Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites ~ Chapters 1 & 2 ~ This Post Will Make You THINK!

I'm all geared up for this book study.  If you don't have a blog, but you'd like to participate in this awesome professional development opportunity, join in the linky by visiting the various blogs that are participating. Chime in with your thoughts via the comment section.  If you don't have the book you  will be able to share your thoughts just based on what the bloggers have shared - but you could also pick it up through iBooks if you have an iPad, iPhone, etc.  That's where I got mine.

I'm joining Kickin' It In Kindergarten today to talk about chapters 1 & 2

Just as soon as I heard about the book study I shared it with my staff.  While I love all types of professional development - because there are benefits to each and every type {whether it be in a lab classroom format, webinar, Instagram, in-school book studies, blogger book studies, etc.} this is one of my favorites.

Life around these parts can be hectic - basketball, baseball, house cleaning, etc. it can be hard to be held hard and fast to a specific time/place/event for professional development.  Read when I can? Sounds great.  Share my thoughts with THOUSANDS of others?  Oh yeah!  Mull over the thoughts shared by many?  Sign me up!  Professional development at its finest! {In my opinion}

With that, it's time to link up with Kickin' it in Kindergarten for chapters 1 & 2 in Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites by Marcia Tate.

You know you have found a book that is right up your alley enough for you to relate and enough for you to learn from when you start highlighting like a mad woman...

...and talking to yourself "Oh yeah!" "Amen!" "Sing it sister!"

Introduction

"...{we} are not only teachers but also gardeners, better known as dendrite growers because every time students learn something new in their classrooms, they grow a new brain cell, called a dendrite"

I just like that because it's such a hefty thing to think about.  Nothing bothers me more than feeling somebody in my class is there tuned out, and for lack of a better way to say it "rotting".  We are gardeners and we must cultivate those dendrites.  It can be daunting - but we have to remember the various ways students learn and how we can best reach them.  I have recently adopted the workshop/guided {fill in the blank} approach in most subjects.  It's just the only way I can see meeting individual needs in a way that targets their readiness and skill level the best.  Differentiation isn't just a catch phrase, it's not just a part of our teacher-jargon - it's what's right for students.

"When you examine the list of 20 {strategies}, you will find that they are used most frequently in the lower elementary grades. When the strategies begin to disappear from the repertoire of teachers is about the same time students' academic achievement, confidence, and love for school also diminish"

My colleagues and I have talked about this time and time again.  It seems that we work our behinds off trying to help all students reach their fullest potential and we do a darn good job!  Years pass and we hear mutterings of these same students struggling either in middle school or high school.  We just couldn't figure out what was happening.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not AT ALL disparaging middle school or high school teachers - my husband is one and a darn good one at that.  Things do change somewhere between first grade and 12th grade and I wish they didn't.  Sometimes I think we focus our "reform efforts" in the wrong places...not to toot our horns - but elementary teachers have such a strong understanding of human beings and their needs and I think your upper grade teachers have a very strong understanding of their content....it's just that some need to find a way to mesh the two.

                                         

Strategy 1:

Brainstorming and Discussion

"They can't talk in class. They can't talk in the hall. They can't talk in the cafeteria. They can't talk at all!"

This one hit me "right there".  I see people asking for ways to make their transitions quieter, I hear of schools that require students to sit and eat without talking.  I'll never forget a quote a professor shared with my class when I was in college.  I wish I could find the person who first said it.  If you know, please let me know!

I know it's important to have control of your class and to manage behaviors but there is a way to do this and allow your students to be human beings.  Can you sit in a workshop for 6 hours without chit chatting with your teacher-neighbor?  I know I sure can't!  So why expect that of your students?  I swear, it's during these conversations, that our students learn most!  Next time your class transitions, pay close attention to what they are talking about - I can guarantee that in some way, what they are talking about, is helping them grow...whether it be socially, behaviorally or academically - they are growing!

Some strategies the book mentions to allow for constructive conversations:

*Ask questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy

"Stick Pick" - I've mentioned this app before - it's great for picking students to answer questions - and has the Bloom's question stems built right in!

*Think, pair, share {and oldie but a goody} - I do this in my classroom, but not often enough that my students feel comfortable with one another to take risks.  I create "learning partners" for each trimester where students sit by the same student every day for every group discussion {for every subject} - I just get so caught up in my own mini-lessons, I forget to have them TALK with one another {and keep my mouth SHUT}.  Must fix this!

My big takeaway?  Allow more time for students to talk and challenge one another's thinking.  Model this with your own questions during whole group conversations.

Strategy 2:

Drawing and Artwork

This chapter was EXTREMELY encouraging and validating for me.  I've had this conversation more than a few times, over the years, since moving toward a more "rigorous" and "data-driven" age of teaching - "How is artwork aligned with the common core?" It was hard for me to find words aside from "Seriously, you can't see how it's important?"  No, there isn't a CCSS that specifically addresses doing craftivities or the like; but you HAVE to trust your teacher instincts people!  You know what is good and right for your students.  

But now you have this book, written by an amazingly respected educator, and can you really disagree with more than 70 years of research? {Allen, 2008; Dewey, 1934} "Researchers have written about the positive relationship between thinking in art and thinking across the curriculum." Adding to that affirmation, "When children play - draw, dance and sing - they engage every sense and help wire the neurons for learning successfully." {Sousa, 2006}

So, when somebody skeptically gives you the hairy eyeball while secretly admiring looking at the artwork you have hanging in the hallway or your classroom remember Marcia Tate and her collection of research that supports why you do what you do.  

I try to repeat this mantra in my mind  - because even I, after enough hairy eyeballs, lose sight of the fact that I'm giving my students something that will serve them well in the real world.  

"As long as I can support why I do what I do, and what I do is purposeful, I'll do it - even if I may encounter some friction" {Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade, 2015}

I would absolutely LOVE for you to comment below, with your thoughts and ideas - we can learn even more through thoughtful and reflective dialogue with one another!