Using Big6 to support other teachers’ material (Max Fischbach, Carroll, Iowa)

Posted on October 12th, 2008 in Big6, Carroll Iowa Schools, Education, Secondary Schools, Special Education, Teaching the Big6 by Mike Eisenberg

Max L. Fischbach – At-Risk Coordinator, Carroll High School asked:

“I am the at-risk teacher and I work with kids during their study halls. I teach organizational skills, study skills, test taking and then work on homework completion. That is a big part of my time and re-teaching what was taught in class. How do I incorporate the Big6 when I am teaching another teacher’s lesson? Thanks.”

Mike Eisenberg responds: “Max, this is a PERFECT context for using the Big6. You are trying to accomplish much the same things that we are with Big6. You note that you teach organizational skills, study skills, and test taking. Do you have a set list of these skills? How do you decide to teach a certain skill to a certain student?

That is, how do you decide that a particular student needs to work on a particular study skill? Formally or informally, you must be diagnosing what the student is having difficulties with and selecting a set of skills to develop to help that student. We are doing the same – figuring out why the student is having problems – from a Big6 perspective.

-Is it up front – in understanding the components of the assignment (Task Definition)?

- Is it in finding information (Location & Access)?

- Is it in recognizing what is relevant to the homework or test (Use of Information)?

- Is it writing or presenting the answer (Synthesis)?

So, if you look at the various skills, tools, and techniques that you use – can you connect them to the Big6 – can you put them in a Big6 context? I think it will help you to diagnose more specifically a student’s problems – again, are they task definition problems or use of information problems? And even if they are both, the Big6 can help you to focus on each. Also, the Big6 can help the STUDENTS to organize the various tools, techniques, and approaches that you want them to learn and use.

If you can share some of these tools, techniques, skills, and approaches, I can help to “Big6″ them.

In many ways, you are already a “Big6 teacher.” You are applying process skills to content and lessons from other teachers. That’s what we recommend. The only major difference is to link your various lessons and teaching to the Big6 process.

Please let me know if this makes sense.

Mike

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Driver Education (Russ Steinkamp, Carroll Iowa)

Posted on September 20th, 2008 in Carroll Iowa Schools, Education, Secondary Schools by Mike Eisenberg

Russ Steinkamp said, on September 11:

“As a Special Education Teacher, I use different problem solving strategies with my students. The Big 6 has confirmed I am on the right track, and I am very interested in learning more about the concepts used in this program. I am also a Driver Education Instructor, but I am disappointed that this area is never mentioned as part of an in-service. This is a life saving skill students will use just about every day of their lives and needs to be taken very seriously, but it is not. Why is this?”

Mike E response: You are right! Driving is a fundamental skill in our society.  And, the stakes are very high.  I think it isn’t included because in a number of schools, Driver Education is optional or offered only for seniors or in the summer.  Should it be a required course for 15 or 16 year olds?  Is the course relevant to student, parent, and society needs?  Maybe we need to completely rethink driver education.

In terms of the Big6, driving is certainly an activity that is loaded with Big6 elements.  For example, I do a lesson for my college students analyzing a car dashboard as an information system – and how can we improve them?  I suggest you look at various aspects of driver education (e.g., car problems, choosing a car) from a Big6 perspective.

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Physical Education (Kirk Christensen, Carroll, Iowa)

Posted on September 20th, 2008 in Big6, Physical Education, Secondary Schools by Mike Eisenberg

Kirk Christensen said, on September 19th, 2008 at 4:46 am

“As a physical education instructor I am looking forward to finding different ways to enhance our program and improve students’ overall well-being through the Big 6.”

Mike E responded: PE is a terrific area for making the Big6 connection.  Whether it is personal well-being or competitive sports, there are clear tasks and information elements. For example, in any sport – football, soccer, softball – there’s a major information component to success.  What is the other team likely to do?  Who are their best players?  What are there tendencies?  Have the kids problem-solve by going through the Big6 with them in relation to a sporting event.

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Big6 on Twitter-Weekly Tweets for 2008-09-14

Posted on September 14th, 2008 in Big6, Secondary Schools by Mike Eisenberg
  • IMPT note – comments on the blog are not picked up by Twitter. So … all the really good Carroll HS stuff isn’t noted. #
  • Take a look – Carroll High School! http://www.big6.com/blog/?p=77 #

Powered by Twitter Tools.

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Carroll (Iowa) Schools

Posted on September 10th, 2008 in Carroll Iowa Schools, Education, Implementation, Information Literacy, Secondary Schools by Mike Eisenberg

Carroll High School and Carroll Middle School in Iowa are very involved with infusing 21st century skills into their curriculum. I’m working with them on Big6 interventions across the curriculum as well as Big6 connections to IT literacy and financial literacy. I spoke briefly to the faculty this morning, and I hope to carry on an interactive discussion here on the Big6 blog.

If any other school would like to participate, please do!! For Carroll faculty – please post your questions here and I will do my best to answer them in a timely way.

NOTE on Sept 20: As stated in another post, I will be answering comments in separate posts from now on.

– Mike E.

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Back to School??

Posted on August 21st, 2008 in Education, Elementary Schools, Higher Education, Secondary Schools, Teacher Librarian by Laura Robinson

Yes, it’s here… back to school time.  As a parent of two young students along with being an elementary special education teacher, there is a lot of back to school excitement in our house.

From the teacher’s viewpoint, I am thinking about:  classroom preparation, lesson plan organization, student caseloads and individual learning plans,  and scheduling.   I am also anxious to be reunited with colleagues, my “teacher friends”, and most importantly, the students!

As a parent, I am extremely excited for my son to start Kindergarten.  With this, we deal with school open houses and playdates, parent meetings, supply lists and back to school shopping, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, and awaiting the magical letter that discloses Logan’s classroom teacher.

Yes, the summer flew by… it was great and we had a ton of fun.  And yes, I am ready to start school- as a teacher and a parent.  I like the routine and the structure.  I like the consistent schedule and predictability.

What is “back to school” time like for you?

What do you do to get ready for the upcoming year?

How do you feel- as a parent or an educator- about starting the 2008-2009 school year?

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Summer Vacation

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 in Education, Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools by Laura Robinson

A question for the teacher librarians and classroom teachers on summer vacation:

Do you really take the summer off?  Do you leave school in June and not return until September?  Are your plan books and materials “left at the door?”

OR

Do you continue to plan and organize for the next school year?  Are you taking classes and reading the latest and greatest education material?  Are you on summer vacation… but really working?

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For Teacher-Librarians: roles and teaching reading

Posted on April 18th, 2008 in Education, Elementary Schools, School Library and Information Program, Secondary Schools, Teacher Librarian by Mike Eisenberg

In the February 2008 issue of Library Media Connection, Tina Hudak wrote an excellent feature article titled, “Are Librarians Reading Teachers, Too?” (page 10-14.) I think Tina iis right on target in saying that there is a clear role for teacher librarians in relation to reading. She goes on to say that whether that reading role specifically includes teaching reading is a question that the profession has yet to fully address.

Tina refers to my own work urging school librarians to strategically plan for the 3 roles of the teacher-librarian and library and information program:

  • information literacy instruction
  • reading advocacy
  • information management.

Equally important, the decisions about priorities in the school library and information program – how much time and effort is expended on each of the 3 roles – should be a school decision, not a teacher-librarian decision. School priorities change from year to year. So must the school library and information program change in relation to school priorities

As this school year finishes, it is essential that the library staff sit down with administrators and classroom teachers to set priorities for next year. Few (if any) have the resources to do all 3 roles at the very highest levels. So, if we are going to emphasize one function and cut back a bit on another, that decision should be made in the context of school needs by the school community.

That’s how teacher-librarians and school library & information programs make sure that they are vital to learning and teaching.

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An amazing resource! Janet Murray’s “Achieving Educational Standards Using the Big6″

Posted on March 30th, 2008 in Big6, Education, Elementary Schools, Information Literacy, Secondary Schools, Technology by Mike Eisenberg

Related to the previous post, I personally relied on many different resources in helping the Montana standards writing effort. Barbara Jansen’s new book “Big6 in Middle School” and Laura Robinson’s and my “Super3″ were very helpful.

BUT – Janet Murray’s new book on standards was far and away the most useful! First, it’s a compilation of the very latest information, technology, and content standards. Second, Janet does the heavy lifting by creating correlations and connections among the various standards and most importantly, to the Big6. Janet does this in many different ways, but the one I find most useful is Figure 3.2 – page 25 – the Big6 aligned with AASL, NETS, and ICT Literacy Standards.

So, if you are going to buy just one new professional book this year – Janet’s is it! Here’s a link to the book on the Linworth site – http://store.linworth.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=407

Mike

p.s. – for a preview, check out Janet’s article in the December 2007 Big6 eNewsletter -

http://www.big6.com/showenewsarticle.php?id=624

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Big6™ via Podcast: Show ‘n Tell Gets an Upgrade

Posted on October 25th, 2006 in Education, Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, Technology by Sue Wurster

Remember your early experiences with Show ‘n Tell? Your world was the front of the classroom then. Show and tell still exists, but two Canadian teachers, with the help of technology, have a worldwide platform. By teaming Podcast and PowerPoint™, Joan Badger and Ben Hazzard show and tell us about a Big6 lesson and recommend some useful freeware. Ben and Joan are serious about “Professional Development for Busy Educators” (pdtogo.com) and tackle many educational topics on their website, including Big6 lesson #40 you might like to see (and hear).

In lesson #40, “The Big6 Approach to Information Problem-Solving,” (http://pdtogo.com/smart/) Ben and Joan walk through a sample lesson about using the Big6. They chat like friendly co-hosts while they deliver practical examples of the Big6 process in action, and their style is spiced with enough good humor to make it entertaining.

Joan takes the lead and teaches the Big6 to Ben in a sample lesson about how to choose a family dog. A PowerPoint™ presentation link shows and tells about each stage in the process and you can follow along as they discuss the sample lesson.

Then Joan moved on to an actual lesson and discussed how young students reacted to the question “If you had $1000 what would you buy?” The students didn’t understand how to use “criteria” to narrow the scope of their question, so Joan explained the term “criteria” in the context of the lesson. Once students understood the vocabulary, they were ready to tackle the Task Definition process.

Ben and Joan’s sessions provide well thought out support materials like a Big6 PowerPoint that demonstrates the Big6 process, links to online tools like graphic organizers and schedulers, and an introduction to SMARTNotebook to help students use technology to collaborate with other students.

I like the short audio format, practical approach, and candid comments they share. I hope you’ll have a moment to check out their lesson too!

See lesson #40, “The Big6 Approach to Information Problem-Solving,” (http://pdtogo.com/smart/)

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