Fast Llamas Run Together

Fast Llamas,

It's a new year and the energy and excitement at my campus is palpable.  There is also optimism and hope.  It is an exciting place to be right now.  I see it in teachers faces, administrator's and most importantly, our students.  

I want this energy to continue, but it takes several factors to keep it alive.  Let's dive deeper.  

A while ago, I presented this idea of 12 essential strategies to build relationships with students and create a positive shift in achievement.  

Here they are:

What is especially cool about this graphic is that is actually a mnemonic device called "clock face".  Each strategy rises in effect size (the actual effect on growth of students, .4 or higher is an effective strategy) and it is easy to remember because there is a story attached to each one.  This particular clock face was adapted from the work of Wes Kieschnick, who delivered it during Model Schools Conference. It stuck with me and I love when I see this taped to a teacher's desk as a reminder.  

So, my focus has always been student achievement and will remain so... and I believe in the Fast Llama Herd. Which I think of as a group of llamas (teachers!) all running in a herd, in the same direction, in step with one another and aligned with a belief that together the herd is stronger than one llama alone.  I made the connection to the Fast Llama Herd and Collective Teacher Efficacy a while ago, but it wasn't until this summer that I made a real shift in perspective.  

First off, what is collective teacher efficacy?  Collective teacher efficacy is the belief that teachers can more positively impact the learning of their students if they work as a team. Each word of the term is important. 

“Collective” refers to the power of groups of teachers over individual teachers. 

“Teacher” centers the expertise of classroom practitioners, rather than school leaders or outside educators. 

“Efficacy” highlights the importance of teacher beliefs to improve student outcomes.

This concept is the work of Albert Bandura, which demonstrated that teams believing in their potential led to better results.

That shift in perspective for me was the idea that we focus on building student relationships (and rightly so) but we also need to cultivate our relationships with one another.  We already do a pretty good job at fellowship within our teams.  We eat together, we celebrate each other in social ways and we know about each others families.  But, do we apply "clock face" strategies in collegiate ways in terms of our practices?  On the clock face, the last important strategy is Belief - that is collective teacher efficacy... do we really believe in each other abilities?  and if we don't, what are we doing about it?  

Let's break down the clock face, but this time, focus on teachers.

12:00 - High Expectations - have high expectations of each other... let's not wallow in mediocrity, energy is important, and when you feel slumpy, I will build you up.

11:00 - Perception - I see you as a 10 or an 11, you are a capable and impressive educator.

10:00 - Connection - I know you and your classroom.  We root for each other.

9:00 - Innovation - we work together to create the best activities and strong pedagogy.

8:00 - Practices - we work together and practice with one another.  I watch you teach, you watch me - feedback follows.

7:00 - Goals - we set audacious goals for our students and ourselves.

6:00 - Whoa, Don't Label - I won't let you use derogatory labels for your students, and you won't let me.  We speak positively about our jobs.

5:00 - Creativity - we realize that when we are taking care of each other, creativity flourishes in positive supportive environments.

4:00 - Motivation - I keep you motivated and you keep me motivated.

3:00 - Clarity - we are clear in our goals, what we want to achieve and where we want to be.  We focus on being clear with students. We set each other up for success.

2:00 - Trust - we trust one another and our abilities to teach well.  I trust you with my students and vice versa.  I also know that my inner fears are understood by you and you see me.  

1:00 - Belief - the Collective Teacher Efficacy is strong with us - Student Achievement follows suit.  

As we move through the year, let's reflect back on this time.  When our energy is high, goals are fresh and we have a renewed spirit about our jobs as educators.  We make our school whatever we want it to be, same for our classrooms, but we cannot do it alone.  We need the collective, we need fellow fast llamas to keep us going.  I am so optimistic for the new year... let's keep it going! 

Sources:

https://bit.ly/3RbHJh8

Environment

Fast Llamas,

A repost from 2019, but, as we wind down and clean up for the summer, use this time to think about the fall semester and dreams for your classroom.

I was walking in HEB yesterday and realized they have an entire section devoted to organization and cleaning in their "seasonal section". This got me thinking that the new year is for getting organized and do that "Spring Cleaning"! How does that apply to us at school?

So let's talk about your classroom. Let's change that thinking to an "environment". Brain based education studies note that the brain works best when it is not under stress. You release more dopamine and thus retain more information when don't feel fear or anxiety. So, focus on making your classroom aesthetically pleasing. I use table lamp and turn off the fluorescent lights. Once you have taught in a
room lit this way, you don't want to go back. It is very easy on the eyes. Doing any spring cleaning at home and are changing out lamps? Bring your old ones to school! When I was teaching at Spillane, I had a huge classroom (I am not bragging, lol). It was windowless, so it took quite a bit of lamps to
get it lit the best for my students. It took years of collecting lamps from friends, from discount stores and garage sales. So, let your collecting begin. Also, I got my first period to turn on the lamps for me... they liked it.
Consider adding plants. Plants serve two purposes, one, plants release oxygen and filter out pollutants, second, plants are pleasing and calming.
Now for the walls... When I began teaching, I put up every poster I could find. Free posters from NASA, (they will give you any if you ask), posters I purchased and posters I created. They were everywhere. Now this is amazing that I admit this, since I went to college to study education during the
heyday of Madeline Hunter. Hunter was the be all, end all of education during this time. She was the guru. And, she was good. I am still referring to her. Anyway, Madeline Hunter, said, your walls should be blank, with bursting and overflowing cabinets. In other words, only put the posters out that you are using at the moment, then put them away when the unit is done. So, be purposeful about your posters.
As the year progresses, add posters, remove posters, but keep what "icon poster and/or anchor charts" of specific info you want to keep on the forefront of the students minds. On these posters are items that I want to continue to recap and review with students.
Another educational strategist that I studied in college, who still speaks to me is Harry Wong. One of his suggestions is to put on a bulletin board a timeline of yourself. Start with a baby picture, definitely one of the age of the kids you teach, a high school or college, husband, etc. A story of your
life. Kids love it and you will see them looking at them. It's just another way to make a connection with them. And that's what "setting the stage" is all about, making the kids feel invited into your learning environment, establishing a relationship with them. Then, once you have captured them, then the learning can begin.

Class Participation

Repost from 2019...

Fast Llamas,

Fast Llamas,

We will be talking about what Doug Lemov of Teach like a Champion, 2.0 refers to as "Ratio". This is thinking intentionally about the ratio of participation of your students and the thinking that is happening in your classroom. Think of participation ratio as the engagement of the students and think ratio as the rigor of your lessons. It's always a good thing when we purposely plan for the kids in class to carry the cognitive workload. They should be the ones working harder than you! They should be the ones writing, thinking, talking & analyzing. This idea is the brainchild of KIPP schools founder David Levin and when you think about it, is what skilled teaching is all about.
The question is... if we know students should be answering questions, talking about their learning with each other and writing critically, how can we get there? What strategies can we use to stop being the 'sage on the stage?' How do we ensure that our questions aren't engaging 5 students and the rest passively watch and play along?

Let's start with the question technique called Wait Time. Using Wait Time as an intentional technique raises both the participation ratio and the think ratio. Your most likely to get better answers from more students... brilliant.

Do you think that you are modeling "how" to think when you encourage time to think? I'll wait...

If you answered yes, then you are on the right track. A big part of our job as teachers is teaching thinking skills as we teach our content. What a tremendous gift to to give our students.

Wait Time - wait what? That old thing? Yes, that old thing... I was introduced to this idea in my Methods Course at TTU in the 80's (well, 1989, but still ) & that means it's been around a loooonnng time... Which means you know about it too... the idea here is to level up and refine the practice.



Here are some ideas to use Wait Time effectively:

1. Practice using it actively... Count in your head if needed
2. Narrate to students the amount of time you will give them... "I'll give you 6 seconds to think about it, then raise your hands"
3. Do not accept "shout outs"... this will take some work if you have allowed it... talk to kids about the change in strategy and stick to it
4. Narrate hands raised... "I see one hand up, I see three hands, I see 6 hands, waiting to see 10" if you have created a culture of high expectations and safety, you will get the hands raised
5. If you still get crickets and very few hands raised... allow and encourage students to use their notes... (because reading is thinking too)
6. Affirm to students what to do with the time... show them what it means to think, say things like,"The six seconds I gave you is over, but, I see people still jotting down ideas and reading, I'll give everyone more time", "I see people using their notes, this is a good idea", " I want you to think deeply on this question, so think before you raise your hand"
7. Stop Talking - be careful with your affirmations and that you actually give students silence to think. So, d0n't affirm the entire time... say it quick and then stop talking.
8. Show students what successful thinking looks like... preface your questions when they require details and deep thinking by telling students what you expect out of the answer. For example, you could ask, "What is a chemical change?" or you could be explicit with expectations and say, "this question requires some examples, be sure to refer to your notes to backup your answer"

Here are some clips in action...

https://youtu.be/dBnuSUL0ymM

https://youtu.be/lecW6Ie9dVo

References:

Lemov, D. (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0: 62 techniques that put students on the path to college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

For the Love of the Job

Fast Llamas,

Teaching is important and no program is more important than the teacher doing the work.

It's about people, the people we work along side and the students in the halls and in our rooms.

We should lean on and rely on each other for assistance, collaboration and moral support as much and as often as possible. We share our expertise with one another, know our impact and change the learning lives of our students.

I am referring to the book, 75 Ways to Be a Better Teacher Tomorrow by Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker. This book was handed out to new teachers and it is a quick read with each chapter 2 - 3 pages. Today, I am focusing on idea #15, Post a Simple Sign Telling Why You're a Teacher. Andy Abbott and I were talking about this the other day, low and behold, it's already a thing...

It looks, sounds and feels like this...

Make a sign that says, "I'm a teacher because..." and then list the reasons.
Make the sign fairly large and post it in the room for all to see. It will remind you, every day, of why you are here and why you do what you do.

Here's an example from the book:

I am a Teacher Because...
1. I love my students.
2. I love to help people achieve their goals.
3. I believe that all of my students are talented. It is a privilege to help students
discover their unique talents
4. I believe that all of my students have amazing potential. It is a privilege to help all
students realize their potential.
5. I feel there is no more important profession in the world.
6. I love learning from my students.
7. Teaching is fun for me!

Consider placing a duplicate sign outside your door. I am thinking this would be a great addition to our teacher Bio's we already have posted. Others will stop by and read it and you will inspire others. Administrators will read it as well as well as guests in our building. Proudly proclaim your love of teaching and post it for all to see.

We are shifting our mindset in our thinking. This takes effort. Everytime we send a positive thought across our neural pathways, we make our positive thoughts and actions stronger and stronger. This thinking creates real change. The first step is belief.

Character Ed - The Planning Stages

Hey Fast Llamas,

I originally wrote this blog in September of 2020 and today I am resharing for a couple of reasons.

1. Update, Update, Update - I now work at the high school level with the principal I mentioned in the previously published post.  I spent 31 years at the middle school level and now work with high school students.  Kids are the same however, they still love to laugh, they love stickers and games... they just pay more attention to their clothes and hair... To say that I have been stretched this year is an understatement, I have however, also been sharpened.  Learning never gets old to me.

2. I wanted to celebrate that my principal earned her PhD this past week.  What an amazing accomplishment that began three years ago.  Everyone is so proud of her. I am glad she took another chance on me and hired me to come up to the high school level to continue to work together.  

3.  Lastly, as we begin to talk about next year... let's plan for the integration of character education into our academics.  My school district is rolling out a plan and I hope they consider the 8 keys of Excellence as their guide post.  I have discussed it further in my blog today.

Here is the post from September of 2020...
This blog is dedicated my former principal (well in a week, I suppose) who is moving up to the high school level. It is a dream and a goal of hers to lead a high school, and as much as I am going to miss her, you always show up in life as your best self when you root for others success. But, this week's blog is dedicated to her not because she is leaving, but her legacy that is staying behind. You see, my principal told me "yes" to the ideas I had about school culture and student learning. Imagine walking into your principal's office and asking to "train llamas" and hearing "yes"? She believed in me and that made all of the difference.

This week at school, we are teaching all of the grade levels the 8 Keys of Excellence and the power of Living Above the Line. Teaching students how to be good humans is a core value of mine. We teachers teach more than our content and as Doug Curry (training llama guru) would say, "you GET to teach kids the ways of success". This is an opportunity to shine a light in a kids life and show them the path to success. Character impacts achievement, so we do well when we teach it and affirm our relationships with students that we are "rooting for their success" in our classes and in life. This helps build and strengthen feelings of connectedness to school. This is deep and heavy stuff. So, you can see why I appreciated my principal giving me the okay to do it. Tomorrow starts this years journey to excellence and I am so excited.

Hattie talks about Effect Size, the skills that translate to the highest effects are relational... Building positive relationships with students has a direct link to improving good character and preventing bad behavior. And when students feel safe, supported and have feelings of belonging, their learning increases. This is a win for character and a win for student learning. Modeling these principles and exhibiting them on the daily, not only builds relationships but changes lives too. How many of you can say you had or have someone in your life who believed in you, trusted you, or motivated you? Game changers, my friends.

Remember an effect size of .4 will give you one years growth for one years imput... which is great, but, what could you do to add some steam to to your classrooms, with the relationships and attitudes of and with your students? Here are some great examples...

1. Belief 1.62 (in each other and our students)

2. Trust .9 (trust in doing the right thing and bringing your best)

3. Clarity .75 (clear is kind)

4. Motivation .69 (increasing that engagement)

5. Creativity .62 (increasing that engagement)

6. Not labeling .61 (ahh, the power of intention, I see you as a 10!)

7. Setting Goals .59 (intention again)

8. Practice .57 (setting students up for success, through practice)

9. Innovation .55 (increasing engagement)

10. Perception .52 (intention again)

11. Intentionality .50 (being intentional in how we see and perceive each other and our students and being purposely in all we do)

12. Expectations .49 (you know students are capable and it shows)

So, for the next 8 months, following this weeks initial training, we will focus on one Key of Excellence, working into our lessons and conversations with students. What a gift this is for students and ultimately ourselves.

Here's our Schedule:

October - Integrity

November - Failure Leads to Success

December - Speak with Good Purpose

January - This is It

February - Commitment

March - Ownership

April - Flexibility

May - Balance

How can you integrate this into your daily routine?  I am not a fan of separating SEL or Character Ed out of content lessons.  I feel it is best when the two go hand in hand.

until next time...

Remembering - How Fast Llama Teachers Build Cognitive Skills

Fast Llamas,

My first April Fools Day in a high school and no body tricked me!  So different than middle school and I am liking it! But, it is already April and school is winding up... that's right, the months of April and May are super busy for schools.  State testing, finals, finishing up grades, dances and yep, planning for next year.  Since testing is coming up, when I ran across this visual it made me want to discuss remembering... in our case, memory.

In QL we use anchors to help us remember things.  There are cognitive anchors, mnemonics, tags and pegs.  All help you "hang" a memory on something physical or mental to help your brain recall it.  Just like put your keys in the same place everyday to help you remember where they are, memories (learning) can be placed in a similar way. 

Once, I wanted to learn the room numbers of several staff members, 10 in total.  I struggle with my memory and wanted to increase my ability to recall room numbers quickly.  So, I used memory strategy called "pegs".  In a peg system, you learn (memorize) a peg that you attach what you want to remember.  It's very visual and the weirder the association the better you will remember it.  For example, one room was room 101. In my peg system, "1 is Sun".  So, I imagined, the zero was a bright sun... the teacher I wanted to attach to the number "101" was Aaron.  So, I attached flaming letter A's to the ones.  I did the same for each of the numbers.  this is what I was thinking and visualizing in my mind.  It was animated...

To help me learn the information I did indeed follow the suggestions from the visual above.

1. Learn, Practice, Recall, Repeat 

At the root of all learning are the communications between neurons in the brain. There are electrical impulses and can be measured with an electroencephalograph.  These impulses are what we call brain waves.  These brain waves become our memory.  So, it makes sense that by actively practicing what we need to learn, the more active our brain becomes.  In a study at Stanford, neuroscientists studied two groups of students. One group, actively studied throughout the day, making flash cards, visuals representations and annotated their reading.  The other group did minimal work.  When the neuroscientists studied their brain waves, specifically their Theta brain waves, the first group was significantly more active.  What does this mean for teachers?  Teach kids metacognitive skills where students are actively saying, drawing, writing and hearing what you want them to remember. Students need to be active in their learning and do what I love to say, "carrying the cognitive workload".

2. Practice Chunking

To learn my room numbers, I did my recall practice in chunks.  I would not move on to the next room, until I had a solid grip on previous numbers.  I also grouped the rooms into teams, made even easier that they were grouped in the same hallways.  What does this mean for teachers?  Chunk your students learning in bite sized attainable pieces.  The brain needs time to diffuse information, too much information too quickly isn't processed well.

3.  Use Metaphors and Stories

To help my learning, I thought about the teachers personalities and attached meaning to the little metaphors and anecdotes that helped me remember their rooms. This helped me match the numbers with them in a meaningful way.  What does this mean for teachers? Teachers are the best storytellers!  There is an arc to to storytelling, and curiosity is at the heart of it.  Stories pique curiosity and this state of mind primes the brain for learning.  Metaphors keep the brain an active participant in the learning.

4. Use Visuals and  Spatial Memories

In my remembering practice, I pictured the room number, the peg and the teacher's name (the metaphor) actively in my recall.  I would go through my recall practice, down the halls of my building.  Once, I had the room numbers down, I would visualize the hallway and recall the room numbers.  What does this mean for teachers?  Use body mnemonics and areas of the room to attach to students learning.  Have students complete retrieval practices using visuals.  

5. Sleep

I actively use Theta scanning to help with recall.  Theta scanning the active recall of learning right before you go to sleep.  When you sleep the brain takes over, consolidating memory and preparing it for encoding into long term memory.  During sleep is when the hippocampus goes to work.  When you skimp on sleep, you skimp on the time for memory encoding.  What does this mean for teachers?  While we can't go to student's homes and encourage kids to go to sleep, we certainly can inform them of the power of sleep and how important it is to their brain health.

Neuroscience is to cool to me... but, more than that, it is important for teachers to understand how to make the most out of learning and for our students to understand that long-term learning is within their power.  

*Side note to my project of learning room numbers.  I did indeed learn them all and could recall them quickly.  However, I three of them off by one number.  Over the summer, the room numbers had been changed.  Aaron's room was not 100, but, 102.  What an absolute blow to me! Worse was my office (which I shared with other CCIS's) was a classroom, which was across the hall from Ms. Aaron. You probably know where this is going, yep, my room number was 101. Fellow co-workers got a big laugh out of that one!  So, my advice... be sure you are doing all this work on the right information.  Once I had learned it, I had to unlearn it.  Ah, my brain! 

Thinking

 Fast llamas,

Today we are going to talk about "thinking".  What does it mean for us as educators and for our students to teach cognitive skills?  I mean, that is really at the heart of what we do and who we are.  We are memory makers, or as I like to say, "memory chefs, cooking up memory!".  
We are really good at getting the information into our students heads, and students are very good at "cramming". Students are super great at short-term learning, but information is easily forgotten and replaced with new information within a short period of time. What ends up happening is lots and lots of our curriculum is forgotten. What I think is really worth focusing on is the retention of meaningful learning during this time of out of the ordinary learning, I do believe we can still hold high expectations for student learning by using a simple strategy called "Retrieval Practice". Student engagement is pretty low right now, so we need to capture students attention quickly and get them to recall information in the time we have with them.

What I am asking for you to do is change your thinking about thinking. We used to think that we learn to think by thinking... (we learn to read by reading, learn to write by writing, learn math by mathing... no! by practicing math... haha).  Now we know that we learn to think by thinking about the thinking.  We call this Metacognition, where we are aware of our thought processes.  When we easily recall something to mind right after we have learned it, we think we know it. However, proof of real learning occurs when the thinking is challenging, hard to do and requires effort. When our students have to think and think and think, they sometimes feel like they don't know it. But, when we bring information to mind through EFFORT, guess what, we remember it for longer periods of time. It's the act of difficulty that actually strengthens the neural pathway. The more times we get students to practice this, the stronger the connection. This is real meaningful learning.

This recalling information to mind takes practice. Students may feel overwhelmed in the beginning, so chunk the strategy at first, gradually releasing the amount of effort students are required to do. Then, celebrate the effort! Also, a good tease of showing the kids "the deep dark secret of learning". This is always a fun way to introduce a strategy (especially when you tell the class they are your "favorites and only are sharing the secret with "them".) Tell students that the struggle to recall information is good for them, the more and harder the think, the better and stronger the connections. It is not the speed of recall, but the quantity and quality of the recall. This is not a "mad-minute" exercise. The more effortful and challenging the recall the better.

Here's a quick strategy that gradually releases the risk involved: 1. have students recall information independently 2. have students share their recall with a partner 3. share your exemplar

Here are some retrieval practice ideas:

1. Brain Dumps

2. Short Quizzes

3. Frayer Model and other thinking models

4. Flash Cards

5. Mind Maps

6. Critical Writes

Here's a great placemat from Kate Jones at www.lovetoteach87.com

Neuroscientists call this strategy, the "testing effect". With the idea that the more we test, the more students recall information. This builds strong learning memories for our students. This strategy can increase learning and give you real information about your student learning gaps.