What this legislation does is require that school districts that receive ERate reimbursements to write, revise or otherwise update their current board policies to indicate that the district provides for the education of students regarding appropriate online behavior including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and regarding cyberbullying awareness and response. This requirement is in addition to existing CIPA requirements.  The deadline for compliance is July, 2012.

In addition to the language on revised Internet Use policy, it is important to note that the FCC also recognizes the potential positive impact of social networking to K-12 education. In reference to recent work by the Department of Education, the FCC notes that “social networking websites have the potential to support student learning…” While the comments address social networking, in general, the FCC specifically mentioned two of the currently more high profile social networking sites: Facebook and MySpace. With respect to the CIPA requirement to filter Internet access in schools, the FCC finds that, while individual pages on Facebook or MySpace might be potentially harmful to minors, these sites are not in and of themselves “harmful to minors.” As a result, they do not fall into a category of websites that must be blocked. This is good news to educators who, themselves, realize the power of the technology.

By July 1, 2012, school boards will have to create or update current Internet Use policies to include wording that they are teaching Internet safety. Cyberbullying awareness and response will need to be included within ongoing harassment, intimidation and bullying training and program implementation. The education of minors about appropriate online behavior, digital citizenship, cyberbullying, etc. covers a wide range of issues and topics. It is very important to recognize that these are not simply technological issues and topics, however. It will be very important for regular classroom teachers, prevention-intervention, school safety, and content area specialists, counselors and educational technologists to work closely to create effective and all-encompassing digital safety education program.

Districts will have to decide how, who and with what they will implement this new requirement. With the comments on Facebook and other social networking sites, and with the inclusion of social networking within required Board policy language, education and training around appropriate and pedagogical uses of social networking resources become critical. Districts and schools will need to provide background and training on issues, materials, approaches, resources.

A word of caution is in order. Although districts are not required to block access to social networking sites in general and to Facebook and MySpace in particular, reading this to mean that social networking sites – and Facebook and My Space, in particular – can thus be freely accessed in schools is an oversimplification. It would be wise for policy makers and educators at all levels to consider the following guidelines. Before opening all social networking sites for classroom use, it would be wise for everyone to:

1. Check and follow the most current district / school policies and procedures on the use of social networking tools in schools.
2. Keep personal and professional/educational accounts separate. Individuals might have different, separate accounts through the same social networking provider, however.
3. Be diligent about not sharing personal information on one’s professional/educational site.
4. Remember that using a social networking site for educational purposes has the potential for extending ones school day beyond the school bells and the school walls. It also has the potential of exposing students to teachers’ own or to others’ personal information, even inadvertently.
5. Remind students – and adults – that all rules which apply to bricks-and-mortar classrooms and schools also apply to the online, social networking environment. Examples would include rules around bullying, harassment, courtesy, appropriate language, honesty, timeliness, etc.
6. Never friend a student on a personal site.
7. Inform and involve school administration before entering into a social networking environment for educational purposes.
8. Inform and involve parents/guardians/families. Families are a crucial and integral component to these digital safety efforts. However, the nature of parent/family involvement is also potentially problematic. Inviting parents to join or participate would be tantamount to inviting parents to be involved in your classroom every day. The parents would have to know that they could not join using their ‘personal’ sites. Remember, too, there are lots of students from broken, blended or other non-standard families, as well as some with no-contact orders.  The teachers would have to be able to negotiate through all that in some, not too demanding way. Although it might not be a huge number of students, ‘risk’ and potential liability issues might arise.
9. Do not friend other adults on your educational site. However, as with the comments on parents, above, allow for the possibility of inviting “special guests” for specific educational purposes. For a professional guest profile-type of thing, establish a vetting process, done by the educator using some sort of rubric. Establish what the expert guest would need to agree to be involved. Teaching teams would also need to make arrangements for the involvement of other team members, not to mention student teachers, specialists, counselors and/or administrators
10. Read and become familiar with all Terms of Use documentation.
11. Read, understand and set up all appropriate privacy settings. These may not be intuitive! Discuss them with your colleagues and administrators.
12. Instruct students that this is an educational site. They are not to share it with or invite others who are not in the class. It is to be used for content instruction; however, it is a perfect opportunity for educating students about appropriate inline behavior.
13. In considering #12, instruct students on both Terms of Use and privacy settings.
14. Inform students that the adults are obligated to report illegal behavior, child abuse, sexual abuse, etc.
15. And finally, although it may go without saying, here it is: monitor the social networking site closely.

References:

Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, October 2008

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1492

FCC Report and Order, 8.11.2011

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0819/FCC-11-125A1.pdf

Photo credit:
Library2010_077: UTC Library

Since 2008, we’ve been serving up the best in professional development and practical teaching strategies for K-12 educators. We’ve grown a following and I’m proud of the work we’ve done.

Over the past months, Inside the School has expanded its focus from teacher and staff professional development to consulting with K-12 districts. It’s not a huge change, but it does represent a shift in our focus, audience, and services.

Our readers will notice a shift from classroom issues to district issues, from classroom-level changes to district-level changes. Instead of discussing student assessment, we’re working to improve teacher and principal effectiveness. Instead of writing better lesson plans, we’re working to align district curricula with the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We’re focusing our efforts on six service areas: teacher and principal effectiveness, the CCSS, school turnarounds, charter schools, organizational efficiency, and school climate.

Many of our previous online seminar presenters and writers have joined us as consultants and we’re pleased to continue our existing relationships and recommend them to districts. New, qualified consultants from across the country are joining our team every month. We’re very happy to grow our team of experts to help improve districts.

We’ll be consistently posting articles and resuming our e-newsletter  again starting in November, but they’ll center around our six service areas. They’ll still have a practical quality to them and we know that the conversations that we’ll have around those topics will add to everyone’s understanding of these education issues.

We’ll also continue our online seminars. Our experts will talk about school climate issues that districts need to consider when implementing the new CIPA requirements, for example. The online seminars will still have a strong practical nature that our audiences appreciate.

You can still access our archives for our previous professional development articles and CDs of our previous online seminars. However, our future offerings will emphasize our new direction in K-12 education.

Thank you very much for your loyal readership. I look forward to continuing our conversations and adding to the important work that is going on to improve schools nationwide.

Photo credit:
Halls of East High School, GIRLintheCAFE

What else besides reading, discussing, and questioning can a lifelong learner do?

1. Enroll in a Continuing Education Course: If you’d like to sharpen a skill you already have or gain a new skill, why not look at your community education program. In a recent brochure that came in the mail, opportunities to learn about calligraphy or cooking, painting or photography, guitar or gardening abound. These enrichment courses open the door to your brain to stretch and grow while creative juices flow and produce cool stuff like, in some classes, produce.
2. Join a Book Club or PLC: You’re likely to be really challenged if you’re spending time with people who like to think. Find five other readers and agree on what novel or self-help book you’ll read next. Get together to discuss, then enjoy the new perspective. Based on the work of Richard DuFour, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) allow for colleagues to collaborate and learn from one another while they build trust and put action plans in place to maximize their students’ learning. Thinkers sharing what they think with other thinkers generate palpable brainpower.
3. Collect Stuff: My seventh-grade teacher charged us to “hoard words like a coin collector,” to learn new words, discover their origins, and to figure out their orthography. So why not enrich your vocabulary by collecting a new word every day. Or start a coin collection. Find out where the coins originated, where they were minted, and what they’re worth. Or collect stamps. Sorting and cataloguing them will keep you thinking.
4. Seek out Teaching Opportunities: You don’t have to have a degree in education to teach. Learning is solidified as you teach skills to others. I became a better knitter, for example, as I taught people to knit. What skill would you like to share? Start in your church, at a community center, or in a school. Be a mentor and see what you learn!
5. Blog: Reading and writing online through blogs can be a great way to stay up on the latest research in and observations specific topics of interest to you. Journal your thoughts and chew on the reflections of others.
6. Take an Online Course: Consider getting an advanced degree, license, or certification through an online program like the University of Utah online that offers “one-evening get-aways, Friday evening date nights, and Sunday field trips.” The ever-popular University of Phoenix, a pioneer in online degrees “offers online and on-campus degree programs at the associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level — each is a balanced combination of academic theory and practical application.” If you don’t have the time or money for an entire course, sign up for a webinar that piques your interest.
7. Puzzle Yourself: Lifelong learners don’t necessarily need textbooks. Research suggests that puzzles will also keep your brain waves rippling. Traditional table-top or 3D jigsaws provide hands-on, kinesthetic learning while Sudoku, crosswords, and word search puzzles offer a more abstract, academic task. Better yet, create a puzzle of your own for a family member or friend to solve.
8. Travel: Traveling allows your brain to experience new territory as you cross over boundaries that normally keep you protected, safe and secure. Research places to visit, either foreign or domestic. Calculate the cost to get there and back. Explore learning opportunities while you’re there, like visiting the Art Museum or taking in a play at a local theater. Experience the culture by taking a back-roads tour and trying some traditional cuisine. Ask questions about the history and traditions. Can’t afford a real trip?  Planning a virtual trip is just a click away. Or host a foreign exchange student and bring the cultural experience into your home.
9. Learn another Language: Think you’re too old to acquire another language? Think again. There are a myriad of ways to get exposure to a second language. Sign up for a conversational course first to see if you like it. You can use audio CDs to listen to and learn the language in your vehicle.  Try acquiring vocabulary by watching television in another language. Find a teenager who’s also learning that course and become study buddies. Or use an online translator to make post-it notes for common areas like on the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator door. Not too interested in a spoken language? Give Latin or Sign Language a shot.
10. Pursue Music Lessons: Playing a musical instrument or simply taking voice lessons might strike a chord with some of you. A University of California research team has shown in experiments with adults that music — either performing it or listening to it – has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function.  Start small with a recorder or ukulele and watch your dendrites crescendo to new heights.
11. Start a Dinner Club: Gather some friends to join you for a monthly gathering around the dinner table.  But don’t settle for just the ordinary – make it extraordinary.  Agree to research ethnic dishes and try new recipes.  Explore the traditions of the region to share with your guests.  Dress in customary garb for more authenticity.  Serve the meal as they would in the country that you’re highlighting.
12. Volunteer: Never underestimate the power of giving back.  Find a charity that sparks your interest.  I love to knit for charity to help Save the Children; my daughter enjoys her volunteer work with the Recycling Club at school. Research a cause and find out how you can help, then experience the power of the Pay It Forward movement.

Lifelong learning opportunities don’t exist in a vacuum; clearly they take place all around us.  All it takes is the initiative to seize the momentum and make the most the synergy it generates.

What will you do to fire your dendrites?

Barbara Gruener serves as the counselor and character coach at Westwood Elementary in Friendswood, Texas. She’s also a motivational speaker and loves to influence and impact her audiences in her signature Sing, Dance, Laugh and Build Character sessions. When she’s not working, Barbara likes to write, read, knit, bake, and spend time with family and friends.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Gapers Block Book Club: Water for Elephants: juggernautco / Daniel X. O’Neil
Puzzle pieces: liza31337 / Liza
thumb pick: Rochelle, just rochelle / rochelle hartman

It’s an interesting question, from a learning standpoint: how much does our students’ fear of failure play into whether or not they complete assignments, try on tests, or even come to class?

My daughter is a figure skater. She’s good; she’ll never be a household name, but she is perfectly happy with that. A couple of her friends might be skaters you’ll watch on T.V. someday, though. These elite skaters who perform triple jumps and level-four spins all have one thing in common: they fall all the time. One of my daughter’s friends said if she’s falling, she’s learning. My daughter’s coach says that the kids who don’t learn to fall don’t learn to jump.

How often, in our classes, do we permit our students to fall as a part of their learning? Do we grade every assignment with an eye to perfection or do we give students a chance to experiment, fail, and learn from those failures? Do we stigmatize failure so much that some students are too paralyzed to try?

Figure skating teaches another good lesson about failure: shake it off. If a skater falls early in her program, she has to push the fall aside in her mind and not let it impact her entire time on the ice. One fall on a double Salchow doesn’t mean that the skater will fall on her double toe loop. Just like one gutter ball in bowling doesn’t mean that the bowler won’t roll a strike for the entire game.

Sports like these teach people to be resilient in the face of “failure,” or even to embrace “failure” as part of the path to success. One fall on the ice doesn’t mean the figure skater will fall on the rest of her jumps. One swing-and-miss doesn’t mean a batter will miss the next pitch. But in geometry class, does a low quiz grade motivate a student to work harder or give up?

Dr. Vera Blake, an Inside the School consultant and online seminar presenter, recommended that I read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Standford University psychologist Carol Dweck. Dweck’s research has focused on how people either embrace failure or shun it. She calls the two mindsets fixed mindset and growth mindset.

In the fixed mindset, people believe that a person’s traits like intelligence, creativity, or personality are set. Sure, a person can work hard, but the hand someone’s dealt is pretty much the one they’ll play for life. People with a growth mindset believe that hard work and perseverance can change a person’s traits. Dweck wrote that those with a fixed mindset need to prove themselves over and over, to assure themselves that they are indeed talented. They are likely to abandon tasks that threaten their perceived status or those at which they might fail. When the going gets tough, the fixed mindset learners hit the road.

However, the growth mindset learners stretch themselves when learning is hard. If they fall, they pick themselves back up and stick with a task. When things aren’t going well, when a class is difficult, when a task is hard, these are the kids who plow their way through it. Instead of being embarrassed to fall, these are the kids who realize that falling is part of learning to jump, that crawling is part of learning to walk, and that missing questions on a test proves that they have opportunities to learn and grow. These are the kids who are resilient when life hands them challenges and who work to find solutions.

So, how can we make our classes safe places to fail? How can we encourage the growth mindset over the fixed mindset? For a start, it might be as easy as just valuing hard work (growth) over smarts (fixed). Instead of praising a student with: You’re a really smart math student, change the focus. I can tell you worked hard on this assignment. Good job.

Is your classroom a safe place to fail? Do students realize that making mistakes is part of the path toward understanding? How can we encourage a growth mindset in students, yet still fill in the grade book? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest an idea for a post? Even better, would you like to write a guest post? Please email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
F_Figure_Skating-4: Lake Placid Region
Tadaa: writerjax / Jaclyn Stevenson
Chillin’: writerjax / Jaclyn Stevenson

Dan is a veteran math teacher who has been on your school’s staff since before the building existed. He’s well educated, a great teacher, and the students love him. Dan’s been teaching math since before you were born and counts half the school board among his former students.

You’re planning an initiative that will take your school from good to great. But, after the kickoff meeting, Dan told you frankly that he wasn’t interested. What he does works and he’s not going to fix it just because you’re fresh out of grad school and have big ideas.

The problem isn’t just Dan; the problem is that Dan has a lot of company on your staff. Dan’s a leader among his colleagues and you think that if you could just bring him on board, so many others would follow him.

Inside the School’s seminar on CD Building, Strengthening, and Focusing Faculty Stakeholders reviews ways administrators can motivate, inspire and involve faculty stakeholders in school reform and sustainable improvements.

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After participating in Building, Strengthening, and Focusing Faculty Stakeholders, you will be able to:

• Consider the distinctions between a mission and a vision and how each can be significant as anchors for faculties
• Reflect more on using the three principles of Gung Ho as tools to strengthen the collaboration that is needed to achieve greater successes
• Address perceived resistance and non-compliance among the stakeholders with additional insight

About the Presenter:
Vera J. Blake, Ph.D. is the retired principal of Falls Church High School. A graduate of St. Paul’s College (B.S.), the University of Virginia (M.Ed) and Vanderbilt University (Ed.D), she served as principal for 12 years at Homes Middle School; both schools are located in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was a contributing author to the book, Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Schools: Middle School Change (NMSA, 2001), co-authored "Middle School Partnerships: The More, the Better" (Principal Magazine, Fall, 1999) and "Addressing Diversity Through Partnerships" (Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, Summer, 1998). Dr. Blake was the 2000 Virginia Middle School Principal of the Year, the 1999 Fairfax County Principal of the Year, and a 2000 Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader.

Currently, Dr. Blake is working as a school improvement coach/consultant in several school districts including: Illinois, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Michigan, Nebraska, Virginia, Hawaii, Texas, and Washington, DC. In addition, she was the lead coach for all of the K-12 U.S. Virgin Island Public Schools. She maintains a professional interest in curriculum supervision and in middle and high school levels of teacher and administrator preparation. Dr. Blake continues to serve as a professional development consultant to ASCD and as a consultant and coach to schools and districts to improve schools and student achievement. She is an ASCD cadre member for What Works in Schools and Differentiated Instruction and she is a NMSA Site-Based Services Cadre member.

For your convenience, you may order online and pay with a purchase order or check. Simply select the "Bill Me" option. You may also order by phone at 888-391-4465 ext. 2 or by fax/mail by downloading the PDF order form.

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I told Brandon he wasn’t one of the bad kids. I wanted to tell him that I tried not to classify my students at all, but I didn’t want to encourage eye rolling from a six-foot, five-inch 25-year-old. Instead, I told him that I liked having him in class. He was cheerful and smart. He loved a good joke and made it his mission to try to crack me up even when I was teaching about poetic meter or punctuation. He wasn’t fond of reading outside of class, but loved to share his opinion on whatever he was supposed to have read. Brandon was content with his high C grade in my class and told me once, in his straightforward manner, that he wanted to work on his truck more than he wanted to read Steinbeck. I think he said something like this: Ms. Trim, why do you keep hounding me about this Steinbeck guy? I want to work on my truck, not read about some pearl.

Apart from the value of literature, the only other problem I’d had with Brandon was about word choice. Brandon’s voice is as big as he is and when he slipped and let a curse word fly, everyone heard it. Brandon always owned up to his swearing and he’d say something like: Sorry, Ms. Trim. I’ll let coach know I’ll be late for practice.

Not every student will take the detention as cheerfully as Brandon did, though, and cursing can become a real problem in the classroom if it’s not addressed. Let one f-bomb detonate and soon the classroom is full of them. That’s why I like what author and school psychologist Dr. Allen Mendler said about how to address swearing:

“I know everybody heard what So-and-So just said. I’ll be talking to this person about why he’s so upset that he needed to use that kind of language in class. Now, let’s get back to the lesson.“

-school psychologist, Dr. Allen Mendler

Mendler’s method is smart for three reasons:

1. It’s quick
2. It lets everyone know that swearing in the classroom isn’t allowed
3. It doesn’t allow the cursing incident to eclipse the lesson

With Mendler’s approach, the cursing situation doesn’t escalate and the student remains in class.The teacher communicates that swearing is inappropriate in the classroom. What’s even better is there’s no fruitless discussion about swear words, language habits, and whether or not lick is a classroom-appropriate verb.

How do you handle swearing in the classroom? Do you have any success stories? How about horror stories? I remember a Mad Lib we did once that freshmen tried to derail with naughty body parts. I still have nightmares…Please share your methods and madness in the comments.

Allen N. Mendler, PhD, is an educator, psychologist, and author. His most recent book published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Connecting with Students (2001), provides numerous practical strategies that help educators to connect effectively with their students. He can-be contacted at: Discipline Associates, phone: 1 /800/772-5227; fax: 773/549-6515; Web site: www.disciplineassociates.com

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post you’d like to read? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Jed’s SOAP Opera: psd / Paul Downey
Colorful bars of soap on white towel: Horia Varlan
Sunset Bubbles: Clearly Ambiguous / Scott Robinson

But as teachers, especially in the digital age, we can provide support for the poorly organized student. I know some of my colleagues in the teacher’s lounge would argue with me on this point, especially because my poorly organized student is 15. When will she learn responsibility if we keep doing everything for her? they’ll ask.

Here’s my answer: We need to model good organization and coping methods for poor organization. We need to make sure that all students, even the disorganized ones, feel school is a place for them. We need to make sure our message is responsibility, sure, but also support.

Dr. Allen Mendler, in his book More What Do I Do When…Powerful Strategies to Promote Positive Behavior, suggests some ways that teachers can assist the disorganized student.

Offer duplicate materials. If you have a spare textbook, check it out to the disorganized student so she’ll have a textbook at home and in her locker. When she tries to do her assignement at night, she won’t be discouraged because her textbook is in her locker – again.

Post the week’s assignments online and link to handouts. This is a good suggestion, and not just for the disorganized student. Posting notices, assignments, timelines, and handouts online helps students who miss class for a dentist appointment or a track meet. It also helps parents get a handle on exactly what the night’s assignment entails and they can stop by the craft store to pick up glue and felt, instead of racing the clerks to the door at closing time.

Offer praise. When a poorly disorganized student hands in a paper that’s neat and on time, our first reaction might be to think Well, it’s about time she start acting like everyone else. Instead, Mendler recommends that teachers congratulate the student and try to get her to describe what she did to be successful. “The more students attribute success to their own talents and resources,” Mendler writes, “the more likely they are to realize that they already have what it takes to succeed.” Belief is so powerful. It might take a minute of your time to offer this bit of praise, but a student might carry that minute with her for a lifetime.

Reduce an assignment’s length. If you have disorganized student, try putting fewer problems on a page for her, Mendler writes. When she finishes with that page of problems, ask her to turn it in, praise her, and give her another small set. My colleagues in the teachers’ lounge might call this spoon-feeding. Others might call it chunking. As students enter middle or high school, teachers can model how to chunk up homework assignments as a regular part of the class. It’s good teaching for all students, not just the disorganized ones.

Provide class time for organization. Before students leave for their next class, give them a few minutes to make sure they have all their notes in the proper place and have the assignment written down in their planners. Taking a couple of minutes out to make sure everyone is organized shows students that you think organization is important and a skill. Modeling the questions they need to ask  themselves at the end of class helps, too. Ask: Do you know what materials you’ll need to be successful in this assignment? Have you put your notes away in your binder and not inside your book cover? Did you write down the page numbers you’ll need for this assignment? Have you asked all the questions you need answered so you can complete your work?

Of course this isn’t a complete list of supports that you can easily offer the disorganized student. And really, these supports aren’t limited to those who can’t find their notebooks or pencils. Like so many supports for struggling students, it’s just good teaching. ALL students, even your organized, A+ students, can benefit from these suggestions.

My disorganized student is a good kid. She’s a smart kid. But she really loves it when a teacher recognizes that she needs a helping hand and she’s grateful. So am I.

Reference:
Mendler, Allen N. More What Do I Do When…? Powerful Strategies to Promote Positive Behavior. Bloomington, Ind.: Solution Tree Press. 2005. Pages 70 – 71.

What do you do to support the poorly organized student? Do you think that they should be supported or do you think that supporting these students leads to irresponsibility and bad study habits? It’s O.K. to disagree with me – the best conversations come from a healthy debate! Please share your supports or your criticisms in the comments.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Mess: danabooo
randi locker: miguelb
Beat-up history book: crazytales562 / Chris Chan

In this post, I continue the dialogue we started last week about ways to use flashcards to foster higher-order thinking from students. Specifically, I explore another activity you may be able to adapt to your classroom and discuss how using digital flashcards presents your students with new, effective methods for assessing their own knowledge.

Flashcards require students to distill the “essence”

The act of creating flashcards requires students to (1) determine which idea is worth creating a flashcard for and (2) determine how to break that idea into term/definition so it fits into the flashcard format. These two steps drive students to distill concepts and ideas to their essence. Distilling complicated concepts to their essence is an indicator of deep understanding.

Let’s take an example. Let’s say you wanted your students to understand the causes of the Civil War. Tomes have been written on the subject. And for generations students have written papers on the topic. What if you gave your students the assignment of defining the causes of the Civil War in 20 flashcards? Students would be forced to distill the causes into 20 key ideas. In addition, they’d need to create flashcards that presented these ideas in a coherent manner.

Flashcards with questions such as: What were the five primary causes of the Civil War? or Who were the three key leaders in the South’s decision to secede?

This assignment wouldn’t work for all students. And I’m not arguing flashcards can replace the writing of term papers, but there is value in requiring students to distill complicated concepts to their essence. Frankly, doing so aligns with the way students operate today: short text messages, Twitter updates in 140 characters or less. Students know how to think in brief. Let’s ask them to apply those habits to something more difficult – distilling complicated concepts into brief chunks.

Digital flashcards help students assess their knowledge

There are many benefits to creating flashcards with a digital tool such as StudyBlue. One of the most important is StudyBlue’s ability to take the ideas students have distilled into flashcards and present them to students in different contexts. As you know, requiring students to apply knowledge in different contexts facilitates a deeper understanding.

Each flashcard is a mini-assessment on an idea or concept. Once those mini-assessments are created, a tool like StudyBlue can present them in different assessment formats. A multiple-choice quiz is one example. StudyBlue takes a flashcard deck and automatically converts that flashcard deck into a multiple-choice quiz.  With a quiz, students aren’t self-reporting their answers as they do with flashcards. It’s amazing how reluctant students can be about saying they answered a flashcard incorrectly, and a quiz takes away the temptation to miss-report. A multiple-choice quiz is just one format in which digital flashcards can assess students. Digital flashcards can also present concepts in true/false and fill in the blank formats. In addition, flashcards can easily be converted into interactive online games that challenge students to prove their knowledge.

In addition to providing students with a valid way to assess themselves, digital flashcard tools also help students diagnose where they need to study the most. They can track what students don’t know and then guide them to study this material.

Digital flashcards facilitate self-assessment

As you know, students have been making flashcards for eons. What’s exciting about digital flashcards is they allow students to assess themselves in multiple ways. As educators, we know the more we can get students assessing themselves, the better. They’re actively engaged in learning, not passively accepting the material.

Digital flashcards also go where students are – on their phones. Flashcards work very well in a mobile environment and they allow students to turn 15 minutes of what used to be downtime into studying.

To be sure, flashcards aren’t the end-all-be-all. But flashcards used the right way can develop higher-order thinking, and digital flashcards offer many exiting ways to engage and assess students.

I look forward to continuing the dialogue with you about how flashcards – digital and otherwise – can help students learn.

This is the third of a three-part series by Matt Messinger, Director of Learning at StudyBlue, a free online flashcard and note-taking tool.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post you’d like to read? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Please email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Study Blue Logo: StudyBlue.com
209. [flash cards]: d3b…*
nerd alert: drcw

Often, flashcards are associated with rote memorization. And accurately so.  A common use of flashcards is to help recall vocabulary and key terms. But flashcards can also help students develop higher-order thinking skills such as critical analysis and synthesis, and they can provide students with the foundational knowledge upon which deeper understanding is gained.

To be sure, flashcards alone are not enough to turn students into critical thinkers. But flashcards can, if used appropriately, help students develop essential higher level thinking skills. In this article, we’ll examine two specific classroom activities that use flashcards to develop higher-order thinking. I hope teachers can adapt these lessons to work in their own classrooms with their own curricula.

Chunking – The First Step to Critical Thinking
Research shows that “chunking” large sets of information into smaller subsets helps students learn. By partitioning information into different categories, students need to step back and classify what they’re looking at. That is, they need to think critically.

Here’s an example from the classroom: A high school world history teacher gives her students a list of 60 terms on a sheet of paper. She then tells them to take that list of terms and convert them into four flashcard decks of 15 cards each using StudyBlue, a free online flashcard tool. The four flashcard decks must have the following topics: fascism, communism, socialism, and totalitarianism. The students need to decide which of the 60 terms go into which flashcard deck. Categorizing each term forces students to analyze how it aligns – or doesn’t align – with the definition of each of the four categories. This extra level of thinking helps students better recall the information.

After students have done this exercise, the World History teacher has the students write a paper comparing and contrasting the different “-isms.” The flashcards become the basis for this paper.

All domains have content knowledge that has been categorized and organized in one way or another. The example above can work well in all subject areas.

To Understand – Change the Environment
Recent research on learning shows that varying the study environment increases retention. Studying in the quiet of the library coupled with studying the same information at the loud coffee shop helps students remember more.
One chemistry teacher created a flashcard lesson to put this theory into practice. She took her entire class to the computer lab. Then, she had her students sit quietly and study their flashcard decks on diffusion and osmosis. When they were done studying individually, she asked the students to partner up, with one partner standing behind the other sitting at the computer. As the students at the computer operated the online flashcard tool and flipped through the flashcards, the students standing said the answers aloud. The online flashcard decks are randomized so all of the students were answering different flashcards at once. The students were not only engaged in competition with their classmates, but they were also forced to focus on the answer amid the cacophony of the computer lab. After doing this for a few days, the teacher quizzed the students on the material and they achieved higher average scores than they did on most of her quizzes.

An important part of higher-order thinking is being able to take information in one context and apply it as appropriate in a different context. And while the exercise above does not get all the way in achieving that objective, it does help students move information into long-term memory, so they can better apply it in the future. Flashcards are conducive to studying in multiple environments because flashcards are mobile. With flashcard apps for phones, students can literally put their backpack in their pocket and study wherever they are.

One could argue that getting information into long-term memory is not a higher-order activity, but I think it is by definition. In addition, research shows that gaining domain-specific content knowledge is essential to becoming an expert in a field. One cannot become an expert in organic chemistry without having the foundational knowledge of the elements and their structures. Studying flashcards in different environments helps students get information into long-term memory.

What are innovative and effective ways you’ve used flashcards to help students learn? I very much look forward to hearing your comments.

This is the second of a three-part series by Matt Messinger, Director of Learning at StudyBlue, a free online flashcard and note-taking tool.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post you’d like to read? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Please email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Study Blue Logo: StudyBlue.com
unfinished flash cards: drcw
Chinese students surfing on the Internet: SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget
Day 24.10 tablet testing: Frerieke

A is for Attitude

B is for Behavior. Manage yourself and mind your manners wherever you go. Staying in control of what you think and feel will help you decide what to do.

C is for Cooperation. Collaborate, compromise and connect. None of us alone is as smart as all of us. Getting along with others and working together increases your chances for success.

D is for Determination. Set goals and see them through from start to finish with enthusiasm and drive. Be willing to take some small, safe risks and try new things along the way.

E is for Effort. Give 100% in everything you do. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Don’ t worry about being THE best, just do YOUR best. Make every day a gold-medal day.

F is for Family. Ask family and friends encourage and support you in good times and in bad, through success and failure. They are your safety net; let them laugh with you and cry with you.

G is for Good Grades. Do your best to achieve academically in the classroom and in life. This shows that you worked hard to get it and that can open doors and opportunities.

H is for Honor. Show dignity and respect in all of your interactions. Be honest and fair so that everyone can trust you. Express appreciation and gratitude when good things happen.

I is for Initiative. Get a jumpstart on your work; don’t wait until tomorrow to do what you can get done today. You know what they say about the early bird, right?

J is for Judgment. Think things through to make wise decisions and cut down on mistakes. Good judgment will also help you fix things more easily when you do mess up.

K is for Knowledge. Take challenging classes. Be a lifelong learner. The more you know, the stronger you’ll grow. Who knows? It may even help you find a good-fit college or career.

L is for Leadership. Lead by example; make footsteps worth following. Be friendly and kind to people. A simple smile can make someone’s day.

M is for Morals. Let values like integrity and caring guide you as you figure out what you believe in and stand for. Be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

N is for Nutrition. Eat well, drink a lot of water, exercise and get plenty of sleep. A healthy body means a healthy brain. And don’t forget that relaxation is food for the soul.

O is for Organization. Find a system that works to help you get it together. Your stuff won’t be helpful if you don’t know where it is.

P is for Perseverance. Persist with your purpose even when there are problems. Keep on keeping on. This may take extra patience, but you can do it!

Q is for Quality. Stamp a quality assurance guarantee on everything you do. Ask yourself, “Could my work earn a blue ribbon?”

R is for Responsibility. Show up on time, make decisions carefully, and do what you’re supposed to do. Be someone that people can count on.

S is for Study Skills. Sharpen those important navigation tools to get through school and life by learning how to learn. Get some study buddies together and schedule study sessions.

T is for Time Management. Be a good steward of your time. Consider using a planner. You’ve got all the time you need when you manage it well, so watch your watch.

U is for Understanding. Watch, hear, think and reflect so that you can understand what people are telling you. Listen with your heart so that you don’t miss anything.

V is for Volunteerism. Lend a helping hand with a servant heart. You make the world better when you give back to your community without expecting anything in return.

W is for Work Ethic. Spend a little extra time and energy working hard. Set a good example by earning what you want and need.

X is for eXcellence. Make excellence a habit and pursue it in everything you do; it will set you apart. Oh, and don’t confuse excellence with perfection; nobody’s perfect.

Y is for Yearning. Long to learn something new every day. Dream it, desire it, do it. Be creative and imagine the possibilities.

Z is for Zeal. Race toward your life with everything you’ve got, even if that seems like more than you can give.

It’ll pay off, you’ll see.

What else might you need – to be the best you can be – as you color the world your unique A to Z?

Barbara Gruenerserves as the counselor and character coach at Westwood Elementary in Friendswood, Texas. She’s also a motivational speaker and loves to influence and impact her audiences in her signature Sing, Dance, Laugh and Build Character sessions. When she’s not working, Barbara likes to write, read, knit, bake, and spend time with family and friends.

Kaitlyn Grueneris a National Merit Scholar Finalist who is headed off to the University of Texas-Austin School of Architecture in August. An All-State clarinet player and Drum Major for the Friendswood High School marching band, she hopes to earn a spot in the Longhorn band. In addition to music, Kaitlyn loves writing, drawing, recycling, spending time at Camp Lonestar, and hanging out with friends.

Do you have a question for the editor? Would you like to suggest a topic for a post? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Email editor Diane Trim.

Photo credits:
Lower-case Letter a (Bethesda, MD): takomabibelot
Aluminum Lower-case Letter B (Long Island City, NY): takomabibelot
Cast Iron Capital Letter C (North Scituate, RI): takomabibelot
D (North Scituate, RI): takomabibelot
Capital Letter E (Beltsville, MD): takomabibelot