Watch this TED talk by Brian Cosby:
From the Walkthrough Feedback document I shared with
you previously, identify the Marzano 9 strategies you can see in Cosby’s work
with his students.
Provide specific elements/activities/tasks he used that
triggered your response. (In other
words, if you believe he used Similarities and Differences, tell us what you
saw that made you believe that.)
First of all I just want to say that was an amazing video! So I believe that Mr Cosby used the nonlinguistic representations by building a learning network. This was through blogs, internet, group lessons, presentations from outside sources, and reaching out to the world with their experiment. I also think that having them do the experiment with the balloon and then writing a story about it as if they are the balloon was brilliant brought the cooperative learning into the mix having both the group activity and individual accountability. Identifying similarities and differences was in the very beginning when he has the students take the survey that help him better understand the class and where to lead them to next.
ReplyDeleteOK one more thing!! Mr Cosby was so determined to reach EVERY student that he went as far as altering the class a tiny bit to include the student with leukemia no matter what it took! I believe this fits into reinforcing efforts and providing recognition.
DeleteHe does embody a lot of the "best" of teaching, no?
DeleteI am INSPIRED!!
DeleteSummarizing and taking notes was when the kids had computers and they each have a blog site. Kids put videos of activities on the blog and they tell what happened. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition was with the Wiki page and flicker account. Told stories about the balloon from the balloon perspective. They shared their knowledge with students in New Zealand. Homework and practice was the 25 multiple question test that goes over lesson and state standards. Nonlinguistic representations was when they made a hot air balloon. The kids helped to build the pay load for the balloon. Cooperative learning was when they were teaching students in New Zealand how to do the coke experiment over the internet. Setting objectives and providing feedback was when the kids send up their high hopes and then decided to let other people send up high hopes on there blog sites that they would attach to the balloon. They would blog with other people and comment on others blog site. Generating and testing hypotheses was with the High Hopes high altitude balloon project. Questions, cues, and advance organizers was with the survey at the beginning of the year. I loved how he included the little girl that had leukemia in the classroom and made her a part of the class.
ReplyDeleteGood eye, AW. Good eye.
DeleteI noticed the following:
ReplyDeleteSummarizing and taking notes - The students summarized their experience and the lessons that went into planning the big balloon project to share with other classes interested in going through the project themselves.
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition - When they placed their book projects online and were able to see "views," and then finally have people comment on their work, it gave them a sort of voice.
Homework and practice - Each student maintains a blog, uses wiki's, and gives responses to other students.
Nonlinguistic representations - The teacher used a lot of things that helped hone their linguistic skills, but that fed the student's need to learn about technology. The end of the project where they used Google maps to track where their packages ended up after the balloon burst was a pretty neat representation of the things they were learning.
Cooperative learning - the students worked together on projects during class, but also their blogging network and the feedback they received I think would also work here.
Setting objectives and providing feedback - The activity where he asked the students to set their own "high hopes" for their community, the world, etc. They seem to have received some excellent feedback from students from around the world. (I had no idea blogs were so big in schools now - I feel behind the curve!)
Generating and testing hypotheses - I would assume that before every lab they did before the big balloon release (and that as well), the students were asked to describe what they thought would happen once they put the can into the water, etc.
Questions, cues and advance organizers - The teacher asked the students why did the can crush? Pretend you're the balloon we're going to release - write about your experience as the balloon.
One good thing about being "behind the curve" these days is the fact that the curve is so short. It's easy to catch up (then get left behind again).
DeleteHis utilization of blog spaces and other types of technology, and the kids successful response to same, really was interesting to see. Those 4th graders are likely more proficient in many technological things that I'm not.
DeleteThis is teacher who is truly in tune with how to empower his students by allowing them the freedoms of using current techonology to improve their learning. Mr. Cosby provided cooperative learning by providing each student in his class a laptop in order to allow the students to record their lessons and experiences using blogs much like we do in this class. His students received feedback from Mr. Cosby by him having them write about each of their thoughts and sharing their knowledge and experiences with building the hot air balloon. The practice came from actually building the balloon and then going back into the classroom to record what they witnessed. Mr. Cosby reinforces the students effort and provides recognition to them by allowing the students to share what they've learned with other classes around the world and allowing the students to answer questions that come back to the class from these other classes.
ReplyDeleteNotice how much of the work he prescribes to his students DON'T have clear right/wrong answers. He understands that their learning is embedded in grappling with difficult tasks, with unpredictable and unclear outcomes.
DeleteYes, I did notice this. He allows them to expand their thinking and utilize creativiity.
DeleteI agree with Mandy, that video was amazing,seeing the transformation from the begining of his 4th grade class to what they accomplished in creating an environment that is addicting. Brian Cosby's use of nonlinguistic representation, was creative to have his students post the videos and blog about their projects on Wiki and Flicker and then to receive positive feedback from their viewers. Students need that type of atomoshere of collaboration in the classroom that makes you want to learn.
ReplyDeleteBet you haven't seen a whole lot of that kind of stuff in your own formal learning experiences.
DeleteThe similarities of the students in Mr. Crosby’s class were more than their difference. They were at risk population due to free lunch and poverty, and 90% were second language learners. Most of them lived in the same city. Most were disconnected with the world they live in. Mr. Crosby’s had the entire student use a blog in which they were able to collaborate with other school. They have several experiments like the soda can, hot air balloon and the final balloon experiment at the end of class as nonlinguistic representations. The end project balloon to space and then putting a camera attached to it allowed the student to test the hypotheses that they had generated throughout the lessons of the layers of the atmosphere. The blog, besides providing the students to connect people not only outside their classroom but with the world, was used to help set goals in life, to get feedback from not only teacher but other students in US and world, to allow them to receive recognition from their peers in their classroom and the world, and to summarize their reading and experiences with the experiments. The camera on the balloon allowed them to reinforce effort by tracking the balloon as it traveled after it imploded.
ReplyDeleteInteresting also is the fact that Cosby crafts learning tasks that require students to do most of the work, not the teacher.
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