Topic: How to Concentrate When Studying

10-second review: Author says never study without a pencil in hand.

Title: How to Study in College. Third Edition. Walter Pauk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.

Summary/Quote: “For example, if you are reading a textbook chapter, stop after several paragraphs and very briefly, in your own words, write down the key points made by the author. If, after several paragraphs, no words come to you, then you have no other recourse than to go back and read the passage again. This time, read with determination and concentration to make sure that you learn the key points. The secret: Activity promotes and almost ensures concentration. The pencil provides the activity.” p. 76.

Comment: I read with pencil in hand, underlining key ideas and summarizing in a word or two or three in the margin. I save comments for a period of reflection after I have completed my reading. In the margins, I only include brief summaries, almost never in sentences. RayS.

Topic: Advice on Studying in College

10-second review: Effective study habits.

Source: How to Study in College. Third Edition. Walter Pauk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.

Summary/Quote: “Alex Main of the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, noted that the effective student…usually [studies] at the same time each day…works mostly in a regular study place…works for short periods with frequent rest breaks…reviews notes soon after a lecture…does not lave work to the last minute…does not need exams for motivation.” p. xix.

Comment: I particularly noticed the last piece of advice. Motivation for learning should not come from fear of exams. I remember vividly my taking a course in The Philosophy of Communism because I wanted to know why Communists felt their system was inevitable. While other students drowsed through the instructor’s monotone lectures, I busily took notes because I wanted the answer to my question. I was energized because I had a purpose for learning. RayS.

Topic: Learning in College.

10-second review: “Some students learn best by reading, others by listening and still others by doing things. Of course, you must do all three to learn in college, but each individual does one more effectively than the others.” p. xviii.

Source: How to Study in College. Third Edition. Walter Pauk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.

Comment: John Dewey said, “You learn what you do.” I tend to learn better by reading when studying, but, for some reason, I cannot visualize directions and need someone to interpret them for me and to show me how to complete the action. Therefore, I need help in setting up a flat-screen and computer and blu-ray. RayS.

Topic: Children's and Young Adult Books

10-second review: How improve teachers’ knowledge of children’s and Young Adult books? Give teachers brief annotations of the latest children’s and Young Adult books reviewed in professional publications like Language Arts, English Journal, (National Council of Teacher of English (NCTE), Reading Teacher and Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (International Reading Association (IRA). The annotations are brief but clearly indicate the story line of each book.

Source: Suggested by LL Godfrey & FB School, “Annotated Bibliography for Third Graders.” 124-131.

Topic: Lesson Planning

10-second review: What are some models for lesson plans? “Lesson study”: Date; site; planning team; title of lesson; goals of the lesson; relationship of the lesson to the California standards; rationale—what do students understand about this topic? What more do we want them to understand? Lesson description: introduction; activities; summing up; evaluation; what we want to look for during the lesson observation; conclusions.

Source: J Hurd & L Licciardo-Musso. Language Arts (May 2005), 392. The elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Topic: Inservice

10-second review: What is the purpose of teacher inservice programs? “Our belief is that what teachers experience in professional development will transfer to their work with students in the classroom.”

Source: CH Casbon, et al. Language Arts (May 2005), 365. The elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: A very questionable assumption. I have found that the best way to assure teachers’ transfer of inservice ideas to the classroom is to demonstrate the technique by using it on the teachers so that they can see how the technique works for them. Example: You want the teachers to use the directed reading assignment with students so you use the directed reading assignment with the teachers, preferably something difficult to read. RayS.

Topic: Unusual Methods of Teacher In-service.

1. 10-second review: What are some unusual methods of teacher inservice? “… notebooks to capture the process of their own learning.”

Source: A Donnelly, et al. Language Arts (May 2005), 341.

2. 10-second review: Teachers collaboratively plan a lesson. One teacher teaches it. The others observe and collect data. The lesson is then revised and taught again to a different group of students.

Source: J Hurd & L Licciardo-Musso. Language Arts (May 2005), 388-395. The elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Topic: Mini-lessons

Ten-second review: What are some common experiences with language that could be improved? Offer a mini-lesson on how to tell a joke.

Source: PL Earls. “Humorizing Learning.” 107-108.

Comment: I like the idea of offering mini-lessons on off-beat topics. RayS.

Topic: Student Grouping.

10-second review: What are some types of student grouping in elementary school other than ability? Needs groups; interest groups; research groups; tutorial groups; reading level; departmentalized teaching—one teacher teaches reading and language arts, another math, a third social studies; multi-grade and multi-age grouping; ungraded—students move through reading and math levels; dual progress—core program half day and electives the other half of the day.

Source: WH Miller. “Some Less Commonly Used Forms of Grouping.” 989-992.

Topic: A Fundamental Method of Instruction.

10-second review: What are some different philosophies of teaching? “"What Margaret Mead has done, without explicitly intending it, is to describe the possibilities of a new kind of classroom, a classroom in which all—including the teacher—are learning and exchanging and developing, discovering together….”

Sources: JE Miller, Jr. Elementary English (April 1971), 176. Elementary English was replaced by the elementary school publication Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Quote: “Induction is probably the most permanent way to learn something.”

Source: WA Jenkins. Elementary English (April 1971), 183.

Comment: Probably my most satisfying experiences in teaching have been when the students and I both learned something together. However, nothing beats direct instruction in helping students learn what they have to learn quickly and efficiently. RayS.

Topic: Lesson Planning.

10-second review: Three questions suggested by Postman & Weingartner as teachers plan their lessons: What am I going to have my students do today? What’s it good for? How do I know?

Source: SL Vanderstaay. English Journal (November 2004), 53. The secondary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: As I grew in my teaching, I began to realize the importance of setting good, clear objectives for what I was teaching, objectives that could be understood by the students, for each lesson and activity. Like it or not, students are constantly asking themselves, “Why do I need to learn this stuff?” The effectiveness of answering this question for students—or having them answer it—was proved to me when I began to establish clear purposes for learning grammar. Made a big difference in students’ attitudes toward learning grammar. RayS.

Topic: Reading in All Subjects

10-second review: How can teachers of all subjects motivate students to read? Teachers, even of Phys ed, need to think of texts—books, Internet sites, magazines—that are related to their subjects and give students a chance to explore them.

Source: PB Marlett & CJ Gordon. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (November 2004), 226-237. The secondary school publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: One thing all teachers in every subject with every unit need to do is to check out the unit’s topics on the Internet. The number of Web sites related to the units will stagger you. In the hundreds of thousands and sometimes in the millions. Of course, not all Web sites are equally valuable, but a number of them are. RayS.

Topic: What Is Occurring at Each Educational Level?

10-second review: What do we know about students’ education before they have reached our level? As teachers, we need to understand what has occurred before our students reach us and what will occur after they leave us.

Source: RayS. 2005.

Comment: One of my problems as K-12 language arts supervisor was my purpose for observing classrooms in action. I did not evaluate teachers’ performance. That was the principal’s job. I needed to do more to inform each level—elementary, middle school/junior high, high school, college—of what was occurring at other levels. A daunting task, but it could well have been my ticket to observations at each level that teachers would understand and about which they would not be apprehensive.

Couple that purpose with evaluating the implementation of the language arts curriculum and I would have had plenty of reasons for observing classroom teaching. Understand, I did observe every classroom throughout the district, but teachers were apprehensive about my presence without any clear purpose that would benefit them.

Communicating with college English departments was another problem I did not address adequately. RayS.

Topic: Formal and Informal Methods in Education.

10-second review: What do the terms “formal” and “informal” mean? “While the terms ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ seem ubiquitous in the educational literature, we wonder if their definitions may be more elusive than is generally acknowledged.”

Source: C Williams and K Hufnagel. Research in the Teaching of English (February 2005), 261. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: I think of ‘formal instruction’ as direct instruction. I think of ‘informal’ methods as inquiry, focusing on finding answers to questions to which the students—and probably the teacher—do not know the answer. Another either/or type of issue. Both methods work. RayS.

Topic: Interesting Writing Assignment

10-second review: Have a statement on the board as the students enter the classroom, followed by the question, “Do you agree with this statement?” Interesting way to begin a class. Have students respond, first orally, and then in writing.

Source: I’m not sure of the source of this idea. Sorry. RayS.

Topic: Improving Teaching.

10-second review: How help teachers grow in their profession? Schedule study groups among teachers on particular problems and topics. Provide professional reading materials dealing with the topic or problem.

Source: C Cobb. Reading Teacher (February 2005), 472-474. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: That was always my method in conducting workshops, whether in the “Teacher Center” or in the summer workshops. Discussion of the problem was followed by consulting professional materials. Solution to the problem was always embodied in lesson plans to be tried and evaluated in the classroom. RayS.

Topic: Teachers' Language

10-second review: How does a teacher’s language affect students’ learning? “Early childhood teachers understand that ‘What is the sound at the end of the word’ assumes that the child knows the concepts letter, word, sound, and end (or left-right progression of letters).”

Source: I do not know where I found that quote, but I thought it was worth bringing to your attention. RayS.

Comment: The point is the teacher cannot assume that the student understands what is meant by the words “ending sound” and all that is implied by that term. RayS.