#pw9 How might we ... (design thinking 1 of 12)

Image via Wikipedia"How might we engage students more deeply in ..."

Finish that sentence with any word you like; something to challenge yourself; something that might help you grow as a teacher.

Some possibilities: reading, mathematical thinking, the scientific method, writing, multiliterate expression, critical thinking, understanding bias, media literacy, etc.

Think about the second order principles of the discipline you teach;  use one of those to fill in the blank above. (Examples of second-order concepts in the study of history can be found here and there.)

Spend some time this week thinking about and jotting down one or two second-order concepts, or organizing principles, of the content area(s) you teach. Do you think a focus on these "big ideas" might make for more powerful learning for your students or maybe give them a way to begin thinking about their learning more deeply?

How might you incorporate these ideas into your lessons in the coming school year?

Does thinking about these second-order concepts help you understand your content more deeply?

Is there a course you teach that doesn't have any second-order concepts that underpins the content?

Please share your list of one or two ideas in a tweet, blog, leave a comment here or anywhere and include this tag in it somewhere: #wpedagogy

If you can think of a discipline that has no second-order concepts (SoC) please share that too!

If all this turns out to be hard, don't worry, we'll dig into this a little more deeply next week.  Start by thinking about this on your own. We'll figure out how to get help from other people next week.

(This series of posts inspired by Design Thinking for Educators.)

#pw7 Share Evaluation Criteria

Image by nchoz via FlickrMake the criteria for judging the range of student performance explicit.  Take this week to show your students exactly how they gain or lose points for a variety of assessment questions.

Ensure students know what success looks like; particularly if your students are writing final exams soon. They can achieve the targets for success we set for them if they know where the targets are and what they look like.

After a week of doing this do you find yourself thinking differently about how you assess student work?

Did this have any impact on the questions your students asked or how they showed their work?

Were there any changes in the atmosphere (culture) of your classroom?

Tweet, blog, leave a comment here or anywhere and include this tag in it somewhere: #wpedagogue

#pw4 Idea Networks

Image via WikipediaThis week explicitly explain to students how different ideas they are learning are in fact connected. Give yourself 1000 bonus points if you can help them see the connections across different subjects.

Another way to think of this: "Structure learning around the big ideas of your discipline." Can you articulate one or two of these big ideas?

After a week of doing this are your students starting to make connections you hadn't thought of?

Did this have any impact on conversations in class?

Were there any changes in the atmosphere (culture) of your classroom?

Tweet, blog, leave a comment here or anywhere and include this tag in it somewhere: #wpedagogue