A corporate executive is paid multi millions of dollars while a lady in California can finally cut her work week from 80 to 60 hours because of lobbying that succeeded in ensuring that she make at least $7 an hour.

A corporate executive commits an act that would land many of us in jail and, instead, he/she is fired, receives a golden parachute of millions of dollars in severance pay, and exits the corporation free as a bird to live a life of leisure or obtain millions more for running another corporation into the ground.

A corporate executive, knowing the company is going under, votes millions of dollars into his/her own pocket while laying off decent hard working people and illegally destroying the pension fund that was a part of their contract with the employer, and then is allowed to go free and keep the millions he/she made through deceptive practices.

No, Rush, I am not proposing wage, price or salary controls. I believe in the free enterprise system. But we already have all kinds of laws and guidelines for business practices – many of which protect businesses. There is more we can do to level the playing field without interfering with the opportunity for people to make an unlimited amount of money.

The place to start is in our schools the very first year we engage students in the learning process. An Enron executive didn’t suddenly decide to ignore ethical behavior when he/she was 43 years old. The seeds were sewn long ago, and nurtured.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

If our institutions treat us as numbers, without sensitivity, what kind of model is this for our children?

The summer conference occupies my time, and Susan’s 'round the clock from May through early August. On Saturday morning, August 3, I go to the answering machine to hear a recorded female voice saying "Please call Cardholder Services at 1-800- _ _ _ _ _ _ _."

I call the number and am immediately connected to a recording that indicates I will have a wait. My blood pressure begins to rise (I am blessed that the starting point is low, about 90 over 60,) as I realize that I am having to wait to connect with people who initiated the call to me. Then I have to go through the perfunctory options where I have to press 1, then 2, then wait again. I'll admit I was not in a very friendly mood when, at long last, a human voice says, "Hello, please hold on a moment."

I immediately scream, in a voice louder and more irritated than I used at the most frustrating moments of the conference, "I will not hold on, you people called me, I have no idea what you want, and why should I wait to find out the purpose you had in calling me – my time is as valuable as yours. You didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me who you are. If I find out who you are I will cancel my account. This is some way to do business." I then hang up the phone, not knowing if the person at the other end has heard a word of my tirade or had left the phone as soon as he had asked (told) me to wait.

I go back to my answering machine, retrieve the number, again, and, once again, I make the call, hang on the phone through the wait, the options, the wait, and then, finally, there is a human voice at the other end. This time the voice says, "Can I have your 16 digit account number, please?"

In a calm voice I say, "How can I give you my 16 digit account number when all I know is that you are "Card Holder Services," and I have no idea which bank you are with."

The voice at the other end replies, "We are Direct Merchants Bank, can I have your account number?"

I respond, "Why do you want my account number, why did you call?" (I have been listening to all the commercials and infomercials - probably some of them from Direct Merchants Bank - urging consumers not to give out their credit card numbers to telemarketers. I've also viewed enough episodes of "Law and Order" to know that even if you are given a number to call it can be a temporary number in a makeshift office.)

"I’m sorry, sir," I am told, I can not help you if you don't give me your account number."

"I resent receiving a message on my machine from an unidentified bank telling me I need to call them about a matter they won't disclose," I reply.

"Thank you for calling," the lady says, "and as she makes it clear our conversation is ending, I raise my voice, for the first time in our conversation," and yell "Go to hell," once again not knowing if my final words are spoken before or after the lady at the other end has hung up.

I reflect for a moment, then return to my answering machine and, once again, retrieve the number of "Card Holder Services."

Once again I go through the ritual until a human, female, voice asks, "What is your account number, please?"

"I know you are Direct Merchants Bank," I say, but I am not aware of whether I have a credit card with you and I would like to know the purpose of your call before I look to see if I have an account with you."

"Perhaps our call was a mistake, sir," the lady replies, "if you will tell me your account number, I will tell you whether you have a card with us."

"I will not give you further information until you tell me why you called."

"Sir, I cannot help you unless you give me your account number."

"Doesn’t it strike you as ironic," I ask, "that you would call me, but that when I return YOUR CALL you cannot tell me why you called me until you find out my account number?" With all the technology that is accessible to you, can you not devise a system for keeping track of whom you call and why you call them?" (I know this last thought ran through my mind. I won’t swear I actually said it, but if that is important for you to know we could call the bank because they told me they were recording the conversation as a way of "providing the highest level of customer service.")

After a few more interchanges, the lady says, "Well we may have called you by mistake," and I respond, "There are three different credit card holders in this household, each of us holding multiple credit cards, so one of us might be your intended audience, but if you don’t even know whom you called or why, how can we determine if it was a mistake?"

"Thank you for your time," I am told (or something to that effect) and our conversation ends. I am proud of myself. This time I did not raise my voice, use a profanity, or give any indication of my irritation. Of course, I didn’t get any information, either.

Then there is the fourth call, after, once again, replaying the message on my machine:

"Hello, could I please have your account number?"

"Let me save us both time," I say calmly and politely. "Could you please connect me with a supervisor or manager or someone with authority to address my concerns, because I have already had conversations with people, like you, who answer the phone, and we have already established that you cannot help me."

"I'm sorry sir, but I cannot connect you with anyone unless you give me your name and account number." Her voice sounds similar to the voice of the last lady with whom I spoke, but at this point the company line is so predictable that I might have thought a male voice sounded the same as the last lady with whom I spoke.

Finally, I decide that stronger action is needed. I have fallen victim to frequent TV commercials in which large, insensitive banks try to convince us they have combined the benefits of size with the service and caring that only comes from a small, rural bank in a community where everyone knows, and cares about, everyone else. Unfortunately, however, staying in the role of the average guy, frustrated by the bureaucracy, just isn’t working for me. Our conversation ends with this comment from her and my response that follows:

"Sir, I cannot help you if you don’t tell me who you are and give me your account number."

"OK, I will get off the phone, But you should know that I am a journalist and a transcript of our conversation may appear in the New York Times and newspapers around the world, along with a "No comment," from Direct Merchants Bank," if I am not allowed to speak with a supervisor or manager."

"One moment, sir, I will get you a phone number."

Even as one perceived as an international reporter, I have to wait several minutes, on hold, but I am finally given a phone number for someone in the "Media" department of the bank. I am also given an address and I shall forward a copy of this article to that address and I will run their response in this column if and when I receive it.

My final reflection:

We are parents, professional educators, board of education members, students, staff developers, state education department officials, and others concerned about the future of our children. We cannot be content, as some of our banks are, if we are staying afloat, keeping our jobs and achieving our mission unless our mission includes the recognition that every individual counts, has feelings, and is entitled to respect.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could reach the point where a New York Times reporter could not get through to a Direct Merchants Bank supervisor without adding, "Not only am I with a national newspaper, but I am also an average person who is a customer of your bank." Isn't it nice when we know that we gave a little extra of ourselves (as so many of you do, so often), to reach that one additional child even though no one would have noticed if you had ended your work a little earlier and not made that extra effort?

Children give evidence, daily, that a little extra sensitivity by someone in their lives, makes all the difference.

As the economy continues to decline, and bank problems continue to mount, I can't help thinking that some of these banks that are wrestling with serious problems may be suffering the consequences of their institutionalization of insensitivity over the years. During strong economies, banks may have been able to survive while ignoring the average person, but it has been said that a recession returns money to its rightful owners. The rightful handlers of my money are the banks that treat me the way I would expect my neighbor to treat me. The technology exists for Direct Merchants National Bank to do better than it is doing. They might even find that there is an alignment between being sensitive to individual customers and increasing the bottom line of profits.

TO BE CONTINUED

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

POST SCRIPT (to Volume 3, Issue 24):

As you’ll recall, last week I made four separate calls in response to a message on my answering machine that didn’t provide the name of the organization making the call. Finally I learned that the caller was from Direct Merchants Bank, but each time I called, the Bank’s representative refused to tell me the reason for the call unless I provided personal information of the kind consumer agencies tell us not to divulge to strangers.

I made a fifth call to Direct Merchants Bank. I got through to a very nice gentleman and I gave him my name. He did not insist on my account number. In fact, he indicated that if I simply told him the number I had been asked to call he might be able to uncover the reason for the call. Because he was so nice, and because he didn’t insist on personal information, I probably ended up giving him more information than I gave the four with whom I had spoken earlier in the day.

We discovered that Susan had charged a $49 item to her card in May and had not paid the minimum $15 down payment in June or July so she had been charged late fees of $35 each time and her $49 debt from May had turned into a debt of $122.32 which the credit card company is now trying to collect. (In addition to the late fee, they also charge interest. Each additional month you are late with your $49 payment, you are not only paying interest on the original debt, but you are also paying interest on the late fees.)

It is puzzling that the automated call placed to my home could not have indicated the name of the bank and the name of someone to request when I returned the call. However, with persistence, I had uncovered the purpose of the call – to inquire about the reason for our non payment of the $49 charge, the two $35 late fees, and the $3.22 in interest on the late payment and the late fees.

We sent in the payment the next day, after calling and canceling the card. Susan seldom uses it which is probably why she hadn’t even opened the envelope (containing the bill) in the rush to prepare for the conference. (We found the notice from Direct Merchants Bank midst a pile of unopened letters on her desk – letters she will now attend to since the two month long conference preparation has ended.)

Gerry Peters (Math teacher of the Year, in 1997), please help me out on this one: What percentage was Susan charged as a consequence of her failure to pay $49 by the due date?

Is there an attorney out there who can tell me the Usury laws – is there any limit to what I could charge as interest if I loaned anyone money? Obviously, there is no limit on what the bank can charge.

WOW: a $49 debt turns into a $122.32 debt in two months. I’ve seen people sentenced to years in prison, on “Law and Order” for less. Hey, think about this: how would you react if you were watching a true story, let’s say occurring in the 1920’s in Chicago, and a surly looking man, with trench coat collar turned up, walked into a store and told the merchant that because he hadn’t repaid the $49 he borrowed two months ago, he now owed $122.32? And suppose you learned that this gentleman was working for a group of people who went around making small loans (about $49) and then charging rates of interest that could triple the debt in a few months? Would you be surprised if the FBI got on the case?

Direct Merchants Bank does it by phone so I don’t know if I talked with anyone who was wearing a trench coat. They didn’t threaten to break my bones if we didn’t pay. Why should they? It’s to their advantage if we don’t pay. They keep adding $35 late fees, then adding interest on the unpaid late fees, and, eventually, they can legally have a collection agency come after us and threaten to destroy our credit rating if we don’t pay. Why risk criminal charges by threatening to break someone’s bones when you can collect from them legally? But they did make it awfully difficult to find out who was behind this policy.

All of this would be comical if it weren’t having a direct bearing on our ability to educate our children. What all of us, as adults, (including corporations) model is what our children learn. Direct Merchants Bank, I ask you if you are proud of the examples you are setting?

Please feel free to forward this message to a legislator. Obviously we cannot trust banks to be responsible. We need a law that requires banks to charge no more interest than we would allow gangsters to charge.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Alex Rodriguez, the Texas Rangers shortstop, has the richest multi-year contract in the history of baseball. Here is a recent quote from A-Rod:

"I have incredible motivation to go out and improve every day. Integrity-wise, I cannot allow whether the team is winning or not to affect me. I’m going to give maximum effort. I have to look at myself every day and judge myself on my work ethic."

This reflects INTRINSIC MOTIVATION. The sports and entertainment industries are replete with examples of stars who take the money and run.

Why do some people relax and slow their efforts when they reach a financial plateau, while others continue to strive for perfection?

How do we, as teachers, nurture the kind of INTRINSIC MOTIVATION exemplified by A-Rod?

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

You need to hear Celia Evan’s beautiful voice, accompanied by her guitar, to fully appreciate this tribute to her grandmother, but the poetry of her lyrics is compelling.

Celia, a professor at Paul Smith’s college, attended our summer constructivist conference at St. Lawrence University as co-facilitator of a student team undertaking an environmental study. We view the conference as a "community of learners," and this creates an environment where all kinds of talent can emerge, such as musical brilliance from someone recruited for her scientific abilities.

On Thursday evening, August 1, during the entertainment portion of the banquet dinner, Celia Evans took center stage and sang these lyrics from a song she had written. The lyrics had us thinking of our own grandparents.

LUCY

It was the turn of the century on the Isle of Newfoundland,
The first country on the continent to shake the New Year’s hand.
And the year was 1900, and a baby girl was born,
In a salty, rocky inlet, where the wind blows never warm.
And her name was Lucy Bartlett, and I guess she must have cried,
And she never could have known how much she’d see before she died.

Daughter of brave mariners, explorers of the sea, Mother of my father, grandmother to me.
And she would have known hardship in that wind-swept, austere land,
But the Lord he was her savior and you take what you are handed.
A work of dedication was this life that she deployed,
I cannot help but wonder if she ever knew its joy.

I guess I thought she’d live forever, never giving in.
Like the pearly everlasting, low and papery in the wind.
Now I’ll never know her hidden heart, or the wisdom of the old,
And I’ll never hear the stories that if I’d asked she would have told me.
And she almost saw the old century turn over to the new,
But with so many gone before her, ninety-nine would have to do.

This mother of my father, a Salvation Army wife,
Traveled to the outports, delivered babies through the night.
And she never lost a mother, and she never lost a child,
And she never reached to hold us, and she rarely ever smiled.
When her Salvation Army captain turned a 'jack of all the trades'
Well, she did for him, over fifty years, that's the kind of love she gave

I guess I thought she’d live forever, never giving in.
Like the pearly everlasting, low and papery in the wind.
Now I’ll never know her hidden heart, or the wisdom of the old,
And I’ll never hear the stories that if I’d asked she would have told me.
And she almost saw the old century turn over to the new,
But with so many gone before her, ninety-nine would have to do.

Celia Evans

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
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Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Here is a repeat of an article I run every year at this time. It discusses strategies for helping students understand their own multiple intelligence strengths. Because Carol Amberg uses these strategies at the start of the year, I share this as Labor Day approaches.

Carol sent me the following e-mail, two years ago:

“Who says learner-centered strategies don't work in senior high schools?” After only 3 days of school, my seniors have written in journals, have an awareness of the 8 intelligences, have worked with partners, read each other's work, used graphic organizers, and written two pieces which will be candidates for their eventual portfolios.”

I immediately sent Carol an e-mail, asking how she addresses multiple intelligences in her classroom. Here was her reply:

“On the first day of class, I introduce communication theory and ask the students to brainstorm diverse ways we send messages (body language, sign language, writing, talking, dance, scent, songs, etc.). I have a "wheel graphic" of the multiple intelligences, labeled in ‘shorthand’: Word Smart, Math Smart, Body Smart, People Smart, Self Smart, Music Smart, Picture Smart, Nature Smart posted on the bulletin board. I introduce multiple intelligences using that and we talk about how people with each kind of "smarts" send and receive messages.

“Then I ask the students to come up with jobs in which each intelligence would be an asset (i.e. architects = spatial intelligence, athletes = bodily-kinesthetic, etc.) We carry that over into our discussions of characters we meet in poems we analyze together, each of the first three days, and authors we discuss (i.e. Thoreau must have had nature intelligence to live at and write about Walden Pond.)

“This is carried over into our first novel, “Siddhartha” where we conclude that someone who practices meditation develops intra personal intelligence, someone who becomes an ascetic scorns bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, etc. In other words, I try to weave it into everything we do to reinforce the learning. The same thing goes for how we receive messages through our senses, so poets and writers appeal to them through imagery.

“I find that starting with theory and then recognizing concrete examples as we go helps them apply the theory as well as remember the examples. The process culminates in the students designing projects near the end of the semester where they choose one self-identified preferred/strong intelligence and one weaker one and use both in demonstrating their understanding of a communication concept.”

Thank you, Carol, for the permission to share your innovative work with multiple intelligences.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Am I an “AUTHENTIC TASK” CONSTRUCTIVIST?

The difference between utilizing constructivist strategies and identifying yourself as a constructivist teacher could be compared with the difference between baking some excellent dishes and calling oneself a chef. In one case, we are focusing on one piece of a much larger “whole”; in the other we are putting together many pieces into a system.

Here is a self-assessment to see how constructivist you are and whether you are an “Authentic Task” constructivist:

Are your tasks, activities, and assignments challenging students to demonstrate more than simple recall?

Are students learning through engagement in tasks which are “authentic” in terms of their real-life context?

Are students motivated to engage in tasks because they feel the tasks are “authentic,” or, at least, just plain “fun”?

Do you frequently utilize some or all of the twelve constructivist strategies defined in "A Case for Constructivist Classrooms," by Brooks and Brooks (see below)?

Is most of your teaching accomplished through planned and spontaneous interventions as students engage in “authentic tasks” – or do you expect students to pay attention, do their assignments, and understand simply because “some day you will need this information”?

As an introduction to student engagement in an authentic task, do you create an exploratory activity for all of the following purposes?
o Breaking the ice – creating a learner-friendly environment conducive to a positive teacher-student relationship
o Accessing students’ prior knowledge
o Enabling you to learn more about students’ interests
o Introducing students to the concept or concepts they are about to learn
o Motivating students to want to discover more about the knowledge, concepts, skills and/or competencies to be presented and assessed by the lesson.
o Enabling you to determine whether you are offering enough options to allow each student to find authenticity (or fun) in the task to be undertaken and to demonstrate his/her knowledge and understanding in ways that utilize the strongest intelligences.
o Helping the learner become aware of his/her perceptions regarding the concepts and skills to be presented by the lesson.
o Beginning the process of exposing the learner to information, from a source he/she respects, that may conflict with his/her perceptions.
o Beginning to address the main purpose of the lesson.

· NEVER begin a lesson with the teacher speaking and the students listening (passively) except to take a minute to assign a task, put students in groups, or otherwise prepare them for their own interaction with each other.

Your opening activity needn’t last longer than five minutes. If you have a wonderful lecture to deliver, at least get the students thinking about (and discussing) your topic, prior to delivery of the lecture.

Example: If you are about to speak, eloquently, about the relationship between cloud formations and the following day’s weather, you might ask students to write their own thoughts (in two sentences) on “The relationship of cloud formations to the weather that will follow.” Allow 3 minutes for them to complete the task, then ask them to turn to pair and reach consensus on one sentence to share with the class; take a few responses; collect all the papers. Instead of grading the papers, write “OK” on any papers where the effort was made to follow your directions; return the sheets of paper the next day.

What have you accomplished?
o You’ve made students think about the topic you are about to discuss and you’ve forced them to articulate their perceptions
o You’ve learned what their perceptions are and which students have greater prior knowledge
o You’ve only used ten minutes (or less) of class time
o You have not created a time consuming grading nightmare – it should only take you a few minutes to check all the sheets of paper to see if the students followed your directions and made the effort, and to write “OK” on those that did.
o You’ve let students know they will be reinforced if they make an effort, even if their answer is inadequate. (Note: there will be many times when students will be required to provide “correct” information and answers. This is not to suggest anything to the contrary. However, this is one type of activity in which effort can be rewarded because you are asking for perceptions and any perception that is truly that of the students is a correct response.)

· Open every class with some kind of exploratory activity – it can be brief, it can lead into a lecture if that is your inclination.

· End every class with some kind of student reflection (written or verbal); it needn’t require more than five minutes of class time.

Example: “What is one thing you know now that you didn’t know at the start of this lesson?” You can seek a 15 second response from every student, as you go around the room, or you can ask for a written response. Or: “Pair with your neighbor and agree on a song title that best describes the individual we have been discussing (ie. Louis Pasteur, Atilla the Hun, Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, Rembrandt, Beethoven, Michael Jordon).” Or: in groups of four prepare to demonstrate what a sculpture might look like that includes Shakespeare, O’Henry, Arthur Miller, and Rembrandt, and demonstrates a major characteristic of each.”

Staff developer Gerry Peters, a retired National award winning math teacher from Gouverneur, New York cites brain research in support of some of these concepts (see below):

· Time and sleep are required for new learning to get to long-term memory. Only learning that makes sense to the learner and has meaning gets stored in long-term memory during "deep sleep" following the learning episode. Students who leave class with the perception that they do not understand the new material or with the attitude that "This is stupid--where am I ever going to use this?" will most likely have their brains discard that information instead of sending it to long-term memory. Students should get a minimum of eight hours of sleep every night to insure an average of five periods of "deep sleep" per night. Also, school starting time should be an hour later (8:30 or later) for adolescents than for preadolescents due to the fact that the chemicals that cause sleep are secreted an hour later in adolescents.

· New learning should be linked to prior knowledge. An effective anticipatory set is a critical part of every lesson. Prior knowledge needs to be "linked" by the learner actively retrieving the prior knowledge from long-term memory. The "K" stage of a KWL activity is an effective way to make this happen. Using direct teaching to launch a lesson often results in some of the learners failing to activate their prior knowledge for the lesson.

· Learning is social before it is cognitive. Direct teaching should be "chunked" with student collaboration on the new material. When learners are talking, about three times as much of their brain is active as compared with any other learning activity. Talking about a topic helps the learner make sense of the topic and greatly increases the amount of meaning the brain attaches to the topic.

· Learners need "processing time" every few minutes to organize and make sense out of new material being learned. Instruction should be "chunked" with short periods (5-10 minutes) of direct teaching followed immediately by collaborative work time (5-15 minutes) where learners practice or discuss the material just presented. This pattern is then repeated until all the new material has been presented and processed. The maximum number of minutes that learners can absorb information from direct teaching before they need time to process it is approximately equal to their age. Most tactile-kinesthetic learners need much shorter periods of direct teaching and much longer periods for processing. Even good auditory learners need a processing time at least equal to the time spent listening to new information.

· Reflection is a necessary part of learning. Closure should be part of every lesson. It is a key step ( and the last chance) in the learning episode for the learner to make sense and attach meaning to what is being learned.

· Learning deepens when tasks are imbedded in "real life" experiences. Authentic tasks enable the learner to make more sense and deepen the meaning attached to the knowledge imbedded in the task.

· Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. No independent practice (in class or homework) should be assigned until the learner can do it correctly. Learners should rehearse new learning for at least three consecutive classes before it is assigned for homework. Studies show that only six to eight correct rehearsals are needed for most learners to become initially fluent with a concept or procedure. It takes about three times as many correct practices in a row to become fluent with a concept or procedure if the learner has learned it wrong in the first place. Do not let your students practice wrong! Repeated practice (drill and kill exercise) does little to add meaning and can actually decrease the meaning perceived if the learner starts to get bored. The chunking procedure above can provide all the initial rehearsal needed. Periodic practice is the key to long-term retention. New learning should be rehearsed three classes in a row, then again in one week, two weeks, a month, and every month thereafter to keep it in long-term memory. Every time the learner "sleeps on" a rehearsal session, it creates a stronger and more elaborate network for that knowledge in the brain. Therefore, long-term retention is affected more by the number and spacing of separate rehearsal sessions than by the length of any individual session.

· Feedback is very important for the brain to perceive that the new learning makes sense. Feedback should be available to the learners soon after rehearsal, before they "sleep on it" if possible. Supplying answers to homework with the assignment allows learners to verify they are doing it right or STOP practicing if they are doing it wrong. Feedback should also be a part of each chunking sequence.

TWELVE CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING STRATEGIES

1. Encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative.

2. Whenever possible, use raw data and primary sources along, with manipulative, interactive, and physical materials.

3. When framing tasks, use cognitive terminology such as "classify," "analyze," "predict," and "create."

4. Allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies and alter content.

5. Inquire about students' understandings of concepts before sharing your own understandings about those concepts. **

6. Encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another.

7. Encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask questions of each other.

8. Seek elaboration of student's initial responses.

9. Engage students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion.

10. Allow wait time after posing questions.

11. Provide time for students to create relationships and create metaphors.

12. Nurture student's natural curiosity through frequent use of the learning cycle model:
· provide open-ended opportunity for students to interact with purposefully selected materials
· provide "concept introduction" lessons aimed at focusing the students' questions; provide related new vocabulary, framing with students their proposed experiences and so forth;
· "concept application": students work on new problems with the potential for evoking a fresh look at the concepts previously studied. **

Sources *Brooks, Jacqueline Grennon, Brooks, Martin G., The Case for Constructivist Classrooms. A publication of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1993; **The Accomplishment of Cognitive Research Over the Last Twenty Five Years, by Santa A. Raizen.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2002, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.