Mental Models Lessons
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Mental Models Lessons for Primary School
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Make Expectations Clear and Simple.
Description and Results: I expect my students to write three sentences in their journals daily. I made my expectations clear by checking their journals immediately and conferencing with each low models child on the work in his or her journal.
I began the journaling process by giving students sentence starters. Then they gave me one sentence on a particular subject. Next, I expected students to give me at least three sentences with correct punctuation. (Many students mistook three lines of print for three sentences.) I reviewed daily with the class what I was looking for. I found that students did not comprehend my expectations.
This past week, I began to check students’ journals as soon as they were finished. I was able to point out accurate sentences, missed punctuation, and some ideas to finish a sentence fragment. I could see the “light bulb go on.” Once I made my expectations clearer and reviewed their formal writing, students were able to see what I wanted. They were able to make corrections immediately. I have heard them coaching one another at their tables. This strategy saved me a lot of time, and I regret not doing it sooner.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Divide and Limit Information.
Description and Results: Something I could divide and limit in my first-grade classroom was my “Must Do List.” I divided and limited it in the following way: I assigned one activity per day as opposed to three activities per week.
Before revising my method, I gave children a “Must Do List” each Monday. It contained four or five activities that had to be completed by the end of the week. I explained what it said and also had picture clues for anyone who was unable to read it.
When children completed the activities, they were entitled to go to various centers around the room: computer, typewriter, puzzles, games, etc. I thought this would be incentive enough to encourage all of the children to finish the work. Well, I was wrong. After four weeks of using the “Must Do List,” I noticed that the same five children were never finishing the work although they were very capable students. So I assigned one activity per day to these five children. They were able to choose their activity, and it had to be finished in one day, even if it meant giving up part of a recess. Well, it took less than three days for this strategy to work. The children had all of their work finished before lunch the third day. They felt great because they were finished before other children.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Create Structure.
Description and Results: To create structure, I developed the following routines:
- I go over our daily routine, break our day into a morning session and an afternoon session, and point out any changes in the schedule.
- I give benchmarks. For instance, I use a large, manual child’s clock to show the children what time I expect the work to be finished.
- I use a chart illustrating the activities for the day and the times when they will occur.
I like to help my students feel at ease at all times. For example, I like to inform them of any visitors or parents who will be coming to our room that day. The “Structure Strategy” allowed me to alleviate part of the stress children felt — little things that I took for granted. I made a chart that contains our daily work schedule, bathroom breaks, drink breaks, lunch time, recesses, snack times, and other important events in the day and life of a first grader. Next to each activity, I drew a clock illustrating the time when these activities would take place. This schedule not only created routine and structure, it helped some students budget their time better. I noticed students going for the bathroom pass and then checking our schedule and deciding to wait. I was impressed!
The children were also getting an early lesson in telling time. By using the children’s manual clock, the students knew when their work needed to be turned in. It allowed them to relax and check their own time instead of watching my every move, anticipating when I was going to say, “Time’s up. Hand your papers in.” It also stopped students from asking, “When are we going to lunch?”
I asked the students if the schedule and the clock helped, and they said yes. If I forget to go over what is going on for the day, they sure let me know about it!
Elementary School
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: See One, Do One, Teach One.
Description and Results: I used this strategy with a game center in my room. I have one center in the room that is set up with a different game each week. The game goes along with a concept I am teaching. It is usually used for practice and review. Two to four children are allowed to play at a time. I used to show all of the kids at the beginning of the week how to play the game. My low mental models kids forgot easily and often asked me or interrupted other kids who were finishing work. I now simply show the two or four kids who are playing first at the beginning of the week. Their responsibility is to show the next kids how to play. This technique has really saved a lot of teaching time, and I put more responsibility on the kids who play the game!
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Be Redundant.
Description and Results: I have seen an improvement in my low models students since I started to use this strategy for following directions. I write the directions on the board and have the kids repeat them back. Before they finish their work, they have to check the directions off in their heads as a “quick check.” This makes the simple task of following directions easier for the kids to remember and ties in with Direct Teach from the 4-E Model, which I am also implementing. (Note: The 4-E Model is presented in Module Eight.)
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Demonstrate Patterns.
Description and Results: An acronym I have begun using with my students because of this course is the three Ps. It stands for paper, pencil, posture. It helps students think about whether their papers are slanted, whether they are holding their pencils correctly, and whether they are sitting up straight. The acronym has been very helpful for getting students ready for their writing practice. It’s also nice to just say “three Ps” instead of saying all the words the three Ps stand for. The students even say it now before I get a chance when they know we are getting ready to practice our writing. I also have it written on a piece of paper hanging below the board as a visual help. I plan to come up with some more catchy acronyms that will help students remember how to do things.
Middle School
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Share a Compelling Why for Each Lesson.
Description and Results: I will help students appreciate that their muscular systems are important in their lives by showing how we use our muscles.
I used the Compelling Why for this lesson because I feel it is very important for students to know about their bodies and how to maintain them. When I told them why we need our muscular systems and modeled movements made by our bodies, there was a sudden interest. Body language began to change. Eye contact was made, hands and feet were still, and voices were silent. I noticed these changes in all my students, not just those low in mental models.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: How to Do Things in Class.
Description and Results: One “how to” I taught was how to organize a trapper keeper. I offered this strategy to one low mental models student in particular, but I demonstrated for the whole class. (I figured it couldn’t hurt.) I demonstrated how to label each folder (science, spelling, math, etc.) and how to label one side of the folder “keep papers” and the other side “take home papers.” I also had students put their assignment books in the trapper keeper (something our district added this year). The student I demonstrated for has greatly benefited from this strategy. Now it doesn’t take more than five to ten minutes for students to find assignments, and papers are not a wrinkled mess.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: “Next Time.”
Description and Results: “Next time, please let me finish talking before you start speaking.” I used this with a certain individual who constantly interrupts me. I have ignored him, talked with him about it, yelled at him, and had him do a writing assignment. Part of the problem is that he’s only in my room for science class. (I know this problem goes on in his homeroom too.) When I used “Next Time,” it worked for that class period, but the next day he interrupted me again. So I used “Next Time” again. Same thing: It worked for that class period. He has been absent the past week, so I will have to let you know later how the strategy is working. I will stay consistent, though, because I know low mental models students need consistency as well.
High School
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Hold Students Accountable.
Description and Results: This is a difficult one for me, and that is why I am working on it. I usually allow students many opportunities to get their work to me later if they do not have it when it is due. Well, after attending this class I see that I am only hindering their development. Therefore, I have recently changed my attitude toward late homework. Charlie is one of my low mental models students who receives many breaks from me. We had a conference with his father, and we agreed that Charlie needs to have his work in on time or be responsible for the consequences. Well, recently he did not turn his writing paper in on time, and I gave him the opportunity to turn it in the next day with a loss of points. He agreed. The next day when he came in, he did not have the paper, but he did have a great excuse! I finally decided to hold him accountable and told him he had to take a zero. I felt bad, but the next day he did have all of his assignments. I feel that this will be a long learning process for Charlie (and for me as I learn to remain consistent), but it will be good for me and the students who tend to be late with assignments.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Make Expectations Clear and Simple.
Description and Results: I co-teach a tenth-grade biology class. Half of the students have special needs and the other half are academically “at risk.” The content area teacher wanted the students to make a model of DNA. He told them to go ahead and get started by using construction paper in the back of the room. I saw the whole class sit there for 15 minutes. They had no idea what to do. I felt bad for the students, so that night I went home and constructed a model of DNA according to the teacher’s expectation. I showed it to him in the morning to make sure it was okay; then I showed it to the class and explained how I had constructed it. The students started to design their models of DNA immediately. It was only when they had seen what the teacher wanted that they could begin the project.
After that experience, the content area teacher told me that he was grateful that I was trained in working with special needs students. I explained to him that the students’ success had not resulted from my training but from my clear demonstration of what they were expected to do.
- Mental Models Strategy I Used: Check on Students Soon and Often.
Description and Results: I decided to first try Mental Models Strategy No. 11. I did this by reorganizing my room. I went through my health class and picked out the students who I thought were low mental models students. I rearranged their seats so that they all sit in the same general area of the room. This allows me to check on them more easily, which seems to help them stay on task while they are doing class work. I also have been able to make sure that they are writing down their assignments in their homework journals.
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