Quality School Line

Tools Can Inspire Student Learning

Barbara A. Cleary, Ph.D.

Whether they will admit it or not, students are in fact eager to return to school this month. It may be for a variety of reasons that have little to do with your classroom—let’s face it, seeing old friends is more appealing than the lure of quadratic equations—but by using some of the tools in your process and tools panoply, you can capitalize on this excitement and sustain it through the learning process.

Use the first day of school to inspire, not crush. Your students are adjusting to a change in routine that may involve getting up earlier, sitting for longer periods of time, and listening passively rather than engaging actively. Listing classroom rules can wait (and these can be developed co-operatively with your students). Use your classroom to extend the active, engaged lives that they have been living during their time off, rather than forcing them into a deadly, monotonous routine.

What activities do students like most? Your affinity exercise with last year’s class can give you this information (see August 2003 issue of Quality School Line). For example, in English/Language Arts classrooms, students often indicate that their favorite activities involve hands-on projects, rather than pen-and-paper writing assignments. If you believe this to be true of your students, here’s a way to get them excited about the term at its beginning and to harness enthusiasm by giving them a chance to choose their own learning activities.

Using three tools—brainstorming, nominal group technique, and an affinity exercise—students can offer their ideas and come to consensus on the activities that will work best for them. Using the rules for brainstorming (one idea at a time, no evaluation, keep going until all ideas have been expressed, etc.), students will create a list of ideas such as the following:

Next, organizing the various ideas by category may facilitate students’ thinking about their choices. An affinity diagram can do this easily, by giving students an opportunity to see relationships among various suggestions and thinking of ways to combine ideas.

Since each project will require the participation of several students, you will want to limit the total number of projects. You might want to have students select only 2-3 of the projects, for example, in order to facilitate group process. Using nominal group technique, the students themselves determine through consensus (not voting) which projects will be included. Each of these tools is described in greater detail in Process and Tools materials from PQ Systems.

What is important to the original goal—that of keeping students engaged in their learning and excited about the school year—is not which projects are selected. (You could, after all, choose the projects yourself and save a lot of time.) Key to their enthusiasm is the involvement that these tools generate—involvement in discussion with each other, involvement in the decision-making process. And at the same time, you’ve broken up deadly seat-time by having students get up and move around, creating their affinity diagram and organizing their ideas.

By using improvement tools, you will have launched your school year and that of your students in a positive, energetic way. Of course, you’ve also gotten their attention for important learning projects that lie ahead, and you will find that the enthusiasm of the first day can sustain them through these projects as well as the other learning activities that they will pursue this year.

Welcome back to the classroom, and good luck with this new batch of eager learners!

To comment on this article, email k12@pqsystems.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Got stories?

Many of you have used the Process and Tools to improve classroom processes and support learning. We’re opening Quality School Line to a series of these stories, and invite you to send details of your experiences with the improvement tools. If we use your story, we will send you a copy of Alfie Kohn’s book, Punished by Rewards, a stimulating discussion of the role of external and internal motivation in student learning. All you need to do is describe how you’ve used a particular tool, tell us a little about your school (its location, number of students, and a little about its quality journey), and indicate your position in the school. We can identify you and your school or not, as you prefer. Your colleagues who are looking for concrete ways to apply these tools will thank you! If you have applications of your own that you’d be willing to share with other teachers e-mail them to K12@pqsystems.com

Here's this month's issue of Quality SchoolLine, a newsletter from PQ Systems, Inc. that provides quarterly tips, examples, and suggestions to classroom teachers and administrators. Watch for classroom projects, downloadable templates, and discounted software for your classroom.
Newsletter Spotlight
How can you: * Improve communication with parents; * Motivate students; * Increase student responsibility; * Improve test scores and student behavior? PQ Systems and Sally Duncan have developed an invaluable tool to assist teachers with these tasks. The Data Folder Kit is a CD collection of proven education tools from Sally’s more than 30 years of experience in education. The Data Folder Kit provides worksheets, evaluation pages, and parent interaction activities to educate children in every classroom. Get 25% off when you order your copy of the Data Folder Kit by Friday, October 12, 2007! For more information and to order your Data Folder Kit visit the Data Folder Kit page.
Tip of the Month
Tools Can Inspire Student Learning Barbara A. Cleary, Ph.D. Whether they will admit it or not, students are in fact eager to return to school this month. It may be for a variety of reasons that have little to do with your classroom—let’s face it, seeing old friends is more appealing than the lure of quadratic equations—but by using some of the tools in your process and tools panoply, you can capitalize on this excitement and sustain it through the learning process. Use the first day of school to inspire, not crush. Your students are adjusting to a change in routine that may involve getting up earlier, sitting for longer periods of time, and listening passively rather than engaging actively. Listing classroom rules can wait (and these can be developed co-operatively with your students). Use your classroom to extend the active, engaged lives that they have been living during their time off, rather than forcing them into a deadly, monotonous routine. What activities do students like most? Your affinity exercise with last year’s class can give you this information (see August 2003 issue of Quality School Line). For example, in English/Language Arts classrooms, students often indicate that their favorite activities involve hands-on projects, rather than pen-and-paper writing assignments. If you believe this to be true of your students, here’s a way to get them excited about the term at its beginning and to harness enthusiasm by giving them a chance to choose their own learning activities. Using three tools—brainstorming, nominal group technique, and an affinity exercise—students can offer their ideas and come to consensus on the activities that will work best for them. Using the rules for brainstorming (one idea at a time, no evaluation, keep going until all ideas have been expressed, etc.), students will create a list of ideas such as the following: Next, organizing the various ideas by category may facilitate students’ thinking about their choices. An affinity diagram can do this easily, by giving students an opportunity to see relationships among various suggestions and thinking of ways to combine ideas. Since each project will require the participation of several students, you will want to limit the total number of projects. You might want to have students select only 2-3 of the projects, for example, in order to facilitate group process. Using nominal group technique, the students themselves determine through consensus (not voting) which projects will be included. Each of these tools is described in greater detail in Process and Tools materials from PQ Systems. What is important to the original goal—that of keeping students engaged in their learning and excited about the school year—is not which projects are selected. (You could, after all, choose the projects yourself and save a lot of time.) Key to their enthusiasm is the involvement that these tools generate—involvement in discussion with each other, involvement in the decision-making process. And at the same time, you’ve broken up deadly seat-time by having students get up and move around, creating their affinity diagram and organizing their ideas. By using improvement tools, you will have launched your school year and that of your students in a positive, energetic way. Of course, you’ve also gotten their attention for important learning projects that lie ahead, and you will find that the enthusiasm of the first day can sustain them through these projects as well as the other learning activities that they will pursue this year. Welcome back to the classroom, and good luck with this new batch of eager learners! To comment on this article, email k12@pqsystems.com. We'd love to hear from you. Got stories? Many of you have used the Process and Tools to improve classroom processes and support learning. We’re opening Quality School Line to a series of these stories, and invite you to send details of your experiences with the improvement tools. If we use your story, we will send you a copy of Alfie Kohn’s book, Punished by Rewards, a stimulating discussion of the role of external and internal motivation in student learning. All you need to do is describe how you’ve used a particular tool, tell us a little about your school (its location, number of students, and a little about its quality journey), and indicate your position in the school. We can identify you and your school or not, as you prefer. Your colleagues who are looking for concrete ways to apply these tools will thank you! If you have applications of your own that you’d be willing to share with other teachers e-mail them to K12@pqsystems.com Copyright 2007 by PQ Systems, Inc., 10468 Miamisburg-Springboro Rd., Miamisburg, OH 45342 All rights reserved.