LMQ1 links with DoL 1: Feeling accepted by teachers and peers. This is identifying individual differences and individual needs. Establishing relationships with your students and make the students feel comfortable and accepted. A teacher should also respond appropriately to students incorrect answers.
LMQ2 links with DoL 1: Attitudes and Perceptions and Perceive Tasks as Valuable and Interesting. This is where the teacher only assigns valuable tasks therefore trust is gained that the teacher will only give out assessments that are valuable and worth doing. Good relationships between the teacher/student will gain trust of the students and they may feel that the teacher values them and will assign worth wile tasks. "Help students relate the information to real-life experiences in which the information can be used" (Marzano and Pickering, 1997, p.31). Students need to be engaged in the classroom in order to learn and retain knowledge. Tasks that are authentic will help and also allow for student choices where possible. Students Individual Interests and goals are very important to them, therefore if they are able to concentrate a task/assignment on one of these it will engage them and the student will then see these tasks as valuable.
LMQ3 links with DoL 1: Experience a sense of comfort and order. The students need to feel comfortable and secure in order to have their minds on the task at hand. If students are being bullied and picked on they will be less likely to concentrate on their work as they will be worrying about the taunts. This may mean the teacher might have to find out how they feel comfortable and aid this for the student to learn more effectively. Classroom rules and procedures give the students a sense of order. They will have guidelines on what to do and not to do to maintain comfort and order in the classroom, they will learn what is expected and accepted. Also movement is a good strategy for maintaining focus. A task may become boring or the students may be lacking attention after a pro longed period, therefore getting the students up and moving for a 2-5 minute exercises may freshen them up and enable them to focus better for the remainder of the task.
LMQ4 links with DoL 1: Believe they have the ability and resources to complete tasks. LMQ4 also links with DoL 5: Self-regulated thinking-identify and use necessary resources. It is important in schools to use numerous resources with the students and encourage them to use as many as they can. This may be books, teachers, the Internet, peers and online resources (google, encyclopedias). "Being aware of necessary resources involves a cycle of assessing what resources are needed, determining there availability, accessing them, using them appropriately, and continually reassessing to identify additional resources as you work. In the technology society we now enjoy, each step of this cycle can be enhanced with the use of communication and information systems" (Marzano and Pickering, 1997, p. 293).
LMQ5 links with DoL 1: Providing authentic activities and DoL 5: Self-regulated thinking- plan appropriately. "One habit that teachers obviously want students to develop is planning. Planning can be fairly loose or it can involve a process. The process might include methodically defining a goal, identifying the steps needed to achieve the goal, anticipating potential problems, assigning responsibilities, and creating a time line with checkpoints" (Marzano and Pickering, 1997, p.291). Planning appropriately can help students at school or in daily life. There may be times when one becomes stressed with an overload of work. Planning effectively and carefully can minimise this stress and maximize the achievement/outcome. If an assignment seems like a lot of work and a little overwhelming, the student could break it down into sections to work on, or create a time line which will indicate what they should have done at a specific point in time. This method/strategy will help students in later life, in the workforce if they are involved in a major project. Time management/planning appropriately is a habit of mind that will be useful for the students future and will help them on their learning journey through there schooling life. Again providing authentic and valuable activities/tasks will engage the students a lot better than an artificial or make believe activity.
LMQ6 links with DoL 5: Respond appropriately to feedback. Students need to learn that if they are given constructive criticism/feedback it is to improve their performance. The student does not need to agree with all of the feedback, although they are encouraged to be open minded enough to take it on board and dismiss or use the feedback when they feel it to be appropriate. When a student is working on an assignment it may be useful to inform them that it may be a good idea to ask someone for feedback on their task. This can help the student stay focused or provide them with more ideas, or to help make the assessment more accurate. When practicing a play/character it may be beneficial for the student to perform/rehearse in from of someone or a small group for feedback. If a student is involved in a drama class and their assessment is to perform in front of an audience, they can watch the audiences body language for feedback. Also they may need to pause to an appropriate amount of time whilst the audience laughs or applause's, to ensure the dialogue to be delivered by the actor/student is not lost.
LMQ7 links with DoL 5: Creative Thinking-generate, trust and maintain your own standards of evaluation. Maybe as a teacher you could encourage the students to reflect on how they think they did on an assignment/test. They may choose to only rely on others (teacher, peers) standards of evaluation or they may choose to incorporate their own standards of evaluation also. Therefore maybe covering a broader area or feeling content that they have reached their personal standards too.
LMQ8 links with DoL 1: Establish a relationship with each student in the class. A teacher can talk informally to students about their interests and be aware of what student/s are involved in and comment on such activities they are involved in or achievements they have made. Also it's always good to greet every student that comes into your class. By establishing a relationship with each student in the class it may then be easier to inform them about a specific learning progress as there is already an easy communicative relationship established and the student will probably value the teacher more for showing an interest in their hobbies, achievements and well being. LMQ8 also links with DoL 5: Responding appropriately to others feelings and knowledge. When expressing an opinion people will be more likely to listen to you if you analyze their feelings and level of knowledge and respond appropriately. This will also contribute to successful communication between people from different social and cultural groups/backgrounds.
5-7. Download this article 'What are Habits of Mind' and print out for future reference. What are the similarities and differences between Marzano's and Costa and Kallicks habits of mind? Post thoughts to forum.
Both articles seem to have the same way of thinking and are quite similar. Costa's reading focuses on critical and creative thinking while Marzano's also looks at self-regulated thinking. Costa and Kallick's seem to put more emphasis and importance on the enjoyment of learning and finding humour, their reading seems to be more of an emotional and inspirational approach whereas Marzano's reading seems to be more about lessons and strategies. They both imply that these documented habits of mind are a guideline and can be added to or changed if necessary to fit in with a particular situation. Marzano's, in my opinion is, is written more for teachers, with strategies, whereas Costa's is more inspirational. Both of the readings were very informative although written in a different manner.
8-11. Spend some time Reading through the DoL manual and make notes about Dimensions 1 and 5. List the strategies suggested for each dimension. See if you can add to that list with your own strategies, or ones you have seen/read about. Any questions or observations post to the DoL discussion forum.
Critical Thinking
Be accurate and seek accuracy:
- Focus/Accuracy: When reading a project/assignment read only first for accuracy rather than reading to check for a number of things as you may miss things that are incorrect.
- Resources: References, dictionary, spell check etc.
- Proofing: Get a few people to read your project. As they are unfamiliar with the content they will be more prone to pick out mistakes.
Be clear and seek clarity:
- Rehearse: To ensure you are understood and are able to express what you mean.
- Questions: To see if the receiver/audience understands and 'gets' what you are saying/presenting.
Maintain an open mind:
- Positive thinking: React positively even if you don't agree with what a persons is saying try and see it from their point of view.
- Gather information: Genuinely listen to others and ask questions in order to understand their point of view/opinions.
- Schema: If you initially act negatively to a suggestion, reflect on what has been stated and ask yourself if you have received all relevant information. Then ask yourself if you have seen the statement from different angles/points of view.
Restrain Impulsivity:
- Self-talk: Think before you speak. Ask yourself if you understand the information/activity before responding. Think it through before voicing opinions/answers.
- Listen: Listen to peoples whole opinions/answers before voicing your own opinion.
- Time: Give yourself time to think before declaring the answer/solution.
Take a position when the situation warrants it:
- Research: the topic first before giving your opinion or stand on a topic. If you don't have all the information relating to the topic you may take a faulty stand on the matter.
- Investigate: If you are not exactly sure of a point in a situation it may be wise to investigate it before making a formal stand on the matter.
Respond appropriately to others feelings and level of knowledge:
- Communication: Assess what level of knowledge the other person has and respond/interact accordingly.
- Empathy and understanding: If someone is feeling blue, empathise and understand their feelings and communicate accordingly.
Creative Thinking
Persevere:
- Goal setting: Set small goals that will lead to finalising the larger task.
- Identify: Identify different aspects that are not working and use alternative ways to finish the task.
- Surrounding People: Certain people should be seeked out when one is considering to give up on a task. Try to speak to and surround yourself by inspirational and motivational people rather than people who are not.
- Visualisation: Visualise the goal wanting to be achieved.
- Breaks: If you are feeling exhausted or burned out have a break, listen to some music or go for a walk. Usually when a person has these type of breaks the answers/solution comes to mind.
Push the limits of your knowledge and abilities:
- Goal setting/time management: Set a goal to finish a task in a shorter time than usual. Push yourself to meet the goal deadline.
- Interaction/communication: Try and speak to other people who push their limits.
- Motivation: Put up quotes and phrases to motivate you to meet the deadline.
- Identify: Identify people in your life that have pushed their limits and call on them for inspiration if needed.
Generate, trust, and maintain your own standards of evaluation:
- Self-talk: self-talk to identify your personal standards.
- Higher standards: Make a task more challenging if becoming bored by the present task.
- Document and Display: Write a list of standards, review it and regularly focus on it.
Generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the boundaries of standard conventions:
- Analogies/Metaphors: to see things in a different way
- Brainstorming: many ideas and variations past the initial idea.
- Visualisation: See the topic/task through a child's eyes for example.
- Interaction/Communication: Interact and communicate with like minded creative thinking people.
Self-regulate thinking
Monitor your own thinking:
- Reminders: What am I thinking?
- Documentation: Write down your strategies that work while performing a task, so you know what works for next time.
- Reflection: What works and what does not work.
- Visualisation: Write down quotes and phrases that are inspirational and motivating so you can read them and visualise the success/outcome.
Plan appropriately:
- Clear goal: Have a clear goal so you know exactly what you are attempting to achieve.
- Organise/Planning: Write down goals with dates on when the goal shall be completed by. Maybe buy a wall planner.
- Checkpoints: For long term goals identify shorter term goals or checkpoints, and acknowledge your success along the way. This makes the long term goal easier achieved as you are working on several smaller goals rather than one big overwhelming one.
- Review: To check if the plan/task is working. If not it may need a different approach.
Identify and use necessary resources:
- Availability: Of resources that are needed and what else is available
- Interact/Communicate: with people who have been involved in similar tasks/projects. Collect Information, Inspiration and Motivation.
- Self -talk: What else is available? Ask yourself so you don't miss out on something you might overlook.
Respond Appropriately to Feedback:
- Specific Feedback: When working on a difficult task, stop every now and again and ask specific questions that will give you the answers you need for your project.
- Constructive Criticism: Ask peoples opinions, but don't get personal or reject the comments if you don't like them. Keep an open mind, take the comment/s on board. It may help or it may not. Make it a positive procedure to receive feedback, not a negative thing.
Evaluate the effectiveness of your actions:
- Self-talk: What worked? What would I do differently next time?
- Comparison: Compare your tactics with someone else who has done a similar thing. Look for things you could do or change to be more successful next time.
- Deconstruct: The large task into smaller ones, more manageable.
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