Eclectic Technology

Failing forward is a new term that has come into the field of education. We know that learners fail, and many see failure as an end point. Others see failure as a lesson learned and move forward. This post provides 21 ideas that you may find useful in your classroom, as you rephrase failure for learners, allowing them to see that what we have viewed as failure is part of the road to success.

Each of the 21 ideas is explained with a brief description and then the question "How does this promote failing forward?" is asked and answered, with an example. Below are three of the ideas. Click through to the post for more.

* Design iterative work.

* Connect students with communities

* Recognize it with badges, feedback and celebration

You may find one or two ideas that you would like to implement quickly, or consider looking ahead to next year and how some of these ideas might help learners become more successful.

As teachers many of us recognize the importance of metacognition. This post looks at current research and discusses how the research supports "the role of metacognitive thinking in becoming an expert."

Nine areas are discussed. They include:

* Sciences, which include Mathematics, Computer Programming, Engineering and Medical Sciences

* Arts, which include Fine Arts, Writing and Communication and Music

* Education, which includes Teaching and Learning

Students may not be aware that their answers are incorrect, or that they do not have an understanding of the text they are asked to read. These students need to be taught that metacognition, the 'awareness and understanding of one's thought process' in key to becoming an expert.'

How can we work with out students to they learn about their thinking and learn, and view themselves as thinkers and learners?

This post provides an overview of metacognition, beginning with studies of young children. Additional research is shared that discusses of metacognative practices and there is an excellent section Putting Metacognition into Practice where a number of resources are provided.

Four assignments for explicit instruction are shared (and the brief version is below and quoted from the post):

* Preassessments—Encouraging Students to Examine Their Current Thinking

* The Muddiest Point—Giving Students Practice in Identifying Confusions

* Retrospective Postassessments—Pushing Students to Recognize Conceptual Change

* Reflective Journals—Providing a Forum in Which Students Monitor Their Own Thinking

This is followed by a section on "recommendations for developing a classroom culture grounded in metacognition."

The post offers links to three tables that assist with this. The tables focus on:

* Questions for students to ask themselves

* Prompts for integrating metacognition

* Questions to help faculty metacognitively assess their own teaching

The post continues to discuss these topic and provides access to additional tools, resources and examples. It provides a wealth of information and resources about metacognition and the tables of questions and prompts (linked to above) are worth checking out if one of your goals is to help your students understand what it means to be a thinker and learner.

How can check lists help students? Below are a few of the ways suggested by this post. Click through to read all of them.

* A task-based checklists allow students to follow steps providing guidance to successful completion of complex tasks.

* Checklists help with metacognition. They help students "become aware of their learning process."

The post also provides five resources to use checklists in your course.

* Wunderlist

* List Weaver

* Pinterest

* TeacherVision.com

* ReadWriteThink.org

Remember that your check lists may change as students use them...and to ask students for their feedback as they may have ideas that you have not considered.

Wiggins and McTighe have a new book out, "Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding." ASCD has Chapter 1 available on their website at no cost. This chapter explores "What Makes an Essential Question." Learn more about:
* Distinguishing characteristics of essential and non essential questions

* Look through essential questions based on subject area including history social studies, mathematics, language arts, science, arts, and world language

* Learn the seven defining characteristics of essential questions

This first chapter is rich in content and will help you in understanding the value of essential questions and how to create them for your class. As we move into Common Core this is a critical area that will help guide our classes and it is a great resource to have at our fingertips.

In this post Grant Wiggins discusses that experiential learning does not equal minds on learning. One can learn from their hands, but not engage their mind.

He notes (and this is quoted from the post):

Many projects, problems, situations, and field trips do not yield lasting and transferable learning because too little attention is given to the meta-cognitive and idea-building work that turns a single experience into insight and later application.

How can we help our students engage their minds? Wiggins provides three examples of a series of questions that may help you come up with questions that you could use with your students. Below is the set of questions that he asks students when he visits classrooms:

• What are you doing?
• Why are you doing it?
• What does this help you do that’s important?

For the back story on these questions (and to see the others) click through to the post.

We want our students to demonstrate that they know how to think, to understand that they have the ability to ask questions and find answers, answers that may not be available through Google (esp. if we are asking them to research). In short, we want them to use metacognitive skills.

But how do we teach them these skils? The image above, from teachthought, provides 15 questions that may help students create the habits that students need to learn. Below are three of the questions. Click through to the post for the entire list, as well as some great discussion.

* Is this idea important to me? To others? Why or why not?

* Is there a “part” of this new idea I can take and “pivot”? Create something new and fresh?

* What real-world models–examples–relate to this that can help me understand this further?

Consider posting these questions in your classroom and using them when appropriate with students.

Here is another way to have students think about their thinking. The Six Hats was written by Edward de Bono, and provides one way for students to organize their "thinking and decision making skills."
Each had is a different color and each represents a different way you might approach thinking.

* The white hat is about data and information. Think of it as a neutral position.

* The red hat looks at emotions.

* The yellow hat had a positive point of view.

* The black hat is more cautious.

* The green hat is for creative thinking and new ideas.

* The blue hat is for thinking about thinking (metacognition).

The post includes two additional visuals. Many students might find the process of thinking about what hat they would wear to help them determine the best way to approach specific areas.