Chapter+11

21 st-Centruy Fluency Lessons Please repsond to the following questions:

1, How do the 6 Ds relate to creating relevant lessons for students today?

The 6 Ds relate to creating lessons because it is a process for the teacher and the students to follow. If the students have completed Defining the assignment, then they are ready to Discover, which leads them to Dream and create the Design, Deliver the product and Debrief. This is very similar to MCPS research process AGOPPE (Ask/Clafiy Questions, Gather Information, Organize Information, Prepare/Produce Materials, Present Information/Product, Evaluate/Reflect on your work). I like the idea of adding in Discover (Gather Information) and Dream (between Organize and Prepare/Produce). This would bring in their creativeness and imaginations.(Ruth)

As Ruth mentioned, above, the 6Ds are very similiar to an Inquiry process, which is a natural process in research or problem-solving. Using a process such as this create a more relevant and authentic learning. (Margaret)

I completely agree with Ruth and Margaret, but I think the "Dream" part allows for students to go beyond a right or wrong answer. I think that often students think there is only one answer and this kind of gives them permission to suggest other possibilities. (Kyra)

Well, since all the people responding before me are LMSs we are all on the same page with the inquiry process. One thing I really like about the 6Ds is that it does allow students more choice. Choice in what they will produce, how they will produce, etc. Again, making these kinds of creative, thoughtful decisions takes time, but it gives our students the learning/thinking opportunities required to be successful in the 21st C.

As Media Specialists, we are used to working with decision making models/research models of all kinds, and I liked the way that the early chapters of the book illustrate various models with slightly different perspectives. I especially appreciate the Debrief step and believe we should consistently complete that step with students. When I have done a reflection or student self-assessment, it has always informed both me and the student. (Susie Treat)

What jumps out at me when I read the 6 D's, is the feedback and evaluation piece. Every step and pre-requisite for progression involves some form of evaluating and reflecting prior to moving on. It allows for a lot of student choice and reflection, but this is where the teacher is a critical part of the process in ensuring that students are given the time to evaluate their progress and guide them in making changes to their products along the way. (Carrie)

2. What real-world scenarios can you think of that could be used in your teaching?

As the media specialist, I work with teachers that use real-world scenarios. As I stated in the last chapter, the science 6 teachers recently had the students research ways for to make their homes greener and use less electricity, water, etc. The students needed to convince their parents and family to change in some way to save electricity, water, etc. and then report out that information to class and analyze if it did make their homes greener. Most students are planning to look at the electric bill to see if there was a change. This was a great real-world scenario because it was relevant to the students. (Ruth)

The 6 D process is perfect for any inquiry project! As a former media specialist, just about every unit/project in which I collaborated with teachers, could have benefitted from the 6 D's. Social Studies, History, Science all lend themselves to this approach. (Margaret)

I gave many examples in the last chapter as to how students could think about the need to conduct research relevant to their lives and that th process that they would go through may sometimes be longer or shorter, depending on the need. As a media specialist, I always encouraged students to select a topic that they felt passionately about and challenged them to learn about the other side of a topic to see if their opinions could be changed as a result of their research. I foten encouraged them to select topics that were in the news at the present time to see if they could find a solution to a timely topic. (Kyra)

Again, our niche as media specialists (like my colleagues above) provides us easy opportunities to provide real world scenarios whether it's finding newer ways to be environmentally conscious or comparing historical conflicts to real life bully situations. We are in the business of helping kids find information, evaluate it, apply it, and create something new from what they have learned. (Lisa Norris)

Teachers need to make sure they build in time to conference and chat with students. Small group instruction is so important in the instructional day. It is at those times, teachers can hone in on individual students. It's very easy for a teacher to keep one student at the end of a small group session to provide individual feedback. I think it's easier to manage it this way, than it is to call kids up one at a time for a conference. It should be woven in naturally and daily into the instructional sequence of a lesson. So, again, as I work with teachers in their planning sessions, I need to constantly ask them to reflect on how they are working one on one with students to provide specific focused feedback during the production/product process. This is getting to the heart of demonstrating mastery. (Carrie)