Let’s Talk About Talking
More of our students these days are bilingual and multilingual, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. As of three years ago, 5 million students across the U.S. were learning English as an additional language, 10% of the overall student population. As we strive to support our students who are acquiring English fluency, it’s important to remember the value of encouraging students to talk in class with their peers, as my colleague Jane Hill points out in a recent post on our blog. Any educator fortunate enough to study with Jane, whether through her book, online course, or in-person professional learning, is reminded just how vital student discourse is to language acquisition at any age. In this issue of Changing Schools, Jane explains how talking in class has gone from a disciplinary infraction to a prized outcome within her lifetime. Whatever format you’re teaching in right now, I know you’ll find her observations useful. Enjoy the post and talk it up!
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Bryan Goodwin, CEO, McREL International
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Rediscovering the Power of Student Talk for Language Acquisition
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Until quite recently, teachers equated student silence with focus, but a new appreciation for the learning power of peer-to-peer conversations using academic language (sentence structure and discourse in addition to vocabulary) is opening opportunities for English learners and their teachers.
McREL’s Jane Hill explains how learning new academic content and a new language at the same time can be the best way to learn both.
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Valuing Students’ Linguistic Abilities
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Languages are important aspects of students’ identities and cultures, and being able to use all of their linguistic abilities in school is important to their development as learners. The theory of translanguaging provides a framework for supporting and leveraging students’ multilingualism in the classroom. Our colleagues at the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Pacific have created a free infographic that describes translanguaging and shows how teachers can put it to use.
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Applying Real-Life Teaching Strategies to Hollywood Classrooms
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Glen Pearsall, author of Tilting Your Teaching, shows how critiquing a classroom scene from a movie can reveal how actual teachers could have done things differently using small changes in instructional practice that can lead to big gains in student learning and engagement.
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Learning That Sticks in an Online Classroom
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Keep the Momentum Going on Family Engagement
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From our colleagues at REL Pacific, here’s some encouragement on maintaining progress when it comes to engaging families in learning—one of the strongest predictors of student success. The recent shift to remote learning may provide an opportunity for educators to provide more—and more accessible—ways for parents and other caregivers to be a part of their children’s education.
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Capturing Student Engagement and Motivation With Conversations About Purpose and Personalization
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Researchers have identified several factors that contribute to or coincide with student engagement, and McREL consultant Tonia Gibson, writing in Education Week’s Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo blog, puts her finger on a variable that teachers can influence: motivation. Tonia points out that on average, engagement decreases sharply as students age, but teachers can defy the odds by getting to know their students as individuals and being crystal clear about the purpose for learning, which in turn motivates them to learn more deeply.
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A selection of research news that ties into our work on leadership, instruction, school improvement, and professional learning here at McREL.
What about the silent ones? Student talk is a worthy goal, but some students are naturally reticent or use silence for protection or control. High achievers have strategies to compensate for the loss of learning that uncommunicativeness might otherwise entail, but low performers can enter a spiral of keeping quiet out of fear of underperforming, and thus underperform even more. Two Czech researchers have explored how a welcoming classroom environment can help these students participate more. Read the paper in the Journal of the Learning Sciences. “Making” and collective creativity. The “maker movement” shows the way toward achieving two important educational objectives: giving students ways to demonstrate their learning, and fostering creativity. Two Cypriot researchers take the idea of creativity a step further, finding that participating in maker activities in STEAM classes helps build collective creativity. Read the paper in The Journal of Educational Research. Teacher evaluation gaps in context. University researchers studying racial inequities in teacher evaluation ratings reviewed data from Chicago Public Schools and found that minority teachers are likelier to be assigned to schools and classrooms serving students with greater socio-economic and academic needs, and this influences their evaluation scores. The authors recommend that evaluators take classroom and school context into account in order “to generate more equitable ratings of teacher performance and mitigate potential adverse consequences for teacher diversity.” Read the paper in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
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Online Professional Learning
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We’re currently scheduling on-site, in-person professional learning with schools for later this year. In the meantime, check out these online courses for insights, strategies, and tools for great instruction and student learning.
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Learn all about crafting high-quality questions that deepen student learning.
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Design, sequence, and present lessons in a way that best aligns with what brain research and learning sciences tell us about how students learn, remember, recall, and apply knowledge.
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Create a positive, empowering classroom environment that supports higher levels of student learning.
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Feed your professional curiosity and growth with our books, quick reference guides, and reflective journals on effective teaching, learning, and school leadership. Volume discounts are available for school and district purchase orders. Email POs to store@mcrel.org.
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Sometimes all it takes is an intentional pause, a purposeful glance, or a few well-timed words to keep a lesson on track. Learn the Seven Simple Shifts to gain students’ cooperation, engagement, and focus, and help them learn even more.
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Unpack the cognitive science underlying student learning and memory so that you can sequence your lessons into experiences that challenge, inspire, and engage your students. As a result, you’ll learn to teach with more intentionality—understanding not just what to do but also when and why to do it.
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Building a Curious School uncovers the subtle ways in which formal education seems to hinder our natural curiosity and reveals how rekindling a sense of wonder in schools can prime the pump for learning, foster a culture of engagement, grow better educational leaders, and prepare students and staff to lead more fulfilling lives.
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We all wish for our students to become more self-motivated and to show a greater passion for learning. But how can we turn this universal wish into classroom reality? By tapping into the most basic and powerful learning drive of all—curiosity.
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You’ve probably heard that teaching is a journey. So . . . where are you on yours? Discover the power of self-reflection to achieve ever-deeper insights into your own strengths—and ever-better results from your students.
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As a growing organization, we’re expanding our team of educators, researchers, project managers, and communicators to provide supports and services to more schools, districts, and education agencies. Interested in joining our team? Check out this current opening on the McREL careers page:
- Research Director (Honolulu)
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Learn more about how our coaching, professional learning, and analysis services can help your school or system reach its goals.
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McREL International
P 800.858.6830 | F 303.337.3005
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REL Southeast
Dr. John Hughes
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