Group items tagged

Another nice description of how to think about blogging in the classroom and how to kick up the rigor of the process. I do like the description of different purposes from Will Richardson's book.  Always looking for ways to bring this conversation to the forefront again and again.... One of the highlights of the conversation centered around a section (on p. 32) of Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcast and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom that articulates so perfectly the different levels of blogging: Posting assignments (Not blogging) Journaling, i.e. "this is what I did today." (Not blogging) Posting links. (Not blogging) Links with descriptive annotation, i.e., "This site is about…" (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description). Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging). Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere). Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience in mind. (Real blogging). Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging).

This problem comprehension or schema knowledge is facilitated when the schema underlying a given text is used as a vehicle to translate the information in the text into a semantic representation. this would involve restating the problem, identifying the problem type (i.e. change), discerning relevant and irrelevant information, determining information that is needed for solution, and representing the problem as a diagram (Mayer, 1999).  Problem solution requires representing the problem as a number sentence or list of operations or identifying subgoals for multistep problems (i.e. strategic knowledge) and carrying out single or chains of calculations (i.e. procedural knowledge; Mayer 1999). Because additive problem structures (i.e. change, group, compare) involve a "family" (e.g. 3, 5, 8), connecting the number family to the problem structures is critical to problem solution (Van de Walle, 2004). Although procedural knowledge is important, it (is extremely limited unless it is connected to a conceptual knowledge base" (Prawat, 1989, p. 10).  SBI- Schema-based instructionGSI- General strategy instruction SBI Components (some not necessarily all) a) SBI that used either number line diagrams to understand the semantic structure of compare word problems or schematic diagrams to solve a range of word problems. b) schema-induction instruction, c) SBI that explicitly taught for transfer by focusing on similar problem types, and d) SBI combined with metacognitive instruction.  different format, different question, unfamililiar vocabulary, irrelevent information, combining problem types, and mixing superficial features

This is a compilation of Karl's Transparent Algebra posts. He does such an incredible job of making his thinking visible for all of us in how he is planning his course for the upcoming year. I share it because I think it's a valuable example of a reflective practitioner and worth sharing. If you have any teachers who might benefit from reading some of his reasoning, I encourage you to send them to his blog!