Folks, let’s face it. Our classrooms are going to look a little different this year. AI, specifically ChatGPT, is going to change the way we design learning experiences and assess student mastery. I’ll be honest, when I first explored the ChatGPT platform I was terrified. As I have dug deeper into the technology and its capabilities, I realized that while it does pose significant challenges — it also presents us with some pretty amazing opportunities. In this series, we will explore what AI is capable of, its implications in the classroom, and how it can benefit both teachers and students. Let’s start by examining where we have been, where we are currently, and looking forward to where we are going. Whether this is a trip you wanted to go on or not, the AI train has left the station and it is time for all of us to jump on board. From Card Catalogs to Artificial Intelligence I belong to the micro-generation called Xennial. Xennials are considered to be a “bridge” between Generation X a...
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#61: Connections Count: How Social Connections Protect Us
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The holiday season is upon us! For many of us, the holiday season is a time of joy and celebration. For others of us, the holidays might be a little more bittersweet. Our joy might be brighter, but our losses are also more poignant.
This past week I suffered the loss of a longtime friend. The sense of grief accompanying this loss is tremendous and, at times, paralyzing. As I sifted through old photos looking for images to share with this family, I was gifted with a sense of peace and thanksgiving for the friendships that I have been blessed with throughout all of these years. For that, I am grateful. This post is meant to be one of encouragement for those of you who might be struggling or know someone who is. It is about the power of social connections and relationships during times of challenge.
Our relationships and social connections can provide us with a physiological and psychological buffer against stress. In the TED talk, How to Make Stress Your Friend, Kelly McGonigal shares what she learned about how stress can cause us to seek out supportive relationships and how that, in turn, protects us from the damaging effects of stress. I highly suggest that you take a few minutes to learn more about her work by watching her TED talk.
Stress affects the body through the release of neurohormones like epinephrine. Epinephrine (adrenaline) helps your body respond to perceived dangers. It increases your heart rate, blood pressure, and even alters how your body metabolizes sugar. For me, stress is felt in the pounding of my heart, the constriction of my throat, and the lead ball sitting in my stomach. I've always been afraid of embracing stress in my life. The research is clear on the negative effects of chronic stress and cardiovascular health. However, this research doesn't tell the whole story...
What I didn't know is that stress actually triggers the release of another neurohormone, oxytocin. This begs the question, why would the brain release the so-called "cuddle hormone" during times in which we feel threatened? It turns out that in these situations oxytocin prods us to seek out social support and connections during times of stress. It not only makes us more likely to seek out help, it also leads us to help others in need. In addition, oxytocin protects the cardiovascular system from the negative effects of stress. It is a natural anti-inflammatory that can actually help the heart heal from stress-induced damage. Our body has a built-in mechanism designed to help support us in our times of greatest need.
Social connections sustain us in good times and bad. A sense of belonging is a core psychological need. According to Maslow, the importance of feeling loved and a sense of belonging is key to our self-actualization. Psychology offers insights into how we can foster a sense of belonging in our own lives.
“Resonant relationships are like emotional vitamins, sustaining us through tough times and nourishing us daily,”
Daniel Goleman in Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships.
The Greater Good Science Center offers some excellent resources about ways to cultivate social connections. Here are some specific, science-based activities for cultivating connection that you can use individually or maybe even with your students.
Social connections are one piece of the well-being puzzle. Cultivating gratitude, empathy, altruism, compassion, and forgiveness will enhance your well-being across all the different areas of your life. These interventions are not a panacea. They will not make the hurt and pain go away but they will sustain us and help us move forward. I am wishing you all peace, comfort, and joy throughout the upcoming holiday season.
I cannot wait to welcome my new students to class next week! The beginning of each year is filled with excitement, promise, and a wee bit of awkwardness. For me, the first day of school is typically filled with class policies and procedures. By the end of the first day, I can practically see my students' eyes roll back in their heads the moment they hear the word "syllabus." Not exactly the most auspicious of starts, right? This year I am flipping my 1st day lesson on it's head and implementing the Station-Rotation model of blended learning to present my course policies, procedures and student introductions. The practice of stations, as an instructional tool, has been around a long time. The Station-Rotation model operates on the same general principles; the students rotate between different activities in a set period of time. The Station-Rotation model differs from traditional stations in that at least one of the stations is an online learnin...
This year I have purposefully incorporated more face-to-face learning opportunities within the walls of my blended classroom. In this post, I will share a brief, easy-to-implement, works-for-any unit, vocabulary strategy that will get your students thinking, moving and talking. The following activity requires students to create a visual representation of a concept without using any words. Here's an overview of the process: (An exemplar assignment is provided in Step #6 below.) 1. Choose the Vocabulary Terms. These should be terms that have already been learned in class. It is not a strategy designed to teach new vocabulary terms. This activity will work with almost any set of related terms. 2. Assign Terms. Assign one term to each student. I like to highlight the term on the direction sheet. They should keep their term a secret! It should not be written on their drawings. 3. Provide Directions. Here are mine: You will be assigned one vocabulary word. You will have 15 minutes to ...
Assessing student understanding is a complex process even in the best of times. Testing during a pandemic adds a whole other set of variables and challenges. In this post, I will share how remote instruction has fundamentally changed the way that I view assessment. What is the PURPOSE of assessment? There are two types of assessments that can be used to inform instruction; formative and summative. Formative assessments monitor student learning and provide feedback to the student to improve their performance. It is an integral part of the learning process. Summative assessments measure student learning at the end of the learning process. They are typically high-stakes and might include mid-term exams, papers etc. When I am developing any assessment I ask myself the following questions: What do I want my students to know or be able to do as a result of this lesson? How will I know if they have mastered the learning? In the past, I have used a variety of formative asses...
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