#004: Literally Hashtag Everything

Followup From the Last Episode Danny introduced students to Class Dojo. Class Dojo can have the unintended consequence of riling students up and students who have difficulty understanding probability or who are impatient may say, “The randomizer never picks me.” Memory Strategies We all know that students with special needs struggle with memory issues. Not just students identified with an IEP, but all students have trouble remembering all the things they need to know. We are not just talking about academic tasks. Students need memory strategies for how to remember important things in their lives as well. What are some memory strategies you use with your students. “There are three components of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory (SM) holds information for about 20–30 seconds, after which time it is lost unless it is stored in short-term memory; icons and echoes are common forms of short-term sensory storage. Short-term memory (STM) holds information temporarily. Long-term memory (LTM) involves permanent storage of information.” Muskingum College Attention as a Major Issue Attention is the ability to concentrate mentally and observe carefully. Listening refers to applying oneself to hearing something. One must pay attention in order to listen effectively, but attending is also important when doing other tasks like reading, writing, taking tests, and reviewing information. Attention: Muskingham College Our students attention is often so encapsulated with other social aspects of the high school experience. Many students are worried about how they look to others / how their actions will be perceived. Teaching does not take place in a vacuum. How do we get students to concentrate on the right thing for the right amount of time and retain information that they believe sometimes does not apply to them? Possible Solutions: Small groups where students demonstrate evidence of learning at different points throughout the lesson. Backwards planning, so that YOU know where you are going in the end. Using images or hashtags to remind students of the main ideas. Knowledge vs. Critical Thinking There are two main camps: Core knowledge vs. critical thinking. Is it more important for students to know facts or for students do critical thinking. Danny falls more on the side of core knowledge because of what he is teaching and Hernesto makes the argument for core knowledge. They also discuss how teaching will change with implementation of the common core. Homework Next episode, Hernesto and Danny will discuss how their hashtag idea worked out.