Kagan Online Magazine - Summer 2009
Kagan Online Magazine, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue #42
Articles
Spencer's Thinkpad
Disengagement:
Achievement Gaps, Discipline, and Dropout—
Treating the Disease, Not Just the Symptoms
What do the academic achievement gap, discipline problems, and school dropout all have in common? Dr. Kagan argues that some of the greatest problems education faces are symptoms of a larger disease—disengagement. Simply stated, traditional instructional delivery systems fail to engage all students. Students slip through the cracks and fall behind more academically, become disciplinary problems, and dropout of the system altogether. Can engaging students really make the difference and prevent these pressing educational issues?
Featured Structure
Two Super Structures for Reading
Reading is usually an independent act. Not with these two structures. You'll make reading more cooperative, interactive and memorable with these two super reading structures.
Teacher & Training Tips
What If Students Have Nothing to Say?
What do you do if you set students to discuss in pairs or in teams and a student has nothing to share? Here are some great tips to encourage lively discussions on the content and full participation by everyone.
Training Opportunities
Stay Connected. Join Kagan’s Facebook.
Kagan recently launched a Facebook Fan page. Find about the latest Kagan events, see pictures of special events, and contribute to this growing online community.
New Products
Critical Thinking in the Science Classroom
Indian Hills Teachers Publish Educational Workbooks
High school teachers Angela Manzi and Michael Michels team up to write secondary science books that encourage critical thinking and cooperative learning.
Tech Tips
Curriculum Wiki
Check out Curriki, the online curriculum wiki. The site allows you to find lesson plans, contribute your favorite curriculum resources, and collaborate with teachers in your school or around the world.
Internet Links
Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a systematic approach to prevent school failure by identifying students with learning disabilities and providing them additional support. Here is a collection of informative links for teachers and parents.
A+ Anecdotes
A Barometer of Creative Thinking
Learning to Laugh
Don’t Try This at School!
Grant Opportunities
Grants Are Still Out There
Dawn links you up with some terrific grant resources. Find available grants. Read articles. Get grant writing tips.
What Participants Are Saying
Hear what educators across the country are saying about Kagan trainers and recent Kagan workshops.
Brain Matters
Sticks and Stones
Verbal abuse and intimidation can hurt as much or more than physical abuse. Read about the brain science and see what steps we can take as teachers to minimize bullying and maximize positive student relations.
Special Article 1
Total Engagement Made Easy:
Simple, Proven Brain-Based Strategies
Listen as Dr. Kagan explains why brains learn best when they are engaged. Dr. Kagan explains why our brains open up to learning when there is the safety of working in a group. He also shares how having oxygenated blood nourishing the brain helps us to learn better and how emotion and verbalization is a signal to the brain to remember things.
Special Article 2
A Cooperative Learning and ELL Success Story
Oh no! A brand new student with no comprehension of English. What is a teacher to do? Ms. McKoy successfully included the ELL student with ease. See how.
Special Article 3
Educator Preparation Institute and Kagan
Preparing Teachers for Engagement and Success
EPI is a teacher preparation institute that has thrived in Florida, thanks in large part to their work with Kagan. Hear how EPI has teamed up with Kagan to prepare teachers to succeed as K–12 teachers.
Special Article 4
EPI Instructors, Directors, and Graduates Applaud Kagan
The faculty of EPI lauds Kagan for strategies that promote learning, develop critical thinking, create active engagement. Teachers who graduated from EPI offer insights to how Kagan has helped them become better teachers.
Letter from the Editor
"School was boring!"
After school, I often ask my kids, "How was school today?"
Now, let me start with a big disclaimer. My kids go to a terrific school. They've been lucky to have teachers that range from good to excellent so far. The school's academic achievement is fabulous. So I'm not complaining.
Yet, I'll get the occasional response, "School was boring!" I'm sure I'm not the only parent who has heard this response. And I suspect this comment is far more common from students at schools that don't have as skilled or motivated teachers and administrators. The reality is, school can be boring.
At Kagan's recent Winter Academy, trainer Rob Jutras shared with me a comical experience he had after a workshop. His workshop focused on Kagan Structures to actively engage all students. At the end of the workshop, a participant—the principal, if I remember clearly—stood up and made an announcement to the group. In a serious voice he proclaimed, "There's a very important message we learned here today: Students don't come to school to watch old people work." The comment is so funny because it is so true. "Old people" are obviously teachers from the eyes of a student. And "work" is what the teacher does as she stands in front of the class and demonstrates or lectures. From students' perspective, watching old people work is, to put it bluntly, boring!
So if students don't come to school to watch old people work, what do they come to school for? Good question. As part of our dinnertime routine, I'll often ask my kids, "What was your favorite part about school today?" Almost invariably, their responses will fall into one of the following three categories: 1) something they did with a friend, 2) an activity or sport at PE or recess, or 3) an exciting, novel event such as a field trip, Jog-A-Thon, class visitor, or an animal guest.
Granted my kids are still in elementary school, but to my chagrin, they rarely respond about the fascinating curriculum. Some of the exceptions include when they learn fascinating new facts, a mnemonic to make long division easy, or study something they find intrinsically motivating. Both my kids are in an after-school science program and they love the projects and experiments they do in there. While my son is crazy for science, my daughter was much more thrilled about the class when she found out her good friend signed up too.
Above all else, students crave action and they crave social interaction. Sitting still watching the teacher teach for too long is boring. Working alone on practice problems for too long is boring. "Drill and kill" is aptly named. We all know this. Yet much of the school day is still characterized by teacher instruction and independent work. Of course there is a time and place for both, but couldn't we infuse some boredom-busting interactive instructional strategies to create novelty and engagement?
Think about this: Why do kids love to go to the park? They can be active. And they can be interactive. They can run and jump and hang and climb. They like to move and do. But probably even more so, they like to play with other kids. When I take my kids to the park, they have fun playing on the monkey bars and slides. But it's really the peer interaction that thrills them. If we pull up at the park and there are no kids there, I hear their disappointment: "awwww." I would argue that for many kids, social interaction trumps action. Kids love recess, right? But what would happen if you took away all the kids? Would they love it as much if it was freetime for one kid and a giant playground? Would it be as much fun? Would it be as formative? My experience says no way!
The driving need for social interaction is not unique to young children. Look at middle school kids and high school kids. What's their favorite thing to do? Hang out with friends. It's enough to just hang out.
Two of the greatest causes of boredom are inactivity and repetition. If we do nothing for too long, lethargy sets in and we get bored. Passively listening to a teacher teach without actually doing anything else for too long becomes boring. It's all input and no output. Even as an adult with a much longer attention span, I get bored listening to a long lecture, or sitting through a long meeting when it is not structured for participation. Repetition also causes boredom. Doing the same thing over and over again gets monotonous. Action and interaction are not boring! Action and interaction are the antitheses of inactivity and repetition.
Two of the greatest causes of boredom are inactivity and repetition.
How could we design the school day to not be boring? If you buy my argument—and I'll bet you find a lot of truth in it—we would make learning more active and interactive. We would create experiences where students get to move and do things, and more importantly interact with their peers. That's what the Kagan approach is all about. It's all about making the school day more motivating and meaningful for students by infusing more movement, interaction, and variety into learning. It's all about creating frequent and equal participation. It's all about engagement!
In this issue, Dr. Kagan shares a provocative article which argues that by fully engaging students, we have the power to combat some of the greatest ills in education: disciplinary problems, student dropout, and the achievement gap. We share two Kagan Structures to create engagement during reading, an act many teachers assume must be done independently. You'll find a Podcast on engaging the brain. And you'll find some tips to encourage interaction when students have nothing to say. Read about the success of EPI, a teacher certification that beats boredom and boosts engagement with Kagan.
Action and interaction are the antidotes of ennui. Let Kagan help you make your teaching day less boring for you and your students!
Miguel Kagan
Miguel Kagan, Editor
Kagan Online Magazine
Kagan Publishing & Professional Development
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