Critical Literacy Across the Curriculum

From criticalliteracyandcreativity.wikispaces.com

If you are a social reconstructionist or agree with this philosophy, then critical literacy is for you.  Critical literacy is one of the most powerful strategies you can use involving critical thought about what you see and hear.  In a nutshell, it is analyzing different resources to understand perspectives outside one's own.  According to Roberge 2013 through this skill, students learn to deeply understand text thus unravelling the true intended messages of texts.  As a result, students are better able to appreciate others perspectives while becoming more aware of the inequalities, oppressions and injustices present in everyday life (Roberge, 2013).

But how can critical literacy be applied to other content areas, outside the typical English classroom?  There are certain ways this can be done (which is mostly from Roberge, 2013):

Science:  The best scientific strand in which critical literacy can be best applied, is environmental science.  Examples include:
- discussing the different viewpoints of certain real-world environmental issues (Grant & Lapp, 2011).
- researching theories about non-mainstream concepts, that have been omitted from textbooks
- explore possible solutions to environmental problems while considering different perspectives

Nutrition:  This is another great content area that can be critically analyzed, especially when coupled with media.  Students can learn a great deal about the major influences imposed by the media, on their food choices.  Examples include:
- watching TV and collecting data on the types of cereals that are shown in commercials.
- calculating the amount of sugar in popular cereal compared to other cereal (this requires a trip to the grocery store).
- evaluating organic foods compared to other 'regular' foods.

Social Studies:  Critical literacy can very easily be incorporated in any social studies/science class.  This is especially true when the content learned is related to different cultures and ways of knowing.  Examples include:
- role playing, to understand another person's perspective on an issue, past event or controversy.
- creating 'what if' debates about past events, such as the establishment of residential schools or the arrival of Jacques Cartier to Canada (which he thought was India).
- using the RAFT method (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) to understand different viewpoints.

There are countless ways critical literacy can be incorporated in the classroom.  It is just a matter of doing the research and taking the time to create meaningful lessons.  Although a little time-consuming, it can be an extremely rewarding experience for your students (and yourself too!).

If you involve critical literacy in your classrooms, please comment below with ideas you'd like to share.

Learning Through Visual Thinking Strategies

From https://amoablog.wordpress.com and http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com, respectively

As a student-teacher, I have of course been exposed to various types of instructional strategies.  One in particular (which I found out later, had an actual name), involved the use of pictures where we were asked "What do you see in this picture?".  The picture depicted a setting that appeared to be an arts class, back in the mid-century era.  Of course, because this is an arts class and I'm a scientific, I didn't realize the significance of what we were doing.  However, it wasn't until later the next year, that I realized that using imagery in the classroom can be a very powerful way to elicit critical thought.

Visual Thinking Strategies (also called VTS) are inquiry-based teaching strategies that are becoming more popular these days.  They involve posting an image at the front of the class (either via a projector or smartboard) and asking students the following three (3) questions (refer to Murawski 2014 for more details):

1. What’s going on in this picture?
2. What do you see that makes you say that?
3. What more can we find?

Notice that these questions are open-ended, where there is no right or wrong?  This simple fact makes sharing of ideas more appealing to many students.  In other words, students feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts because there is no basis for judgement.  This in turn helps students 'gain greater confidence' in themselves (VTShome.org).

VTS engage students through whole class discussions, allowing students the opportunity to learn from each others' perspectives and creativities (Robertson, 2012).  This in turn exposes students to the reality that people have different ways of thinking and see the world differently than they do even though what they are looking at is fixed.  It also involves collaboration between students as they question each others' views to better understanding each others' thoughts.  This leads to the point that if VTS is used properly and consistently, students can learn to "respect and understand others' cultures and points of views" beyond the classroom environment (VTShome.org)

This strategy also provides a means to connect the lesson to real world issues, by inviting students to pause, observe and take note of details they see.  This allows them to expand their understanding and knowledge about real life and what's happening on an international level.  It allows them to make meaningful connections to truly understand the 'big picture' (Gonchar, 2015).  Similarly, VTS is a great way to assess prior knowledge while offering the opportunity to build on that prior knowledge to explore further.  As a result, students gain a better understanding of what is really happening in the world around them (VTShome.org).  Consequently, they will learn to be better critics of what they see in the mainstream media as well as in their immediate  micro- and macrosystems.

Although VTS appear to be an 'artsy' teaching method, they can be implemented in any content area classroom from kindergarten to grade 12.  Since I've realized the potential of using this strategy, I plan on making it a point to use it regularly as starter activities (hook) for my science lessons.  In fact, it could easily be coupled with STEM lessons!

If you use VTS in your classroom, please comment below with your most effective image(s) that you've used in your lesson(s).

Every Teacher Should Blog

From www.serendipityandspice.com

I have realized over the course of this blog, that blogging should be performed by all teachers (and student teachers).  From experience, I feel that blogging has not only significantly contributed to my personal learning as a student teacher, but also has be a great resource for staying up to date with new educational tools and strategies.  It could even be considered a professional development strategy that is has no limit in terms of its educational content.

Blogging is a wonderful way to share your knowledge and discoveries even as you conduct research for whatever personal or professional reason (ie. lesson planning, classroom management, assessment strategies).  Your blog can in turn become a professional development strategy for other professional educators too.  As such, it becomes a great outlet in serving and contributing to your professional community worldwide.

Similarly, since writing reflections consistently is the basis for effective teaching, blogging can also serve this need.  Reflection is about writing what you've learned about your lesson (through experience) and the end result of what you've observed, as a mean of keeping track of how to improve.  It is also through reflection that you learn about yourself, your philosophies and methods of teaching.  Since you are already writing about all this stuff in your reflection journal, why not do so online where others can learn from your observations and experiences too?

When I research and write about a topic that I had difficulty understanding before, I find that getting myself to blog about it actually clarifies the concepts I want to learn.  As teachers, we know that it is when students are able to teach others that learning is at it's peak.  As such, blogging forces you to learn and fully understand a topic before writing about it. 

Come to think of it... students should be blogging too!


 

Sounds like a Car... A 5E Model you say?

from www.bscs.org

Inquiry based learning is one of the most popular instructional strategies used today.  However, it is also one of the toughest to implement in the classroom.  While searching for types of inquiry activities to use (and blog about), I stumbled across a great article related to the 5E inquiry model: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.  This model, which was never discussed in our Faculty of Education classes, is one which actually explains in detail, the components of a good inquiry lesson.  It supports the 'constructivism' philosophical approach (Piaget and Gardner) where it is believed that students learn best by exploring and constructing their own ways of understanding an idea or concept. (Nasa.gov)


Engagement:  Purpose is to assess prior knowledge and get students engaged by way of starter activities that peak student interest.  The activity (or hook) should connect prior knowledge (lessons) to possible misconceptions thus creating 'cognitive disequilibrium', an uncomfortable state or frame of mind.  Examples of these kinds of 'hooks' include:  asking a question, showing a 'discrepant event', showing a problem, doing a cool demonstration.  The goals is to have students to successfully engage due to the motivation lead by the 'hook' activity. (Mostly from bscs.org, p.9).

Exploration:  Provides students with a basis at which to work with in order to further explore 'unbalanced' concepts, processes and skills presented during the 'hook'.  Students use their prior knowledge to base their new learning from, while exploring ways to reinstate equilibrium through investigation.  For this phase to be effective, it must be hands-on and students must be given the necessary time to explore objects, events and/or situations.  Teachers must only act as facilitators in the learning process. (Mostly from bscs.org, p.9).

Explanation:  Teachers focus on one aspect of their students exploration process and gives students the opportunity to explain their understanding.  Teachers then introduce new concepts, ideas or skills to students while providing a formal explanation about the new idea.  The teacher should connect the student's explanation to their own explanation as well as the experience itself.  This tends to deepen student understanding, which is a critical part of this phase. (Mostly from bscs.org, p.9).

Elaboration:  Students can further explore and demonstrate their newly acquired understanding by applying or transferring it to new situations.  These activities can be more complex and require high-order thinking.  Interactions within small groups and collaborative learning give students the opportunity to develop new ways of thinking. The main goal of this phase is to get students trained in generalizing concepts and processes.(Mostly from bscs.org, p.10).

Evaluation:  Teachers and students can assess new student understanding while affirming whether students have reached the respective learning goals.  This can be accomplished through formative teacher evaluations, and self-evaluations, although peer-evaluations may also be used. (Mostly from bscs.org, p.10).

This model was created in 1987 (I believe) by the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS).  Have you ever heard of it?  

Scaffolding to Bridge the Gap

From www.cbsrentals.ca

In our social studies class, our professor has introduced us to a very common scaffolding strategy - breaking down an assignment in chunks, giving us a deadline to complete each one.  The idea here is to get us to complete our assignment in steps, while giving us meaningful feedback along the way.

Scaffolding is an old concept that originates from Lev Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD) theory (ASCD, 2010).  ZPD "is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help" (Innovative Learning, 2011).  In other words, teachers will scaffold in order to guide students toward reaching the next level up in their understanding of a concept.  It is a temporary strategy that is gradually lessened as students master the new learning level.

Thus, in order to successfully scaffold a student, a teacher must know where a student is in their learning and understanding.  This can be assessed through questioning, and other formative evaluation strategies.  From there, it becomes just a matter of knowing effective scaffolding methods to get students to reach their next level of learning.  Five (5) great scaffolding strategies are presented here:

1.  Always Demonstrate:  Many learners are mostly visual and tend to prefer seeing what they have to do instead of trying to figure it out on their own, with written instruction.  I am one of these students.  I find that modeling is a critical scaffolding strategy that should be used as often as possible, no matter what.  It is a wonderful way to show students exactly what is expected of them. (Alber, 2011).   This strategy involves showing how to complete an assignment (or lab) and the use of Examplars, an example of the final product sought.

When a project or assignment is assigned to students, share an exemplar with them so they know exactly what your level of expectation is.  Have the rubric that will be used to assess their work handy, and go over the rubric with them while evaluating the exemplar.  This also provides a great opportunity for students to ask questions for further clarification of the assignment.  (Alber, 2011)

2.  Daily Discussions:  Ever heard of the expression "Two heads are better than one"?  Discussions can be viewed in this way, in terms of scaffolding strategy.  It encourages students to engage in whole class and or small group discussions in order to deepen their understand of the concept being explored.  It gives them the opportunity to connect ideas to see the bigger picture as well as relate what is being learned to previous experiences and knowledge (Alber, 2011).  It can also be used by way of debates, think/pair/share, triad teams and more (Alber, 2011).  Daily discussions should be part of the every day lesson and thus, it is imperative that teachers put the extra effort to ensure students feel safe to share in the classroom.

3.  Visual Aids:  Graphic organizers have been repeatedly used by teachers as an aid in learning for students with special needs, such as English Learners and children with exceptionalities.  But it is important to note that they can be just as useful for other strong students as well.  The main purpose of using visual aids is to help students organize their thoughts to further understand the concept being taught.  Graphic organizers can be used by teachers during the course of a lesson, or they can be used by students during the course of study.  There are various websites online that offer graphic organizer templates, which any teacher can use (TeachingHistory.org).

4.  Effective Questions:  Coupled with daily discussions, asking effective questions can deepen thought and improve understanding of a lesson.  As stated by Rebecca Alber (2011), there are certain types of questions you should aim for:  specific, guiding, and open-ended.  Additionally, it is crucial to allow students enough time to think about the question prior giving an answer.  Read All Teachers Should Ask Good Questions for details on how to create effective questions.

5.  Small Group Work:  Small (3-4 students) group work leads to collaborative learning, which is again, extremely important for students to increase their levels of understanding.  Not only that, it also gets them to refine their social skills, such as negotiation, conflict resolution, communication, and listening skills (Alber, 2012).  I personally really like to incorporate group work as much as I can, because I believe in community-based learning.

What is your favourite scaffolding method both as a teacher and a student?

Getting Students 'Hooked' to Learn

From www.tes.com

Ever heard of the expression "the first 10 seconds determines first impressions"?  Well, not only does this finding relate to first impressions of a person, but they also determine the amount of interest in a classroom.  I find that in order to maximize student interest, first impressions are paramount in keeping students engaged and motivated to learn your content.  Luckily, there are various ways to grasp your students' immediate attention and keep their attention for the rest of a lesson.  These 'ways' are called 'starter activities' or simply 'hooks'. 

There are tons of resources online that can help you find the right hook for each of your lessons, regardless of your content area.  I personally find that anything funny or that elicits some type of discussion, are the best.  Here are my top 5 starter activity ideas:

1.  Magnified picture:  Posting a relevant magnified image, on the board at the beginning of class as students enter the classroom, is a great way to have them start thinking about the day's lesson.  It is also a great way to generate prior knowledge.  Simply google 'magnified photo of' and your topic, in order to find a great image that fits. 

2.  Text your vote:  Posting a poll question where students answer one of two answers, is also a great way to encourage discussions.  The best questions are opinion based, as you can have students volunteer answers before the lesson begins.  This can stir some quite intense debates the classroom, which keeps students engaged.  Kahoot is one of many sites that offers poll options which are simple to create and use.

3.  Music videos:  Who knew you could start the lesson with a music video about your content?  Students generally love music and learning content through popular songs is a great way to catch their attention.  Sites that offer music videos include:  Songs for Teaching is a great social studies music site whereas Mr. Parr's Science songs is great for science. 

4.  Pass the parcel:  Kind of like musical chairs, students pass around a brown paper bag with question cards inside, related to the day's lesson.  As the music plays, students must pass this paper bag around.  When the music stops, the student holding the bag must pick a question card inside (without looking) and answer the question.  This can be used to review the previous lesson or to assess students' prior knowledge about the lesson to be taught that day.  This is a great way to engage all students and get them excited to learn. (Idea taken from Outstanding Lessons site).

5.  Gratitude journal:  Having students come to class and begin by writing in a personal journal, what they are grateful for, is a great way to keep students in the right frame of mind, the entire day.  According to Blogger Vicky Davis, this activity has been proven to even increase long-term well-being and happiness.  Although these journals are not content area specific, they can still be extremely beneficial for their being. 

What is your favorite starter activity?  Please share in the comments below.

Professional Development For Ontario Teachers

From americantesol.com

As part of our due diligence as teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure we keep learning in order to stay updated with current ways of teaching and learning.  There are multiple ways one can accomplish this, through registration of AQ (additional qualifications) courses, to reading journal articles and news articles.  Another great way is through webinars.  In my search to keep learning and growing in my field, I have found several websites that offer free online webinars for teachers. 
Here is my top 4 list:

1.  Ontario Teachers' Federation Learning Sessions:  Has monthly webinars about various topics including new technology, how to teach math, incorporating financial literacy in any classroom, lesson planning, inquiry-based teaching, and more.  These webinars are my favorite as they are specific to the Ontario curriculum and give meaningful information on how to effectively improve lesson content and delivery.

2.  International Institute for Restorative Practices Webinars:  Offers free webinars on how to implement restorative practices in the classroom.  These courses also provide the opportunity to learn how to bring the restorative practices concept at a whole school level. 

3.  ASCD Professional Development Webinars:  Offers a long list of great presentations about topics such as how to become an effective teacher, cultivating curiosity in the classroom, meeting students needs, how to motivate reluctant learners and much much more.  This site requires that you register before having access to these archived webinars, but it is free and well worth it.  They also provide you with a presentation handout of the webinar, so you can keep it for future reference. 

4.  #stateoftheART Best Webinars List:  This blog offers their list of the best 20 webinars found online.  Although not Canadian, it offers a great list of specific presentations that you can watch online.  Each webinar is offered by different organizations/websites (ie. Coursera, EdTech, etc), so you can always check their list of webinars as well.  It will surely give you an insight on different ways of teaching around the world.

If you are aware of other great webinars that are offered online and free of charge, please share by commenting below. We are always looking for new ways to develop our teaching and learning skills.

Connection Before Content Through Restorative Practices

From http://www.centerforrestorativeprocess.com

If you haven't heard of this new 'restorative practices' movement in today's classrooms, then you must read on.  According to the Center for Restorative Process, this technique has been proven to "help to create calmer, more focused classroom(s)" by way of building a sense of community and stepping outside of self to understand others perspectives on behavior.  This is turn helps students develop empathy, conflict resolution skills, emotional intelligence, leadership skills and much more. Restorative practices are best performed in open circle dialogues and are easily implemented with students.  The key to success however, is consistency. 

Although there are numerous ways to perform restorative practices in the classroom, new teachers can develop this technique quickly by learning these five (5) main requirements (all information presented here is taken the Center for Restorative Process (CRP) document):

1) Physical arrangement:  For this technique to work well, students must be placed in a position where they can see each other face to face.  This can be accomplished through a circled seating format. There are various types of circles that can be implemented (ie. basic circle, fishbowl circle, popcorn circle, etc).  It is best to research these set ups prior to commencing on the restorative practice journey, to see which would work best for your end goal.  For details on each type of circle, see page 21 of the CRP document.

2) Talking piece:  A talking piece is an object held by a speaker during the circle meeting.  It's main purpose is to give a student the opportunity to have a voice and be listened to.  Only the person holding the piece can speak, and it is everyone's responsibility to be respectful of this individual's thoughts/feelings.  This object could be one taken from nature (ie. rock, feather, shell) or even purchased.  The aim is to choose something that signifies peace and calmness. 

3) High-quality Questions:  For a circle meeting to be successful, high-quality questions must be asked in order to elicit deep and thoughtful discussions.  They can also be used as a means to 'check-in' with students current moods/feelings.  When restorative practice circles are new to the classroom, questions should be more general and superficial.  However, as they become a routine and students build trust with one another, they should be of a deeper nature.  The key is to ensure they are relevant and meaningful to your students' lives (and/or current events), are open-ended, and invite deep thought.  For examples of high-quality questions, see page 12 of the CRP document.

4) Respect:  It is crucial to teach students to listen without judgment and interference when someone (the person holding the talking piece) speaks.  In other words, it is a sense of release portal without feeling judged.  Thus, it is important for students who are listening to respect the speaker's thoughts and feelings, no matter how much pain the speaker is going through.  The purpose of the circle is to build a sense of safety and belongingness.  As well, it is important to show respect by keeping what was said to oneself - not to gossip it to friends outside class.  Thus, it may be necessary to remind students daily of these rules prior to commencing the dialogue. 

5) Reflection:  Although not a requirement, it may be a good idea to have students reflect on their thoughts after a meeting or on a weekly basis.  This could be accomplished by way of a personal journal, where students are asked to write down what they've learned that week or how they can improve as individuals based on the week's circle dialogues.  It could be a great way for them to keep track of growth, both on a personal level as well as an academic one.

For more information on learning restorative practices, join these FREE webinars hosted by the International Institute for Restorative Practices:  http://www.iirp.edu/webinars.php

Have you used restorative practice in your classroom?  If so, what have you as an educator or student, learned from this technique?

Teaching in STEM

From d11.org
 

For one of my pre-service teacher assignments, I am required to create a STEM lesson which incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  Due to my limited knowledge in the subject, I thought I'd do some research online to find out more detail before going forward and beginning this project.  STEM is an enriching inquiry-based concept that engages students in guiding their own learning, whereby the educator only acts as facilitator.  STEM learning can be incorporated in any subject matter, from science to social science to history and geography.  The goal of this concept is to give students the opportunity to learn through a minds-on approach where they get exposed to real life situations that require real problem-solving.

There are numerous articles available that explain what STEM is, and how important it is to integrate it in the classroom.  But trying to make sense of it all can be a bit overwhelming.  Based on the information I gathered, here are the four (4) main steps needed to design a meaningful STEM lesson/activity for your students:

S is for SCIENCE:  A scientific method approach is important in any STEM lesson.  To satisfy this step, students can incorporate a theory or hypothesis for an experiment or lab and add dependent and independent variables.  Students' science background can also help them determine possible sources of errors in the design of their project, to improve the functionality or solution to the real life problem they are assessing.  Alternatively, students can simply use a science activity to introduce the concept they will be exploring.

T is for TECHNOLOGY:  A great way to incorporate technology in a STEM lesson is to use it as a means to do further research on the topic of choice and even data collection (see math component).  A large variety of resources can be used, including online research, mobile apps, simulation and virtual lab websites, and connecting with real experts by way of email, video-conference, Skype, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and more.  Other technologies used can include games, videos, and even music.

E is for ENGINEERING:  For this step to be satisfied, students must design, build or improve the design of a product, idea or concept.  The purpose of this step is to solve a real-life problem by creating a solution.  This step is mostly hands-on and involves a lot of trial and errors.  Because STEM involves a lot of teamwork, this step works very well when many students work collaboratively to build on each other's ideas.

M is for MATHEMATICS:  The last step involves the use of data collection (through the use of various measuring tools) and analysis methods.  The purpose of this step is to quantify data resulting from the testing of the concept, which can be presented by way of tables, graphs, and maps.  It is also applied when students attempt to find patterns and trends in the data collected that would otherwise not necessarily be apparent.

Of course, there are a lot more ways Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics can be applied to STEM projects.  This article was simply written as an introduction to help understand the basis of STEM.  If you have integrated STEM in the classroom, and know of other ways these four steps can be applied, please comment below and I will gladly add it to the content of this article.

Inquiry-Based Learning for the Novice Teacher

From wilkes.discoveryeducation.com

Inquiry-based learning in one sentence, can be best summed as per Blogger Lisa Donohue:  "helping students know where to look, but not telling them what to see”.  This process of inquiry has been found to be one of the most effective ways of learning as it deepens student knowledge, understanding and interest of a specific topic (Capacity Building Series, 2013).

In order for inquiry-based learning to be successfully implemented in the classroom, teachers must not only be knowledgeable about the curriculum, but must also know how to correctly guide students through inquiry-based thinking.  The latter is not an easy task, and as a novice teacher myself, I find it to be an overwhelming process.  However, through research I have found many effective ways to get started, which I would like to share with you.

Many students may not have had the opportunity to learn in an inquiry-based environment before.  Thus, it is important for the teacher to initiate the process through demonstrations early at the beginning of the year.  This not only helps students understand what is expected of them, but it also encourages them to build good habits of thinking which will no doubt flourish throughout the course of the year.  According to the article Capacity Building Series - Inquiry-based Learning (2013), there are various types of contributions teachers can model, in order to teach students how to inquire.  These can include:

a) Declarative statements, such as "Do you agree or disagree with...?"; "Can you provide a reason for your answer?"; and "What example do you have that supports your decision?"

b) Building on, which includes further explaining or adding to a student's answer in order to elicit deeper thinking for the rest of the students (ie. this works best during a whole class discussion).

c) Paraphrasing statements made by students, to clarify that what was said was understood.  This is also a great opportunity to ask other students if they would like to add to the statement, during group or whole class discussions.

d) Making connections, such as using analogies or experiences to explain a concept or idea further.  This is a great opportunity to prompt students to give other examples of connections found in order to make the learning more meaningful and memorable. 

e) Asking questions, in order to guide students into deeper thought and perhaps recognize patterns or see things through another lens.  Ex.  Is life better or worse today than it was for the people in Canada as it was in the mid-1800s?

f) Proposing theories, such as asking students how we could test their theory in order to verify if their statement can in fact be true.  Ex.  Think about the education today compared to what it was in the mid-1800s.  What do you think the main focus of knowledge was at the time?

If you are a teacher who uses inquiry-based learning on a regular basis, what other ways can novice teachers initiate the process in their classroom effectively?

Josee's Blog Post Self-Reflection

Writing blog posts as part of an assessment assignment has truly been one of the best experiences I've had, as a student-teacher.  It has not only obliged me to review details of our assessment course lectures in order to teach the material to our readers, but has proven to be an effective means of furthering my learning in the subject.  Blogging isn't for everyone, and requires dedication, persistence, and motivation.  But for me, it is one of the most pleasurable ways to learn as I enjoy researching information and sharing my discoveries.  I plan on continuing on with this blog, as it has greatly contributed to my growth as both a mother and future teacher.  Additionally, it is a great way to keep informed of new information in the field of education and to contribute to the online education community.  I would like to thank you Prof. Leo Clark, for your encouragement and open-mindedness in allowing us to create our own assignment.  This blog is not only a reflection of our own independent learning abilities but also the direct result of an inspirational teacher's effective teaching strategies.

I hope that you (my readers) will find my posts interesting and that they contribute to the improvement and effectiveness of your own teaching practices. 

Learning from Teachers who Excelled

From http://bcteacherinfo.blogspot.ca/2014/12/jeff-dickson-recognized-by-sd-35-board.html

As a final post for my Assessment class, I wanted to finish off by posting valuable insight from Teachers who have received the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence.   By reviewing the details of many outstanding teachers, I have realized that there are several trends incorporating many of the same types of assessment and teaching strategies I've learned about as a Faculty of Education student at the University of Windsor.  Consequently, this has given me precious information as to how to become an effective teacher, which I want to share with you.  I hope that this inspires you to improve your instruction and assessment methods, as it has for me.

Inquiry and Critical Thinking

Stan Hunter, Stoney Creek, Ontario:  Mr. Hunter links the real world to the classroom. Through his "infamous question of the week", he encourages his students to brainstorm, to be engaged and to develop their cognitive skills at school.

Gabriel Roman Ayyavoo, Toronto, Ontario:  Mr. Ayyavoo brought the Science Investigation Project (SIP) to his school. Students formulate their own research question, develop their own investigation, analyze the results and present their findings at a fair that is judged by parents.  He has also founded an online science magazine for his students called Dame Detectives: Journal of Scientific Investigations (damedetectives.wordpress.com). A committee of students manages the magazine, which is a collection of articles about student research, experiments and learning in their high school experience.

Harriet Simand, Toronto, Ontario:  Simand uses inquiry-based projects to get her students energized and asking relevant questions.  She lead her class in an initiative to ban plastic bags in Toronto, which they accomplished using a variety of media and lessons from all their classes. They issued media releases that were picked up by major papers, liaised with local politicians, created a wiki and directed, filmed and edited their own documentary (http://banthebagbrigade.wikispaces.com) of their bag campaign for their peers.

David Moffatt, Hamilton, Ontario:  Mr. Moffatt's teaching philosophy includes:  Expect high-level thinking and then foster confidence in students so they exceed what they think they can do. Engage students by treating all of biology as solutions to problems, rather than mere facts. Foster authentic discovery by requiring all Grade 11 students to complete a theme study that involves collective work, original research, following a protocol, scientific analysis and professional-level communication of results. Use technology to support learning rather than just for the sake of introducing technology.

Learning Goals and Success Criteria

Aviva Dunsiger, Ancaster, Ontario:  Dunsiger maintains a strong relationship not just with her students, but with their parents as well. Every Sunday, she calls every parent and emails daily with links to videos and work they've completed that day. Dunsiger's students know exactly what to expect because she engages them to take ownership of their learning by having them clearly outline their learning goals and criteria for success.

Independent Learning

Joanna Sanders Bobiash, Regina, Saskatchewan:  Ms. Sanders Bobiash lets her students put the latest technology to the test and finds resourceful ways to incorporate blogging, skypeing, webquesting and googling into her lessons. Students themselves become resourceful, critical thinkers, confident presenters and creative artists … not just ready for high school, but ready for the world.

Marie Chomyn, Vancouver, British Columbia:  Chomyn encourages students to use online learning to extend their classroom education as she fosters leadership and student social responsibility. She makes use of available resources in the community as her students are challenged with multi-disciplinary activities and become autonomous learners and thinkers who monitor and report on their own learning.

Todd Ablett, Vancouver, British Columbia:  In a school on Vancouver's East Side, a jurisdiction not favoured by circumstance, Mr. Ablett has worked tirelessly to ensure that his students have all the advantages that technology can provide. His class and workshop are open to all. But when a student comes to ask Mr. Ablett for help, they don't often get an answer directly from him. By putting students of all levels together, Mr. Ablett creates an informal mentoring program where junior students don't always have to rely on the teacher, and where seniors can take pride in becoming the experts.

William Eaton, Keremeos, British Columbia:  Teaching students to be leaders and to teach each other is the very simple philosophy that guides Mr. Eaton's practice. Mr. Eaton's student driven class website is exemplary. Not just a hub for teachers, students and parents, it serves as an information portal maintained by the students that teaches them responsibility and leadership. An empowering tool, it is updated daily by students who also weekly train and trade off their responsibilities to the next student.

Patti Sebestyen, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan:  Mrs. Sebestyen's teaching approach includes:  Employs reality therapy/control theory to help students learn to think critically, act logically, listen, understand and communicate effectively. Uses role-playing techniques extensively to help students think beyond their own perspective and learn alternative methods of interaction. Fosters self-expression and self-awareness through discussion at morning circle time, the UN (United Nations) game (during which she asks each student open-ended discussion questions) and teachable moments throughout the day in a non-competitive, everybody wins, safe environment.

Peter Gardiner, Victoria, British Columbia:  Mr. Gardiner's teaching approach includes:  Maintain the highest professional standards and the deepest personal commitment. Students must accept responsibility for their own learning and realize that the teacher is one of many available resources. Students are capable of learning, thinking and analyzing at a much higher level than they initially believe, demonstrate or give themselves credit for.

Creating a Community within the Classroom

Jonathan Rempel, Surrey, British Columbia:  Rempel developed the Learning Adventure Co-op to inspire a sense of community in his students through a series of hikes, overnight camping experiences and ropes courses. They even did an overnight hike to see a glacier! It is a huge success and the community it created within the class allowed students who would normally have never spoken to each other, to interact on the trails. The sense of community transferred back into the classroom and students now go to each other for help.

Mary-Ellen Perley Waugh, Edmonton, Alberta:  Mrs. Waugh's teaching philosophy includes:  Emphasizes a positive, warm working relationship between students and teacher, and high-energy enthusiasm that reflects a positive attitude and commitment. Communication and Information Technology is used to facilitate group learning. Students are encouraged to PowerPoint presentations and photo essays to present class projects, assignments and tests. Seeks out experts from the local community and invites them to become partners and mentors of the students in her class. Classroom is designed under the assumption that students who are invited into an active and stimulating learning environment will be more creative, innovative and think critically and act logically. Participates in numerous professional development sessions and provides in-service support to fellow staff members.

Transferring the Understanding

Christine Marin, Richmond, British Columbia:  Ms. Marin helps her students make sense of their world. She finds ways for her students to make real life connections to what they learn in class and encourages them to "Always know why you're doing what you're doing ". Students learn to use the latest software and technology and are even passing the knowledge on to their parents.

Shirley Turner, Vancouver, British Columbia:  Ms. Turner's strong belief that students need to be prepared for the world in which they will live leads to her use of a wide range of activities both in and out of the classroom. Examples include peer instruction, cooperative learning and knowledge sharing in laboratory and on-line projects. In her work with gifted students, she helps them to expand their skills beyond academics to broaden their experience of their immediate community and environment, with the goal of becoming well-rounded individuals. She encourages all students to use technology to present what they have learned.

Michael Ernest Sweet, Montreal, Quebec:  Mr. Sweet strives to make students' learning experiences real experiences. Rather than simply establishing connections with the community and corporate relationships, he shows students how to make and maintain these relationships themselves. Rather than teaching them about writing, he encourages them to be writers. As part of this approach, he promotes activism—students learning to think beyond what simply is, to what could be, by engaging their imagination and writing about a better world—and involves them in frank and critical discussions of important issues.  Mr. Sweet founded Learning for a Cause, a program that encourages students to think of themselves as real writers and produce works on real issues and then publish them in real books. To date, Mr. Sweet and his students have published three anthologies, including one with students responding to racism, poverty, war and domestic violence. A second anthology, Down to Earth, features responses to environmental destruction and global warning.

Cheryl Carr, Agincourt (Scarborough), Ontario:  Mrs. Carr's teaching philosophy includes:  Make experiential learning the centre of all teaching. Make available a variety of resources for students, including magazine articles, slides from trips, online materials and documentaries, encourage role plays, and connect students with people, such as guest speakers and students from other countries. Back up real-world teaching strategies with real-world assessments: incorporate slides, maps, websites and other media resources into tests and examinations.

Bradley Talbot and Douglas Grunert, Kelowna, British Columbia:  Mr. Talbot and Mr. Grunert's teaching approach include:  To create opportunities for students to gain real-life experiences they may not normally receive. To create activities out of the classroom and even out of the country that require students to participate with community leaders and environmental agencies. To help reduce student stress during exams and scholarship testing with special tutorials along with a significant dose of humour. I always tell my students they are going to forget 80 percent of what I teach them. That's why I teach them 180 percent more than they will be tested on.

Self- and Peer-Assessments

Wayne Phillips, Red Deer, Alberta:  Inspired by the school motto, "Good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best!" Mr. Phillips employs self– and peer assessment in his classroom. Self-assessment, he says, encourages self-motivation, so students complete questionnaires to help them identify their best work and areas in which they could improve. During peer assessment of a project, students group work into "good", "better" and "best" categories. After receiving this peer evaluation, students are then allowed to take their work home and improve it.

Student Failure

Jean Murphy, Cow Head, Newfoundland:  Mr. Murphy's teaching philosophy includes:  A mistake is not a mistake if you fix it. An incorrect answer is an opportunity to demonstrate problem-solving skills. Provide a flexible teaching and learning environment with lots of group work and critical discussion. Involve parents and provide support for both students and parents outside regular school hours.

Social Responsibility

John Cordukes, Cobourg, Ontario:  Mr. Cordukes' teaching philosophy includes:  Heightening students' awareness of global environmental issues and instiling in them a sense of social conscience and civic responsibility towards the environment. Helping students understand that they are important and that what they are learning is valuable.  Brings science to life with field trips, interesting biology projects and contests.

Ian Naisbitt, Windsor, Ontario:  Mr. Naisbitt's teaching approach includes:  Teach students the values and skills that will make them valuable citizens in the future. Make them passionate about issues such as the environment, show them they can make a difference and give them the communications and planning skills so they can influence the public agenda. Teach students the importance of community service and giving back to the community. Always keep hands-on work at the centre of learning.

For the complete list of Prime Minister's Awards for Teacher Excellence, click here.

Why We Must Encourage Students to Fail

From https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/21/essay-importance-teaching-failure

It has been found that self-worth is directly related to avoiding failure, because failure causes a feeling of incompetence (Zakrzewski, 2013).  This is because many students perceive achievement or failure as a direct determinant of who they are and what they are capable of.  Students who fear failure most likely also fear taking risks, trying new things, being creative and gaining new perspectives (Tuggand, 2011).  As a result, they become unmotivated to participate in class and learn what is being taught.  This can obviously be detrimental to success in school, career and personal development.

One perspective that really made me think is that of Daniel Wong, author of bestseller The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success.  In his article "How Students Can Overcome Their Fear of Failure", he explains that "the fear of failure (...) stems from teachers" (Wong, n.d).  This was a very powerful statement as I would have never thought this to be true.  However, after further research, I have realized that teachers in fact have a huge impact on the way students feel about failure.  One teacher in particular stood out, who created a ingenious way to not only encourage students to make mistakes, but to feel good about them.  Edward Burger explains in his article "Teaching to Fail" that by giving out marks on 'quality of failure' and intentionally encouraging failure, he was able to deepen the learning and understanding of his students (Burger, 2012). 

One of Burger's main points is that it is most important to focus on the process of learning instead of the end grades (summative).  Mistakes must be viewed as "an indication of what still needs to be learned, not of failure" (Tuggand, 2011).  So, perhaps it is best to not focus so much on giving out marks but on providing as much effective feedback as possible, to encourage students to learn.  Burger's unique teaching strategy creates a positive atmosphere within the classroom allowing students to feel safe, while learning that failure is a necessary part of experiencing success (Burger, 2012).  In turn, students are more likely to participate in class and share their 'authentic ideas' as well as mistakes, allowing the teacher to correct any misunderstandings and students to improve in their learning (Burger, 2012).

For more information on how to provide effective feedback to students, read the article Giving Effective Feedback to Students. 

In what ways do you promote failure and mistakes in your classroom? 

8 Strategies for Creating Independent Learners

From http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/trends/putting-students-in-the-drivers-seat-an-interview-with-kim-cofino/

I was once told by a High School Science teacher that 'you should always stay conscious of what you do because it can become too easy to spoon-feed students'.  Teachers who offer excessive help and will drop everything to ensure the student has all the tools necessary for success, actually rob them of one of the most desirable skills they can develop - independence.  Thus, when we as educators carefully plan our units and lessons, we should always keep in mind that one of our main goals is to prepare students to become independent learners. 

Independent learning is the gateway to the development of other lifelong skill sets such as thinking skills, conflict resolution, leadership, resource-management, time-management, focus, and so forth (QuEST, n.d).  It has also been found that students learn best by 'doing' (Petty, 2002).  Thus, finding ways to make students more independent in their learning is key to helping them reach higher levels of understanding.  Here are 8 great strategies I've found that can be used to create independent learners in your classroom:

Offer Effective Formative Feedback

When students are given useful suggestions on how to improve on a specific task, they are indirectly encouraged to take control of their own learning.  This should be done formatively as to give them a chance act on that feedback prior to being assessed summatively (Mike Gershon's Blog).  Ready my post on Giving Effective Feedback to Students to learn more.

Give Students Checklists

By giving students checklists to follow when completing a task, they are being given the opportunity to independently work using established success criteria.  As a result, they learn to self-regulate and plan their work effectively (Gershon, 2014).

Use Written Instruction

During practicums, I have noticed that several of my students repeatedly lost marks in quizzes, tests and lab reports due to not answering the questions as required.  This indicates to me that some students lack the ability to follow instructions independently, especially when written.  One great way to solve this is by giving them opportunities to practice via written outlines.  This can be accomplished by giving students a written outline explaining the instructions of an independent activity which they can complete during class time.

Teach That Failure is OK

Many students, especially in the high school age range, do not like to participate in class or expose their answers to a question unless they know for sure that it's correct.  This can become a problem because it prevents students from learning from their mistakes and improving their learning.  One great way of showing students that failure is good, is by showing examples of successful people who have failed, or telling a story about one's own experience in failure.  Read my post Why We Must Encourage Students to Fail to learn more.

Integrate the 7 Monkeys

This activity involves having students develop a deep understanding of a concept by completing 7 different tasks independently through 'The 7 Monkeys'.  Students learn to follow instruction, explain a concept, interpret the information learned, and demonstrate their learning through a written assignment.  Peer assessment is the last stage, where students practice giving their peers effective feedback on their work.  This is a great activity because it follows at least two of the Six Facets of Understanding.  For instructions on how to create this activity, read the article Developing Independent Learners - The 7 Monkeys by the Class Teaching blog.

Use E-Portfolios

E-portfolios are an awesome way to get students to self-direct and independently gather and classify a collection of their own work, do demonstrate their learning over time (ECU, n.d).  Additionally, the process of collecting artifacts for one's e-portfolio has a purpose of "generating new and deeper learning by [allowing a student to] reflect on their own existing learning" (University of Waterloo Blog).  This process also gives students a choice and a voice in their final grade by allowing them to pick and choose the assignments in which they feel best represent their learning.

Learning Journals

The use of learning journals is another great way to have students develop independent learning skills.  Through their use, it has been found that "students who analyze and reflect on their learning are more effective learners; that is, they are more able to acquire, retain, and apply new information and skills" (ECU, n.d).  Thus, by reflecting on what they've learned by recording their thoughts, questions, impression and concerns, students are better able to understand the big ideas behind the lessons, assignments, activities, and materials used in class (Carleton University Law).  It also gives them an opportunity to discover the reasoning behind certain concepts and ideas discussed and how their learning has grown over time.

Teach by Asking

Another great way to have students learn independently is by teaching by asking a question at the beginning of class, rather than lecturing.  This activity allows students to pair up or work in groups in order to answer the question prior to a more elaborate class discussion about the topic learned.  This gives students the opportunity to refine their communication as well as research skills in addition to independence.  After the activity is complete, students are to give their answers to the teacher who can elaborate on the topic, as needed (Petty, 2002).

What other ways do you promote independent learning your classroom?

Understanding by Design: Backward Design

From http://nccscurriculum.org/2014/01/22/understanding-by-design-a-framework-to-support-effective-teaching-and-learning/

The purpose of the Understanding by Design Backward Design is to basically plan lessons and units with the end in mind.  This end is the ability to understand and transfer the knowledge gained.  In other words, planning what the learning goals are by referring to the overall and specific expectations of the curriculum, and figuring out what evidence would need to be demonstrated by students in order to show deep understanding of the concepts through 'real world' applications, is the main idea of this system.  We need to have a goal in order to effectively coach our students in understanding the concepts taught.  And in order for the material to be understood in a higher-order manner, we need to specifically plan all specifics of a unit around those goals, prior to beginning the actual teaching and learning process.

The Understanding by Design Backward Design Framework consists of three stages.  These are summarized below:

Stage 1 - What should the students learn?

We must first figure out specifically what understanding of content and skill should be learned - the result.  Identify the big ideas and examine the curriculum in order to pinpoint the best learning targets.  Because there is so much content to learn, we cannot expect students to capture and understand everything we teach.  Thus, it is crucial that teachers pick and choose what best reflects those unit big ideas, by prioritizing lessons based on those specific learning targets.  If we are clear on the big ideas that we want students to understand, then this allows us to prioritize what we are to focus on from the curriculum. Consider the following six (6) questions when designing Stage 1 of a unit (quoted from Wiggins, 2005):

1) What big ideas and transfer goals are located in the curriculum?
2) What are the key verbs and nouns in the curriculum?
3) What should students eventually be able to do on their own if they follow the curriculum?
4) What will students come to understand if they really learn this content well?
5) What important questions are raised by this content?
6) What essential questions will guide inquiry into it?

 Stage 2 - What's the evidence of understanding?

The assessments used in this stage must reflect the learning targets prioritized in Stage 1.  They must also reflect transferability of knowledge through some kind of evidence or performance.  Students must be trained to apply what they have learned to various 'real life' situations in order to better understand the content learned.  In turn, this gives teachers a good idea of students' true level of understanding.  Thus, the aim of teaching facts and skill should not be to simply gain knowledge, but to "equip learners to be able to use or transfer their learning" - this should always be the focus (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012). So how can we assess the learning targets effectively?  By using the Six Facets of Understanding, we can determine which evidence of understanding is most appropriate for each learning target.  To read my post about the Six Facets of Understanding, click here.  Consider the following six (6) questions when designing Stage 2 of a unit (quoted from Wiggins, 2005):

1) What kind of 'real-world' performances test the understanding of this content?
2) What evidence will show that students have learned this content (as opposed to recall)?
3) What important transfer tasks should anchor the assessment since transfer is the essence of understanding?
4) What criterion-based scoring tool should be used to assess work related to the desired results, not just the particulars of the task?
5) Through what other evidence (ie. quizzes, tests, academic prompts, observations, homework, journals, etc) will students demonstrate achievement of the desired result?
6) Are the assessments used as feedback for students and teachers, as well as for evaluation? (quoted from Tasmanian Dept of Education, 2004)
6) How will students reflect upon and self-assess their learning?

Stage 3 - What teaching and learning strategies should be used to promote understanding?

This stage consists of the specifics of instructional planning, and must align with the learning targets in Stage 1 and the evidence of understanding in Stage 2.  These specifics include how the learning goals should be taught and include lesson sequences, teaching methods, resource materials, and classroom activities (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998).  It's always important however to keep in mind when planning teaching and learning strategies, that "understanding cannot simply be told; the learner has to actively construct meaning (...).  Teaching for transfer means that learners are given opportunities to apply their learning to new situations and receive timely feedback on their performance to help them improve" (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012).  Consider the following seven (7) questions when designing Stage 3 of a unit (quoted from Wiggins, 2005):

1) What activities and instruction will engage students, automate a skill, and help them better grasp the essence and value of this content?
2) If the 'content' is the answer, then what where the original questions?
3) What learning experiences will help uncover the big ideas?
4) When should the basics come first? When should they be on a 'need to know' basis?
5) When should I teach, when should I coach, and when should I facilitate student 'discovery'?
6) Are the learning activities tailored (personalized) to the different needs, interests, and abilities of the learners?
7) What should the students be able to do independently (transfer)? What should I be doing to make them more independent and able to transfer?

For a free copy of the UbD template resource designed by Jay McTighe, one of the founders of UbD, visit his website at:  http://jaymctighe.com/resources/downloads/

Understanding By Design: The Six Facets of Understanding

From http://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/blooms-taxonomy/5-alternatives-to-blooms-taxonomy/

As already discussed in the Understanding by Design Backward Design post, Stage 2 of the Understanding by Design Backward Framework focuses on the use of key evidence to demonstrate thorough and real understanding of learning via transferability.  The Six Facets of Understanding are often used by offering different ways for determining the level of understanding reached by each student.  I have added an explanation of each of the facets below, including a short summary of each facet, performance verbs used to entice the understanding and examples of science activities to demonstrate the use of each facet:

FACET 1 - Ability to Explain:  For students to understand something, they must be able to "explain concepts, principles and processes by putting it in their own words, teaching it to others, justifying their answers, and showing their reasoning" (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012).  In this facet, there is one right answer, and students must be able to justify it.  Therefore, "if students are unable to explain the (what, how, why, when, where, and who), they do not thoroughly understand the information" (Kate Elme's Blog).

• Summary:  Making generalizations; justifying facts and data; providing insightful connections; illuminating examples and detailed illustrations (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Demonstrate, derive, describe, design, exhibit, express, induce, instruct, justify, model, predict, prove, show, synthesize, teach (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Link everyday actions and facts to the laws of physics, concentrating on easily misunderstood aspects (e.g., mass compared to weight) (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Having student explain a problem with examples to support how to solve it, based on knowledge gained from lectures and activities.

FACET 2 - Ability to Interpret:  Students must be able to translate ideas and make information meaningful through personal viewpoints, instead of searching for a 'right' answer.  They should also be able to "interpret by making sense of data, text, and experience through images, analogies, stories, and models" (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012).  The use of stories and parables is a great way to make complex information more meaningful and memorable, but will always differ between students.

• Summary:  Telling meaningful stories; offering apt translations; revealing historical or personal dimensions to ideas and events; making the object of understanding personal (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Create analogies, critique, document, evaluate, illustrate, judge, make sense of, make meaning of, provide metaphors of, read between the lines, represent, tell a story of, translate (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Take readings of pond water to determine whether the algae problem is serious (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Translating a problem, issue or story based on current or past personal experiences.

FACET 3 - Application:  Students must be able to use the knowledge they learned and apply it to a new 'real life' situation (Kizirian, 2012).  This is perhaps one of the most meaningful facets as it connects the classroom to reality.  "We need to create assessments that are as close as possible to the situation in which a scholar, artist, engineer, or other professional attacks such problems" (Huff, 2007). For example, webquests involve having students apply concepts learned while having them interpret data and solve problems as an expert would (Huff, 2007).

• Summary:  Effectively using knowledge; adapting knowledge and skills in diverse and real contexts; 'doing' the subject (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Adapt, build, create, debug, decide, design, exhibit, invent, perform, produce, propose, solve, test, use (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Perform a chemical analysis of local stream water to monitor EPA compliance, and present findings (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Applying what was learned through real life experiences such as an Acids and Bases lab using household chemical products.

FACET 4 - Perspective:  Students develop the ability to understand multiple perspectives or others' points of view while analyzing the motives behind these ideas (seeing the big picture) (Kizirian, 2012).  The advantage of this facet is that students develop critical thinking skills and thus become better informed at determining what is important based on the reasoning behind the new perspectives.  Note that opportunities to debate the course big ideas should not be offered (Kate Elme's Blog). 

• Summary:  Seeing and hearing different points of view from critical eyes and ears; seeing the 'big picture' (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Analyze, argue, compare, contrast, criticize, infer (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Conduct thought experiments (e.g. Einstein's "What would the world be like if I were riding on a beam of light?") (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Learning to think like a biologist, chemist, ecologist, geneticist, or other and completing a performance activity to further understand like the scientist or other.  Class discussions activities where classmates can thoroughly explain their different points of view while including the probable points of view of scientific experts about the same topic.

FACET 5 - Empathy: Students develop the ability to put their own emotions aside in order to understand someone else's thoughts and feelings about something.  This allows students to better understand another's perspective, which is an extremely valuable skill linked to emotional intelligence. "Students have to learn how to open-mindedly embrace [others'] ideas, experiences, and texts” (Kate Elme's Blog).  

• Summary:  Finding value in what others might find odd, alien or implausible; perceiving sensitivity on the basis of prior direct experience (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Assume the role of, be like, be open to, believe, consider, imagine, relate, role play (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Read and discuss pre-modern and discredited scientific writings to identify plausible or "logical theories" (given the information available at the time) (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Embrace other people's feelings about a certain topic through role play or journaling activities.

FACET 6 - Self-Knowledge:  To understand and recognize one's own views, values, perspectives, biases, prejudices and stereotypes (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012).  It involves deep self-reflection and helps students understand why they think the way they do.  This is an extremely valuable facet as it not only involves the development of emotional intelligence, it also increases one's level of integrity.

• Summary:  Showing metacognition awareness; being aware of what we don't understand; perceiving what shapes our own understanding (taken from McWilliams, 2009).
• Teachers ask learners to:  Be aware of, realize, recognize, reflect, self-assess (taken from Wiggins and McTighe, 2000).
• Examples:  Propose solutions to an ineffective cooperative learning activity based on what didn't work in your group (taken from Tom March Workshop, 2014).  Self-assessment of an assignment, while explaining what they will do to improve next time.

Using the Six Facets of Understanding is a concept I plan on using in my classroom.  However, assessing these very complex activities can prove to be difficult.  Wiggins and McTighe have thankfully created a rubric which complements the facts. For a free copy, click here.

What type of activities do you use, which fits into the Six Facets of Understanding?