How High is Your Ceiling?

Students are tired of bumping their heads on the low ceilings in our classrooms. Trying to learn in a hunched-over mental position prevents students from growing to their full height academically.

I'm not talking about a physical design flaw we should complain about to the architects. This low-ceiling phenomenon is completely our fault.

Sometimes, we assume our students can't do the thinking on their own, so we do it for them. In effect, we build a really tiny room so that everyone can easily reach the ceiling. Since there’s no need or expectation to extend and grow, students learn to live comfortably in a cramped position. It doesn't seem too bad while they're there. The problem occurs when they leave your room, go elsewhere, and realize they haven't grown enough to reach the things the world expects them to be able to reach on their own.

At other times, we give our students assignments or pose questions that have very clear and reachable endpoints. When students complete the assignment and there’s nowhere to go from there, they bump their heads on the academic ceiling we build above them.

If you’re intending to offer differentiation for your high-ability learners, there should be no ceiling. Removing the upper limits will allow these students to stand as tall  as possible and stretch beyond your expected boundaries.

I’ve always been a fan of setting high expectations for all students. I never know when a particular subject or assignment will pique the interest of a specific student who will take off and run with it. Some students, of course, will need a bit of a boost to successfully reach the level of expectation; that’s where scaffolding comes into play.

Many of the strategies AVID uses to engage students are designed to add that support when necessary. Most teachers feel comfortable and justified adding scaffolding to help modify or adapt the learning for those who struggle; however, many times we forget about the students on the other end of the spectrum.  

All students need and deserve a challenge. The gifted students are the ones who least consistently receive one.

Those of you who've been around for a while have no doubt experienced the joy of the online bloodborne pathogens training we get to undergo each year. After a year or two of the same training, there’s not a lot learning to be uncovered in a repeat viewing of an online module. This yearly requirement, then, becomes a tedious drudgery because it’s not mentally engaging or academically stimulating. As I click through the slides and answer the simple questions at the end of the sections, I can feel the ceiling looming close above my head.

How often do our brightest students have this same experience in our classrooms? Do they feel stifled because their learning is limited? Bored because there’s no challenge? Complacent because there’s no incentive to go beyond the basic expectations? Do they speed through their assignment, reach the end, and either occupy themselves with something more interesting or zone out until the period ends?

Many gifted learners are wonderfully compliant and have learned that if they do what’s expected, they can rest comfortably for extended periods of time without having to exert much effort. Others become behavior problems as they seek to entertain their idle brains.

Here are a few ideas for raising the ceiling for your students:

Depth and Complexity:  GT Differentiation Buzzwords:  When you are considering ways to differentiate your curriculum for gifted and talented students, the key words to remember are depth and complexity. What are you doing to allow these learners to dive more deeply into the curriculum? Where are the points where some students can explore more advanced or technical aspects of the content? How can you challenge your students with advanced potential to see the nuances, make more thoughtful connections within and between disciplines, and consider varied perspectives?

What next?  I recently attended a training during which we were asked to share our experiences with particular teaching activities with others at our table. Some groups would no doubt finish before others. Our facilitator visited each table a few minutes into the discussion, checked in with the group to see how much more time they needed, and, if it looked like they were soon to finish, he provided a follow-up assignment (“What I want you to do next is….”).  Thus, there was never a point where a group would be completely finished because there were always more tasks. Following his example, if teachers have a seemingly inexhaustible series of increasingly challenging activities in their heads, students can work at full capacity throughout the class period.

Choices: Providing several ways for students to demonstrate mastery of course objectives is another way to meet the needs of a variety of students. Some students, of course, will try to take the easy way out, so in some cases, you might need to direct students to the best option for their ability level.

Formative assessment:  One important purpose for using formative assessment is to determine what your students know and don’t know so that you’ll know who needs differentiation. If you learn that some students are “getting it” more quickly than the rest, it’s time to pull out some differentiation tools to raise the level of challenge for them. If you find that only a few are lagging behind, keep things moving with the remainder of the class while you scaffold the learning for the stragglers.

Differentiated assignments:  One assignment or lesson might exist in several versions that approach the learning objectives at varied levels of depth and complexity.  A teacher might provide specific students with a differentiated assignment at a lower cognitive level for those who require more scaffolding and ramp up the mental challenge for those who can easily grasp the basics. The basic assignment looks the same to the learners, so no one has to know that some are diving more deeply. You could offer differentiated assignments to groups of students or individuals as needed.

Flexible grouping:  At times, ability grouping your students within a class for an assignment or lesson can permit easier differentiation. For instance, in a unit where the students are preparing to present about a topic to their classmates, groups composed of more advanced learners can receive topics which require more complex thinking or more challenging research.   

Independent study:  Once a student has demonstrated that he or she knows what’s expected, there’s an opportunity for that student to devise a learning goal for continued growth. Letting a student who is already interested in a topic explore that topic in more depth is an excellent way to promote learning and engagement. Allow the student to set some teacher-approved learning goals, and guide the exploration as needed to keep the student on track.  

Open-ended assignments:  Assignments and activities where students are expected to converge on one correct answer have a built-in low ceiling. Consider substituting assignments that have many possible answers and, if possible, the opportunity to extend beyond the minimum expectations.  

Crank up the Costa’s:  Spend some time examining the cognitive level of the questions and thinking in your classroom. Realizing that some students will struggle to master the Level 1 knowledge and skills associated with your curriculum while others will catch on quickly, come to class prepared to challenge your kids at whatever level necessary. Level 2 and 3 of Costa’s Levels of Thinking requires students to make connections (within disciplines and among them), draw conclusions, predict, create, suppose, and evaluate.  Providing increased opportunities to explore the curriculum at higher levels keeps the ceiling high above students’ heads.  

One quick caveat:  Differentiation shouldn't mean more work. The difference lies in the depth and complexity of thought required, not the amount. If differentiated assignments look like punishments, no one will want to do them. Think of it like an hour at the gym with a physical trainer. Each participant should work to maximum capacity during the hour so all can grow stronger.  No one gets to leave the gym early because he or she was stronger from the outset, and  no one has to stay late because he or she wasn’t very mighty to begin with. As a result, all are challenged, and all build strength and stamina.

Differentiation is definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. The first step to successful differentiation is awareness: knowing where the ceiling is in respect to the various learners in your room. Once you are aware of the limits you’ve deliberately or accidentally placed on your students, you can work on ways to systematically remove them.

That's the Ticket

Tickets come in many types. There are the ones you don’t want to get from a police officer, the ones you hope you can score for the sold-out concert, the ones you have to sell an organ to afford so you can see Hamilton on Broadway, and the ones you hope will be picked out of the bucket so you can win a nifty raffle prize.  The type of ticket that is perhaps most useful in your life as a teacher, however, is an exit ticket.    

Exit tickets are a great way to formatively assess your students. They’re also easy to use. All you have to do is provide a quick assignment or question for students to complete during the final minutes of class. Their responses are their tickets to leave the room when the bell rings, and you can stand at the door and collect them as students depart. Flipping through the exit tickets helps you know how your class and individual students are doing.

Here are a few examples of the types of things you might ask your students to do on an exit ticket:  

Explain a key concept from the lesson.

List the three branches of the US government, and write one sentence explaining the function of each.

Explain in at least three sentences the effects of alcohol and tobacco use by a mother on the development of a fetus.   

Define a term or concept.

            Define “manifest destiny” in your own words.

Write a one-sentence definition for each of these terms: round character, flat character, static character, dynamic character.

Provide examples to show understanding.

Give an example of when you might need to be able to calculate the area of a quadrilateral in your life outside the classroom.

Thinking about the types of measurement we discussed today, provide an example of something that is best measured in each of these:  millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers.       

Give an opinion.

How are you liking the book you are reading? What are you enjoying most and least about it?

Which is more useful: fractions or percentages?  Why?

Make a comparison or contrast.

List ways that plant and animal cells are similar and different. Provide at least three similarities and three differences.  

Which character in the novel are you most like? Discuss at least three similarities.

Fill in a graphic organizer.

Create a Venn diagram to show similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis.

Use a T-chart to list pros and cons for electing our President using the Electoral College.

Apply the learning.

Escribe dos oraciones en español sobre su familia.

Write three sentences using the same verb as a gerund, a participle, and an infinitive.

How might you use what you learned about primary and secondary colors to design a color scheme for a workplace? Explain your choices.

Solve a problem or work an example.

Copy a compound or complex sentence from the novel you are reading. Underline the nouns once, underline the verbs twice, and circle the adjectives.

Solve this equation on your exit ticket:

2x + ½(x +10) = 15

Evaluate their work.

Look back at your notes on the essay you revised today. How useful were your partner’s suggestions during your writing conference? What changes will you make on the next draft based on what you discussed? What could make your next writing conference more effective?

What did you do to prepare for your test? How, specifically, did you study? After going over your test results, what changes will you make next time to help you be more successful?

Reflect on today’s Socratic Seminar. What did the class do well? What did you do well? What should change next time to make the seminar better for you and for the class?

On a scale from 1-10, how would you rate your success in this class? Why did you give yourself that rating?

Pick out a main idea.

What was the most important thing you learned today?

Sum up the main ideas of today’s lesson in 20 words or fewer.

Draw a picture.  

Sketch a diagram of a plant cell and label as many parts as you can.

Draw a picture that summarizes the chapter you read today in the book. You may label your picture to clarify if your drawing skills are lacking.

Summarize the lesson or the content.

Write a 25-word gist statement about the TED Talk we watched today.

Write three sentences to explain what you learned today to someone who was absent for today’s class.

Choose a word.

Select one word that best describes the Cold War, and explain why you selected that word.

Choose two adjectives that describe the character of Lord Capulet, and use evidence from the play to support each choice.

Write a question. (These are great to incorporate into a follow-up activity later.)

What is one question you have after today’s lesson? If you have no questions, come up with a higher-level question to stimulate further discussion about the topic.  

            Write two questions about this topic that you’d like to discuss in class tomorrow.

Write one question at each of Costa’s Levels of Thinking about today’s lesson.

Ask for a response. (Teacher responds to these and hands them back the next day.)

What is going well for you in this class? What’s not?

What help do you need from me to complete your understanding of this subject?

Set a goal.

What grade do you hope to receive next grading period? What do you need to do to reach that goal?

After reviewing the peer and teacher feedback on your essay/project, what is the most important thing you’d like to focus on for the next one? Why?

Give the teacher feedback.

Write at least three sentences to me about what I can do to make this class a better experience for you.

Glows and Grows:  What is one thing I’m doing well as your teacher and one thing I can improve on?

If you could change one thing about this class, what would it be, and why?

Exit tickets can provide all sorts of useful information for us as teachers to clue us in to what our students know, what they need, and how we can help them. Whether you use old-fashioned pen-and-paper exit tickets or newfangled technology to get your feedback, exit tickets keep students engaged during the final minutes of class and provide meaningful closure to your lesson.

Today's Question

How do I create a daily guiding question for my students, and why should I consider doing it?

One of the things we know we are “supposed” to do as teachers is to post our learning objectives on the board. Maybe we are doing it because our principal told us to. Perhaps we are hoping our students will read them and have a more secure grasp on what they are supposed to get from the day’s lesson. Or it’s just something we do without thinking; at the beginning of the unit we create a poster or reserve a spot on the board where we dutifully copy a bunch of educational jargon so that it’ll be there if anyone chooses to look at it.

The problem with learning objectives is that they’re often written for teachers, not for students.

How can I expect students to use a statement like this (one of many I could have pulled from the English I TEKS) to guide their learning when I don’t even want to read it myself?

“Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to analyze how authors develop complex yet believable characters in works of fiction through a range of literary devices, including character foils.”

Not only is it so wordy that I’d get a hand cramp writing that on the board with dry-erase markers, but it also makes it sound as if the student is about to have to sit through the most tedious lesson imaginable, right?

Sometimes we take a giant Essential Question for an entire unit (like this) and post it on the board:  

“What deliberate decisions do authors make as they write to influence their readers?”

Sure, this is the big idea we want our students to ponder throughout the unit, but it’s unlikely they’ll be exploring that in depth every day while they should be having learning experiences that lead them to the eventual answer to that question. I think it’s a great idea to have the Essential Questions posted somewhere in the room so you can refer to them and the students can continue to ponder them, but I think they’re not the best way to help students focus on what they’re supposed to be taking away from any particular class period.

What I always found to be most helpful for me and my students was to compose a separate question for each day’s lesson. Sometimes, I’d create my question first to help focus my planning and preparation. Other times, when I already had an idea of what I was intending to do that day, I’d write the question at the end of planning in an effort to tie everything together and make sure my lesson made cohesive sense.

My guiding goal for making the question was to make sure the question was in student-friendly language and was something the students should be able to answer at the end of the class period:

What is a dramatic foil, and why does Shakespeare create them?

That’s the question I’d create for that unwieldy learning objective I shared with you earlier. Here are some other samples so you can get the gist:

What are the characteristics that reappear in Romantic art?

What were the main causes that led up to World War I?

How do I use percentages to determine what I will pay for an item on sale?

How is meiosis similar to and different from mitosis?

How can using poetic devices spice up my writing?

Once you get a little practice, you’ll find that writing these questions is easy and fairly painless. Once you start using them on a daily basis, you’ll see their benefits:

1. You’ll have a better idea of what your goal is during the lesson. Consequently, your lessons will be more focused and will have renewed purpose and direction.
2. Your students will know what they’re supposed to learn during your class. It’s important, of course, that you pause at the beginning of class to alert your students to the question and to let them know that they should be able to answer that question at the end of the period. If you’re feeling really crazy, you can have your students write down the question at the top of their notes or in a notebook. Then, when it comes time to study for the test, they’ll have a clear reminder of what they were supposed to have learned during the unit.
3. You can use the question at the end of the class to check for understanding. Try using the question as the prompt for an exit card. You can collect them at the door as students leave and, after flipping through them, you will have a clear picture of how well the class as a whole and particular students mastered the day’s objective. Then you’ll know what kind of reteaching, if any, is necessary.
4. Your students can use the question as a self-test to measure their own understanding of the lesson. This will give them a better idea of where and when they need to seek further help.

Your daily guiding question was the first sentence of this article. Look back at it and see if you can answer it now. If not, let me know, and I’ll be happy to help.