Fun and Games (continued) - Student Engagement

With summer almost gone, it’s time to scour the ads for school supplies and to gear up for the new school year.  The beginning of school always brings up conflicting emotions for me.  First and foremost, the excitement and anticipation of meeting new students and trying new lessons, but also the anxiety of trying to meet so many new needs.

Continuing with the trend of Fun and Games and with the understanding that engagement comes when students feel a connection with what they’re learning, here are some ideas gathered from two sources that inspired me this summer:

1)    David Warlick’s Smartbrief identified “four qualities of gaming and social networking experiences that provoke active and deliberate investment from the learner, into what they’re learning.”  He cites:

a.     Responsiveness (“Choices work or don’t, but everything gets feedback”);

b.     Collaboration (Learners discuss and build off one other to participate and achieve); 

c.     Personal Meaningfulness (quantifiable value and rewards (unlocking new levels, getting likes or comments), and player and participant identities are valued);

d.     Guided Learning in a Safe Environment (Players and participants learn from what works and what doesn’t and adapt their strategy). 

Sounds familiar?  It should.  These are the building blocks of a successful classroom. The final question: “What would happen if students and teachers were free to play with learning?”  filled me with new energy and enthusiasm as I started to work on my Fall Syllabus.

The Art and Science of Teaching  by Robert Marzano identifies five common factors related to student engagement:

High Energy—Teachers can use physical activity, appropriate pacing, and communication of enthusiasm and intensity in working with students to promote engagement and motivation.

Missing Information—Teachers can capitalize on the innate human need for closure by asking students to discover and supply missing information.

The Self-System—Effective engagement of students also involves incorporating topics, ideas, and processes that students find inherently interesting and valuable to them.

Mild Pressure—When students experience mild pressure while engaging in such activities as questioning, games, and competitions, they tend to focus their attention on key elements of the learning process.

Mild Controversy and Competition—Teachers can structure and manage non-threatening forms of controversy and competition through such processes as debates, tournaments, and related forms of team-based activities.

(Source is ASCD Website)

Module 13 focuses on the use of games and other forms of non-threatening competition as catalysts for promoting student engagement and Modules 14 and 15 present strategies based on these five factors that teachers can use to engage students.

More Games and Activities

Here's another link to ESL games: http://www.manythings.org/e/abc.html. This is the alphabetical list on the "Many Things" website. The idioms and slang sections are a great reference for intermediate proficiency level students.

Games and Activities 2 - Review of Instant Poetry Forms

Hi Everyone!

I have been taking some time to play with the Instant Poetry Forms (especially since I am writing some poetry for some world languages units :) ). It is listed under poetry resources on the right-hand side of our blog. I know that we had some interest in this site before, but I thought it would be worthwhile to remind you all of how fun these are! There are a ton of poetry frames. Here's one from my daughter that she wrote about her new beta fish:

I am a beta fish blue as an ocean.
I swim through my log.
I eat freeze-dried worms.
I can play guitar on my fins.
I can stare at my best buddy, Liv.
I am a beta fish.

Try some of the forms out and post them here or on our Facebook page!

Also, I just visited the New Mexico Chant Bank to see if I could find some inspiration for my own writing. They have a TON of new poems posted since I last checked them out (which was several months ago at least) . I like that you can add your own chants/poetry to the bank, too. Please take a minute to visit their site and let us know what you think.

July Focus - Games and Activities

Hello everyone! Since summer is in full swing, we decided to make our focus for July -- games and activities.

Here are a couple of links for you. The first one has thematic crossword puzzles that you might enjoy: http://www.englishclub.com/esl-games/ 

 The second one fun matching games:
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ 


Have fun and let us know which ones you like best!!

Pat Wolfe - Mind Matters (Resource)

Can't believe it is the end of June already! Time flies...

We have already posted Pat Wolfe's "Mind Matters" site on the right-hand side of our blog, but here is a page within her site that posts brain research related articles:

http://patwolfe.com/articles-about-the-brain/

Happy reading!!

Creative Problem-Solving - A Whole Brain Activity

In this article, Ben Johnson talks about the Common Core and how the new standards address problem-solving. How is this related to brain research as it applies to our students? Creatively solving problems is a whole brain activity. And just what does problem-solving entail? According to Johnson, "a problem must be compelling enough to require a solution. The solution to a problem must be believable, plausible and doable." And furthermore, "a solution to a problem must be so integrated (like the brain) that the parts and pieces cannot be separated." He ends with a question: How do you get students to solve problems in your classroom? And I would add, what are some of the most compelling problems that your students have solved and what were the resolutions?

Here is his article for further reading:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-standards-problem-solving-ben-johnson#.T4NoWlEKyTw.email

Brain Research and the Bilingual Brain

Dr. Judy Willis is an authority on brain research and how it relates to learning. Here is some of what she says about the "bilingual brain," and some of the implications of the research.

A selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are seminal executive functions that are minimally developed in youngsters. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation, which last into the twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting.

The research refers to children raised with a language at home that differs from the dominant language outside the home, such as in school. Compared to monolinguals, the bilingual children develop greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making judgment and responsiveness to feedback. The correlated fMRI scans of these children reveal more activity in the prefrontal cortex networks that control these executive functions.

Exercising Their Thinking Brains Early and Often

The leading explanation for this correlation is the need of bilinguals to frequently "select" which language is needed, what words fit the linguistic criteria and how to convey their intended meaning each time they communicate. To do this, the brain must actively evaluate between the competing language systems and deliberately focus attention on the chosen language.

The research interpretation of the fMRI and cognitive tests is that the ongoing evaluation and selection process in bilingual children exercises brain circuits which regulate attention control and block distraction. This neural network activation of the executive functions is one suggested explanation for the higher performance in cognitive tests by children who have had five to ten years of bilingual exposure (Bialystok, 2009; Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2007). Further studies are investigating whether similar benefits are found in children who have exposure to a second language later in life.

Implications for Brighter Starts

The incoming research supports encouraging parents to retain use of their native language in the home. The implications also raise considerations of what other early exposures and in-school experiences can be designed to promote these executive function activations in all children. What other planned learning activities can be so engaging as to promote the activation and strengthening of young children's developing networks of attentive focus? Should second language instruction begin earlier in elementary school?

I'll keep you posted as further research becomes available, and I look forward to your contributions to this dialogue.

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Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-bilingual-brain-judy-willis-md