The Google Infused Classroom: A Guidebook to Making Thinking Visible and Amplifying Student Voice by Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith was a great quick read for anyone who wants to make sure they are taking full advantage of the resources available via Google Apps for Education. There are several things that I was already familiar with, but I definitely learned some new things as well. I appreciate Clark and Avrith’s commitment to sound pedagogy over just the latest technology bell and whistle. Their goal is to get their students thinking to ensure that deep learning is taking place. This book is really a great resource for teachers who are looking to freshen up teaching strategies, assessments, and several other areas of learning.
I highlighted several things while reading and posted those notes below…
- PEDAGOGY ped-uh-goh-jee ‘\’PE-Də-,gō-Jē NOUN The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept. Page: 2
- As we move into the twenty-first century, we need to teach our students to be “transliterate” — that is, fluent across all mediums of information, not just reading and writing. Page: 5
- An important step toward accurately redefining literacy is to think of our students as participants in a global society, rather than simply as learners. Page: 5
- As disruptive, transliterate educators, we must learn how to speak social media and understand what it means to be connected learners so that we can guide our students. We must know and understand these new forms of information — how to use them correctly, what their nuances are, and how they are shaping our world. We must know how to curate information and crowdsource comprehension. In the end, we must teach our students transliteracy and shift their focus from simply reading and writing to developing and using all of the communication skills they’ll need to achieve success in our modern society. Page: 6
- “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” — Maya Angelou Page: 7
- Characteristics of Our Learners
– They talk in images (e.g., emojis, pictures, and videos). Page: 84
– They think in 4-D, 360-degree, and high-definition videos. Page: 96
– They communicate in short, bite-sized ideas. Page: 108
– Their social circle is global. Page: 1010
– They want to win using strategies, practice, and do-overs. Page: 11
– Their cell phones are the hub of their social lives, with their apps of choice being Snapchat, Instagram, and Houseparty. Page: 11
– They like to create. Page: 10
– They prefer to do hands-on and interactive projects. Page: 9
– They are social entrepreneurs and like their learning to have meaning and purpose. Page: 8
– They are the first real digital natives. They have never known a world without smartphones, tablets, and social media. Page: 8 - Constructivism is based on the idea that students construct knowledge and meaning through experiences. Page: 12
- Connectivism proposes that students learn through their connections and networks, both physical and digital. Page: 13
- connectivism theory suggests that learning happens when students consult a diversity of opinions, use networks to find and validate relevant, up-to-date information, and utilize a crowd as the source of information. Page: 13
- Throughout this book, you’ll find three core ideas that we believe are essential to education: making thinking visible, giving every student a voice, and allowing students to share their work. Page: 14
- Thinking routines remind us that learning is not a product, but a process of understanding. Page: 15
- Check out this site for a quick-start guide and resource on thinking routines: Bit.ly/GICThinking Page: 16
- In short, students learn best from one another, and seeing another student’s answers can often result in important “light bulb” moments. Page: 18
- Are all of my students doing the same project? If they are, is that the best way for each individual learner to demonstrate their understanding of the learning targets? Page: 24
- Understanding by Design (UbD) is based on the belief that teachers should design instruction backwards. It is a three-step process that identifies the desired results, determines the acceptable evidence, and plans the learning experiences and instruction accordingly. The framework gives teachers the flexibility to allow each student to progress toward this learning target in different ways. You might start with an essential question that students work toward answering, whether that’s a student-generated question or one you’ve crafted for the unit. Page: 25
- According to ASCD UbD White Paper from March 2012, “Backward design encourages teachers and curriculum planners to first think like assessors before designing specific units and lessons. The assessment evidence we need reflects the desired results identified.” Page: 25
- according to the UbD framework, they do this through the lens of the six facets of understanding: They can explain the learning goal. They interpret it. They apply it. They can understand different perspectives. They show empathy. They demonstrate a metacognitive awareness of the material and their learning. Page: 25
- An assessment for learning, or formative assessment, is exactly what it sounds like: It’s an assessment that helps us understand where our students are in the learning process. Page: 26
- An assessment as learning is an ongoing assessment that students do to reflect on and monitor their progress. Page: 26
- An assessment of learning is the “summative evaluation” of a student’s work. Page: 26
- Instead of asking the same questions and having a blanket target for all of our students, though, we should look for student growth on an individual scale. We should find out what each student knows at the beginning. Page: 27
- “The more you teach without finding out who understands the concepts and who doesn’t, the greater the likelihood that only already-proficient students will succeed.” — Grant Wiggins Page: 28
- “I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” — Albert Einstein Page: 40
- “Understanding is revealed when students make sense of and transfer their learning through authentic performance.” — McTighe and Wiggins, Understanding by Design Page: 46
- Technology makes it possible to take something that was once one-dimensional, like a poster, and layer it with student voice, explanations, and even virtual reality to make their learning come to life. The result is that learning becomes much more meaningful and interesting in the process. Page: 47
- “The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers — creative and holistic ‘right-brain’ thinkers.” — Daniel Pink Page: 51
- “Most of all, have the confidence in every learner’s ability to think and your capacity to nurture that thinking. The results will amaze and energize you.” — Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison from Making Thinking Visible Page: 63
- “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller Page: 71
- “Technology is used to strengthen teacher-student relationships and interactions around learning, and not replace the relationships or interactions.” — Reshan Richards Page: 77
- “We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey Page: 83