WELCOME
Creating Responsible
Learners:
Strategies for Teaching
Students to Take Control of
Their Education
DOE: IS179666
RESPONSIBLE
LEARNERS
Brandman: EDDU9399
PROBLEM
SOLVING
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Students find problems
overwhelming because they don’t
have strategies to solve them.
They don’t know where to start…how
to break it down…how to connect it
to other situations…etc.
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Unconsciously, you connect
problems to previous problems you
have encountered in your life.
This is a great strategy….sometimes!
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“We can not solve our problems with
the same level of thinking that
created them”
― Albert Einstein
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One of the down sides of protecting
our children from the real world, is
that they haven’t had to solve
problems.
As parents, we have jumped in and
solved them for our children.
We were afraid they might not solve
it correctly and make a mistake.
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We organize sporting events versus
them creating games on their own,
developing their own rules and
enforcing those rules upon one
another.
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Drive by baseball fields and you will
see them empty….Kids are playing in
games or practices organized and
run by adults.
The are not learning to resolve
conflicts on their own…parents
resolve them.
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Mistakes are where we
learn…sometimes the more painful
the lesson, the deeper the learning
goes.
Experience is simply the name we
give our mistakes.
Oscar Wilde
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So how do you approach this
problem…
Do you have a strategy?
One strategy…ASK QUESTIONS…
Identify the actions and what might
have caused them.
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There are many ways to approach
problems or challenges.
Many of our kids don’t know of any!
Their “Helicopter” parents haven’t
allowed them to deal with any
adversity.
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One very simple study…
Parents brought their 3 year olds in
thinking they were going to do a
study on recognizing objects.
After the parents and child were in
the room, they asked the parents to
step outside for a moment.
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While the parent was outside, one of
the experimenters put the child under
the chair they were sitting on.
They then brought the parents back
in the room…
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2 distinct parent reactions…
1…the parent watch to see if their
child could get out from under the
chair on their own
2…the parent who immediately went
to help their child get out from under
the chair
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The researchers followed the
children into their first year of school.
They asked the teachers to rate the
students on their level of
independence and their ability to
solve their own problems.
The teachers did not know the results
of the “chair” test.
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The results were what you would
expect…
The parents who watched their
children deal with the chair were
scored significantly higher in
independence and solving their own
problems.
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Assess…
-Do they come to you to solve their
problems
-Do they have any strategies for
solving their problems
-When you ask them what else they
could have done in the
situation…they have no answer
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Actions…
-Talk about problem solving
-Give examples from your life
-Give examples of what they are
experiencing now
-Provide them with problem solving
models
-Don’t solve problems they can solve
themselves!!
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OBJECTIVITY
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The ability to see situations and
people as they really are, not what
you want or hope them to be.
We live in a polarizing world…you
are either this or that.
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Pro live….pro abortion
Liberal…conservative
Pro gun…anti gun
For teachers…against teachers
It is harder and harder to get an objective
view of the world.
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Dave and I have both had the
opportunity to coach our children in
sports.
That is a very hard thing to do…
It much easier to be detached from
the situation when it’s not your child.
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Objective people can see both sides
of view…the good and the bad.
Your Principal…write down two
things they do well and two things
they don’t do that well.
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Are you objective about them…
If you’ve had some negative
experiences…you tend to see
everything they do or don’t through
that lens.
The same dynamic can happen if you
are friends with them. You justify or
explain away things they may not be
doing well.
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Same negative action.
If you dislike the person… “What a
jerk.”
If you like the person… “We all make
mistakes.”
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Think of the shootings in
Charleston…
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Two issues…guns and the
Confederate flag
NRA…if only the people in the prayer
group had guns, they could have
fired back and killed Dylann Roof. It
is somewhat their fault for not being
prepared.
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Anti-Gun groups…stop the sale of all
guns in the US
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The Flag…
One group…just part of our heritage.
Other group…symbol of racism
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A very emotional issue and one that
makes it hard to stay objective.
Reflection…I heard an interesting
question.
Would we be talking about this
situation differently if a black man
had gone into a white church and
shot nine people?
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You can use strengths and
weaknesses and learning partners
here to access your students’
objectivity.
Do they see their real self…or the
self they want to be?
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Assessment
-Do they have a realistic view of
themselves…behavior, learning
partners, quality of work
-Do they blame others when they are
the ones who start the trouble
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Actions…
-Talk about objectivity
-Talk about data…Student, “I always
do a good job when Randy and I
work together!” Have them provide
evidence…grades from the project
they did together.
-Seek other’s opinions…Tom Hay
-Step back…think how others could
view the situation
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LEARNING STYLES
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Learning Styles…
How an individual learns is a
complex process.
We have taught entire classes just on
that process.
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It would be unrealistic to expect we
could cover it in detail as one of
twenty factors in this class.
For those of you who teach
elementary, especially the primary
grades, it can be quite difficult to
determine a student’s learning style.
We would recommend that you don’t
use this factor as one of your 10.
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For those of you who teach high
school, you can have your students
take one of the online tests as a
homework assignment.
Simply Google “Learning Styles
surveys” and you’ll see numerous
surveys.
Pick the one you feel is most
appropriate for your students.
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As we said, one’s learning style is a
combination of various factors.
Among them…
-Modality processing
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthethic
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For the vast majority of people, about
70%, visual is their primary
processing modality.
That is becoming stronger as we are
becoming more and more of a visual
society.
Less dialogue in movies…more
visual effects.
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Story lines become almost secondary
to the visual effects…3D
Jurassic World…I haven’t seen it, but
I know the story line.
Good idea…gone bad.
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Die Hard
Taken
Transporter
Avengers
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Think of the amount of hours each
day that you are looking at a screen.
Be it a TV, computer screen, laptops,
smartphones or tablets.
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Indonesia leads the world with an
average of 540 minutes or 9 hours.
The US comes in 6th with an average
of 444 minutes per day.
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“My phone broke and I spent
some time with my family, they
seem like very nice people.”
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Talk to your students about the 3
different processing modalities.
That there are strengths and
weaknesses associated with each
modality…there is not one that is
right and the others wrong.
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Talk to your students about how they
can adapt if the information is not
presented in the way they learn
best…
-Take notes
-Go online to see videos
-Record lectures
-Take pictures (you in class)
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-Take videos
-Take picture and bring it with you to
the hardware store
-Take picture at grocery store
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Woman… “I was very clear about the
mascara I wanted1”
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Man…I have no clue and I won’t ask!
I now take a picture of what I’m going
to buy. If she doesn’t get back to me
before I check out…she returns it.
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Thinking style…
Random versus sequential
Concrete versus abstract.
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Random thinkers go from A to L to G
to S…
Sequential thinkers go from A to B to
C to D…
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Random thinkers make more
mistakes…but tend to be more
creative.
Dave and Dulcie…great opposites!
They very much compliment each
other.
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Math & Science…sequential
Social Studies & Art…random
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Principals…leadership
We want both…someone who is
good with the nuts and bolts of
running a building (sequential
thinking) and someone who is also a
visionary (random thinking).
Where does you Principal fit?
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Where do you fit?
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I am a random/abstract thinker.
That is why I struggle with the
Portfolios.
What makes sense to me…doesn’t
always make sense to other
people…you!
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Concrete versus abstract.
Concrete…here and now and need
real life example.
Abstract…big picture, looks for
patterns, uses intuition and
imagination.
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Actions with your students…
-Talk about the differences
-Talk about how you think and what
you do to adapt
-Provide examples of things they can
do…think how someone else might
see the same situation, get help from
someone who thinks differently than
you, acknowledge you need help
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STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES
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We all have them.
Things we are better at than others.
And other that we’re not so good at.
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As adults, we avoid those that we
don’t do well and put our energies
into those we like (we like them
because we can do well at them).
Okay…maybe not 100% of the time
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As adults, we avoid those that we
don’t do well and put our energies
into those we like (we like them
because we can do well at them).
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Do your students have a clear
understanding of their strengths and
weaknesses.
To a certain extent, they are learning
those in your classes.
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Some underestimate and others
overestimate their abilities.
The goal is to have students have a
clear and realistic understanding of
their strengths and weaknesses.
This is will allow them to….
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1. Maximize their strengths.
I’m good at:
-Group work
-Writing
-Organizing
-Math
-Discussions
-Impulsivity control
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And minimize their weaknesses.
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Assessment…
-What do your students say about
their strengths and weaknesses to
you
-Do they have an understanding of
them
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Actions…
-Talk about it…share yours
-Have them write theirs down…you
can go over it with them later.
-Work on weaknesses, resources
and opportunities
-Partner…adults we hire things we
can’t do…students can seek out
others in class who have the skills
they lack
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-Use your strengths…good verbal
skills, ask if you can present your
project to the class
-Talk to their parents about their
weaknesses and how they can help
the child at home
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STUDY SKILLS
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I don’t believe we do a great job of
teaching students how to “learn”
information.
We talk about study skills…but are
we specific about what that means
and how to do it.
Another challenge…
In the next slide there are ten random
objects and things.
If you would like, write them down
and learn them for a quiz tomorrow.
Here are the 10…
1. Car
2. Fan
3. Lamp
4. Ginger
5. Beach
6. Wind
7. Rain
8. Earth
9. Bird
10.Calendar
So…how will you go about studying
to remember those ten?
Assess…
-Tell your students that they have to
go over this material tonight…then
ask them how they plan to go over it.
-Ask them when and where they
study at home
-Talk to their parents about how their
children “studied” the material
-See the results of their “studying”
Actions…
-Talk about it
-Show them different techniques for
taking notes
-Show them how to use graphic
organizers
-Show them how to create flow charts
-Show them how to color code items
-Teach them memorization techniques
-Study times…shorter the better
-Distractions
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-Rewrite their notes
-Talk about it with another class
member
-Walk while you are reading your notes,
the book or handout
-Rehearsal
-Identify major points
-Teach it to someone else
-Flashcards
-Summarize
-Acronyms
&
Mnemonics
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So part of every lesson is about how
they are going to process the
information…
You can see that their learning style
will come into play here as well.
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Visual learners…Flash cards, colors,
put things on the wall…
Auditory…talk about it with others,
verbalize answers
Kinesthetic…move while you are
studying, play with the material,
rewrite notes,
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So if I were a visual learner….
I would have put all 10 items on a
separate piece of paper on my wall at
home.
I would have them walk past those
papers again and again, saying the
names of the items out loud.
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This last strategy incorporates….
All three modalities
QUALITY
PRODUCTS
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Responsible learners know what is a
quality product and what is not.
Think how important that is related to
being a great, good, average or poor
employee.
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You give an employee a
task…prepare this, fix this, create
this, take care of this..
You can walk away knowing it will be
completed and it will be done to a
high standard.
If you have to stand there and watch
to make sure they do it correctly and
to the standard you require…you
could RESPONSIBLE
have done it yourself.
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As you assess your students in this
characteristic, understand…
1. They may not know what a quality
product looks like.
2. They may know, but choose not to
produce one.
3. They may not have the
knowledge or skills to produce
one
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The Portfolio for example…
1. We know that each of you has the
knowledge and skills to produce a
quality Portfolio.
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2. It is our job to make sure you
understand what is expected of you
and the standard of quality we need
for it to be accepted by the PDE3
office.
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3. It is your job to create a Portfolio
that meets the standard we have
given you.
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As we evaluate the Portfolios, we do
our own assessment.
If a good number of you are providing
below quality answers to one part of
the Portfolio…that’s on us!
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If yours is one of a few that is of poor
quality on a particular
question….that’s on you.
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Again:
1. They may not know what a quality
product looks like.
2. They may know, but choose not to
produce one.
3. They may not have the
knowledge or skills to produce
one
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How do you know when you have
created a quality lesson?
As a new teacher that is quite
difficult.
We have talked about it before…the
best lesson does not work every
time.
As a veteran teacher…you know
from experience.
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So understanding what constitutes a
quality product comes from
experience.
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Assessment…
-What is the quality of the projects
they are turning in
-When you ask them about the
quality of their projects…are they
correct
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Actions…
-Talk about it
-Provide students with the specific
criteria by which you are going to
evaluate their work….checklist.
-Provide students with samples of
products and ask them to evaluate it
based upon the criteria
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-When they turn in a product, have
them also turn in the grade they think
they should receive on that product
-They should be able to explain why
they are giving themselves the grade
they are
-Recognize quality…make sure you
do that in relationship to the student’s
knowledge and skill level
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Did those last couple look familiar…
Maybe from a class you might have
taken last week?
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ORGANIZATION
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Are you this
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Or this
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If we were to walk into your
classroom on a normal day…what
ranking would you give it for
organization on a scale of 1-10…
1- Low
10-High
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For those of you who might have had
a low rating…
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“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a
cluttered mind, of what, then, is an
empty desk a sign?”
― Albert Einstein
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Assessment…
-Look at your students…desk,
backpack, locker, notebooks,
appearance, papers they turn in, etc.
-Look at their thought
processes…when you ask them to
explain something, listen for their
ability to organize their thoughts
-Do they provide a logical rationale
for their ideas
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Your goal should not be to have
everyone have excellent
organization!
Your goal should be that a student’s
disorganization shouldn’t interfere
with their success.
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If their organizational system allows
them to produce quality products,
then it is effective.
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Understand one other factor…
For those of you who are very
organized, when you walk into
someone’s house or an office that is
disorganized, it makes you feel
uncomfortable.
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The same is true for students who
walk into your classroom.
It may look in disarray, but is
productive.
The problem is that for some
students the disorganized is a
distraction.
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Think of it as another chance for that
organized student to learn how to
cope in situations that aren’t ideal for
them.
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The same can be true walking into
the perfect house…
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Have you been in those that are so
perfect that you feel uncomfortable
as well.
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Actions…
-Talk about it
-Give them specific ideas on how to
organize themselves
-Share how you organize 3 ring
binder guy..
-Show them how
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LEARNING
SITUATIONS
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Responsible learners know in which
situations they learn best…
Get out your blue and red cards…
We have more if you need them.
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Do you learn well in…
Large groups
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Do you learn well in…
Small groups
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Do you learn well in…
One on one
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Do you learn well in…
Lectures
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Do you learn well in…
Games
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Do you learn well in…
Simulations
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Do you learn well in…
Discussions
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Is your peak learning time…
Morning
Afternoon
Night
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Is noise an issue for you?
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Know yourself…what is your ideal
learning situation…
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Assessment…
-Look for patterns with you class and
individual students
-How they process information
better…time of day, strategies,
groupings, activities
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Actions…
-Talk about it…
-Give them examples
-Have them self-assess and then
meet with you to see if you agree
-Share the work they’ve done in
relationship to different situations
-Have them talk with their parents
about it…if patterns at home are
similar to those at school
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