Drumming to the beat of different marchers

This was a most inspiring session offered by Debbie Silver. Here are my notes and thoughts...

We need to be people smart and be able read body language, be empathetic, sympathetic and read people. It is important to be present with kids when they are in our room. No paper work, email, talk to other teachers, etc, at that time. BE WITH THEM!

Bandura's work on self-efficacy says that self-efficacy helps us evaluate our performance. It influences the choices we make, the effort we put, our persistence, and the way we feel. For students, self-efficacy is a reasonable chance for success.

Debbie talked about Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and reminded us that we need to help students only in what they need so that they can keep learning with some kind of help, but not tell them or give them the answers. We should always be raising the bar.

All students deserve curriculum activities that are motivating and fun, not just the gifted or the ones that finish work early. It's important to give kids a chance to be engaged. They all deserve a chance to shine.

The presenter then talked about student profiles, about how much to we need to know about our students. Here's the list she gave us:
- reading level
- English language proficiency
- level of adult supervision and involvement at home
- personal interestes
- preferred learning styles
- least favorite things
- fears
- strengths

She emphasized on the importance of giving students the opportunity to show their knowledge in different ways. It is not reasonable to hold a student accountable for information presented solely on text.

A few technology examples were quickly presented to show options for students to present their work. One of them was Voicethread. I wish she could have stopped and explain it a little bit further. I've used it and I know it is quite useful, however I know my colleagues sitting with me have not.

For more information, visit Debbie Silver's website: www.debbiesilver.com password: iamateacher

Using what I learned...

• When students are in the classroom, forget about email, paperwork and other worries. Interact the whole time with them!

• This was a good reminder not to give students the answers.. have them find out and be away of their comfort zone.

• Offer students the technology to show their knowledge or acquire their knowledge in different ways!