I remember reading the Outsiders. As a struggling reader by the time I was done with the first chapter I had already lost track of all the characters. With the frustration of not knowing how each character related to one another it was not long before I just gave up reading. Now a simple diagram of the characters can help with the mental organization. The character Trait Note-Taking Template Created in Inspiration mentioned in chapter six of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works by Roberts Marzano. This is a great way for students to create summaries and notes for material that otherwise would be too complex for your visual thinkers to grasp. This is just one example of how to use it. I could imagine this would also be great for biology to diagram cells or mathematics to show the process of the acronyms Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally and F. O. I. L.
Here is a Screen Shot of an InSpiration web
with the charactrers of The Outsiders
(Click to Enlarge)
Inspiration is also a wonderful tool because it takes the diagram and turns it into an outline. Outlines are important in your writing courses to help students arrange their essays so their paragraphs stay on topic. With the click of a mouse you can arrange a brainstorm into an outline making the two most challenging components of the essay easier than ever. Again, writing courses are not the only application for this program. Use it for history to arrange a time line with important dates or to show the growth stages for a frog embryo before you virtually dissect it.
Here is an outline version of the above web.
This was created with one mouse click!
Simple?! I know!
(Click to Enlarge)
I hope you have an opportunity to explore this wonderful program and see its many uses in the classroom. I am also interested to see how you are using Inspiration and your success stories about how you were able to reach that student for the first time! Feel free to mention some of your less than successful stories as well. Remember “one learns little from success, and much from failure.” (Man I need to stop eating at Chinese places.)
Hey Paul.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed by your blog and the way you present it. You clearly enjoy doing this, don't you? Good for you, I'm happy you were in my same Blog group.
I remember how bad I was at taking notes. Our English teacher even put aside a couple of classes to attempt to teach us the proper way to do it. At the end of the day, it still looked like gibberish to me, though. To this day, I don't think I'm good at taking notes, I usually either miss jotting down some whopper information or write down way too much.
In my high school Advanced Writing class we use brainstorming and note taking a lot. Whenever my students have to write an essay, I have them brainstorm for a while so they have an idea of what they'll be writing about. When writing something like a summary, they take notes. After going through their assignments, I can safely say that every single student approaches these things differently. Even though we discussed the different ways of brainstorming and note taking during class, most of them do it in their own way. To me, that's not wrong, it's just a matter of fact. No 2 people learn the same way, so why should we expect them to take notes the same way, or to brainstorm the same way, right? Even though they don't take notes or brainstorm EXACTLY like their textbooks tells them to, they still get the job done. Therefore, whatever it is that each one of them is doing is the right thing for each one of them.
Keep up the fantastic work, I can't wait for your next post!
I never had to take notes in high school. I was one of those annoying kids who only showed up on test day, got an A on the test, and then skipped out on all the homework. However at some point during high school I got interested in fantasy novels. One of the first ones I read began in an elfish country and the three main characters had names that all started with the letter 'E'. For the life of my I could not distinguish between those names! It was so frustrating to me to lose track of the story because I could not determine which character was which.
ReplyDeleteSo I started to take notes. I didnt have to take many. I just jotted down each of the names and then listed facts about them until I was able to tell them apart.
I think it works this way for many students. They will not use something until they see a need for it. I can have them summarize or take notes all I want but the key is to have them see the meaning in their lives.
Paul, I am amazed every time I see your blog. I was one of those students that had to write down every word that the teacher said when taking notes and it still was not enough. If someone had to study an hour prior to a test, I had to study for 3. I had similar experiences that Majes described in his comment. I too would have comprehension problems because I could not keep track of characters or even when time periods or scenes would continuously change. Kristin
ReplyDeleteCesar, Thanks for the compliments on my blog. I do really enjoy doing these things. Your comments on note taking are sad, funny, and familiar. Finding gibberish when I read my notes, missing major themes, and writing way too much are similar problems for me too. I am glad I am not the only one. I think note taking is not taught, but teachers expect their students to just know how to take notes. I have been trying to help my kids with this here and there. I teach them about notes like a graphic organizer and columns, and that notes for history will look different than notes for a novel. Again, thanks for the compliments and for sharing your ideas.
ReplyDeleteMajes, I am so envious of your ability to retain information. My wife was like that. When we were in college I would lock myself in my bedroom for days and come out with a mess of an essay or the basic knowledge to get a C+ on an exam, she would not even study and get an A. I know these students exist in my classes as well. I try to push these students a little more, but mainly leave them alone. Those students with difficulties whether in writing, reading, or test taking are the ones I try to focus my efforts on. These are the students I try to give strategies to. I always say, "find out what you're good at and do that. Find out what you're bad at and develop strategies to get by." I wish I had a bunch of kids like you in my classes! It would make my job so easy! Thanks for your input.
ReplyDeleteKristin, Thanks for the compliments on my blog. I was also like you, I had to work harder, it seemed, than everyone else to get the same marks. I struggled all through school until I eventually gave up. My homelife was less than desirable so school was not a top priority. I was held back in 8th grade and barely graduated high school. It is through these struggles that I believe I can reach out to my struggling students and what drove me into this career. I used to be ashamed of my past, but now I try to use my life as an example to show that one can have some control over the paths of the lives. Thanks for your comments and compliments!
ReplyDeletePaul, I can relate to what you have shared. My father was killed in Viet Nam when I was 2 years old. My mother was 20 years old and had just lost her mother 6 weeks prior to losing my dad. Thank goodness she was a tough lady. She was 4 foot 11 but she could rule. I am almost 50 now and use my experiences also to help my students understand that no matter what happens in life, it up to them to succeed. They cannot use their past as an excuse to fail. I am a special needs teacher and I work with students who have behavioral and emotional disorders as well as learning disabilities. I truly believe that my past has led me in this path. I am also involved with "at risk" students in an after school program where our main goal is to promote character. Because of my experiences, I seem to be able to relate to these kids. These kids are the ones that need me the most and keep me going. After 20 some years of working with the same type of kid, I still truly and whole-heartedly love my job. You can absolutely empower the kids that you work with. Because of what you have been through, they know that you do not judge them. That is so very important to them. Because of this, they will respect and hopefully internalize what they learn from you. Keep on doing what you are doing. You may not see the results of your efforts for years to come but you will definitely see results. Thank you for becoming a teacher. Our kids need you. Kristin
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the posts of our other colleagues, so I do not really want to repeat them. However, I wanted to say that you are so truly utilizing the cognitive learning theory even within your blog by presenting relevant images in your posts! The images you select to include are visual tools for us, your colleague learners, to aid us in better remembering our learning!
I have to agree with the rest of the comments that your blog is very well written and well done.
ReplyDeleteI understand the theory that writing everything down is not the most effective way to retain information and a lot of people cannot recall information when it is presented this way. I had a lot of classes in high school and college where I also wrote everything down hoping to remember it for the test. Believe it or not, this has effective for me and I think it was because of repetition. In German class, there are many charts because there are 16 ways to say "the", 16 more to say "a/an", 16 relative pronouns and more all dependant on the gender of the noun and its function in the sentence. It can be confusing! When my teacher gave us notes each day, I copied these charts down every time, every day. I swear I wrote them no less than 100 times when I was in high school. And they stuck! I also took a Psych 100 course where my professor taught from the text, almost word for word. During lecture, I would underline everything that he said in class. When I went back to study for the exams, I went through my text and read and highlighted everything I had underlined. That was how I studied and I got an easy A in the course.
Long story short (too late!), I think that even boring old notetaking can be effective if the student has the correct studying strategies.