremely good idea.

I also think (scratch that, I know) that peer teaching works (though I don't know which circumstances & pairings make it work best)

I think the gesture/sign language aspect of the technique might be useful

I don't think you need crazed shouting

July 27, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Anonymous said...

this looks and sounds a lot like a yeshiva...


ari-free

July 28, 2008 at 8:22 AM
K9Sasha said...

Good:
Students immediately repeat what teacher just said
Students are highly engaged - no time to daydream
Call - response to get attention

Not So Good:
Students spend cognitive energy trying to remember the gestures
High energy - those kids must go home exhausted each night

July 28, 2008 at 6:50 PM
Anonymous said...

Interesting. Our district uses the call to attention/verbal+physical response in the 'boy friendly' sections of elementary. The disruptors like it b/c they get the attention they want by screaming and jumping in response, rather than their usual technique of noncompliance with any request (gets them negative attention, leads to group detention, and wastes class time). Kids that like quiet hate the loud responses and the background noise.

The repeat it to another idea is a good technique to help them with auditory memory. Here it's used in the sped co-taught sections -- the problem is that students who don't understand paraphrasing can be rigid if the exact lines weren't repeated back by the partner. Adding gestures would make it more fun, as well as aid memory.

I like the expecation that everyone participates and that the teacher's words are meaningful.

I hope the teacher leads the students to think on their own and share their thoughts later and to use the 'teach it to another' as a study technique. My own kids learned the best (high retention/minimal 'study' time) with socratic discussion in elementary LA, SS & Science. Typically the class was assigned to read independently, reflect & think on what was read, then discuss w/class. Follow up essay or writing assignment given. No memorization needed, as the teacher was an expert in guiding the discussion to cover all the points. They were able to write their own study guides in the end, rather than depending on the teacher.

July 29, 2008 at 5:31 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

this looks and sounds a lot like a yeshiva...


lolllll

boy, given the action I've seen in the rear pew at bar mitzvahs, I believe you---

July 29, 2008 at 9:20 AM
le radical galoisien said...

The group activity seems to be highly ritualised ... which is good I guess. As a younger student I was quite uncomfortable with lack of structure because I wasn't sure how far I was allowed to go.

December 1, 2008 at 1:24 AM

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