LearningTimes Green Room

In this show, Susan and Dan learn about an amazing live online debate program involving special education students across New York City. Their guest is Cara Coffina, a social studies coach in New York’s District 75 who coordinates the unique and successful program.

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Show Notes:
Susan and Dan welcome Cara Coffina, Social Studies Coach for District 75 in New York City, who has been involved in a very innovative program of online debating. Currently all of the students Cara works with attend special education schools that serve students with severe emotional disabilities and behavioral issues. This was not mentioned at the start of the interview, but is important for listeners to know.

Cara’s official title is Literacy coach in the content area of social studies. She works with students and teachers across the 5 boroughs to participate in online debates. This was at the request of the superintendent, Bonnie Brown. The district already had a relationship with LearningTimes and used technology for professional development but wanted to bring it to the classroom level.

Cara had to learn about debating and the technology.

Jonathan Finkelstein from LearningTimes moderates these and provides the structure.

Dan asks how Cara prepared the students and teachers for this experience. It began with professional development about debate (what is it, why do it, and so on). Then Cara worked with teachers individually. They began with 4 and expanded to 19 schools in the second year. That expansion necessitated the partnering of experienced teachers with those who hadn’t tried this yet. In some cases, Cara visited mostly to train teachers how to set up the technology, but there was a debate curriculum that she worked with as well.

The topics have included gun control in NYC, immigration policy, whether students should be permitted to bring cell phones to school, and the current topic on the possible withdrawal of troops from the Iraq war. Students had to learn how to do research. It is an interdisciplinary project.

Cara works to give every child a meaningful role.

Meaningfulness is also an important part of the topics they selected. Cara’s goal is to get each student to be able to discuss current events in an informed manner.

Participation in these debates has fueled school spirit and excitement. Cara explains the positive feedback and enthusiasm for the project.

Susan points out that this kind of set up could be beneficial to rural districts as well as urban ones.

Cara further explains that the final round of the debate competition is held face to face. The experience is less threatening by warming up online. This is particularly important given all of the students currently involved in debating have been diagnosed as having severe emotional and behavioral disturbance and these needs are often coupled with various learning disabilities.

Listeners, we’d like to hear if you have any experience with online debating!

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this show, Susan and Dan provide a primer on “How to Teach”. What do you need to know if you are thrown into a classroom?

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Show Notes:

Susan and Dan give a primer on “How to Teach.” What do you need to know if you are thrown into a classroom?

As Dan’s brother says, it’s easy to know but hard to put into practice!

Susan starts with pointing to “Seven Principles” for undergraduate education that have been reinterpreted for online use. Available here.

By the way, there is a very interesting link on this page that leads to a webinar in which Art Chickering is interviewed by Stephen C. Ehrmann.

Learning has to be the outcome!

Stephen Brookfield influenced Dan with The Skillful Teacher. Jossey-Bass. 2006 second edition.

His favorite concepts and sections:

* You need to have a personal organizing vision.
* The balance of challenge and support.
* How to facilitate discussions.
* Using simulations and role playing (or the narrative approach).

Susan goes back to Malcolm Knowles and andragogy. She particularly remembers that students must be ready and that readiness is often dependent on what’s happening in life and whether you can use the information immediately. She tries to allow room to let students customize learning.

Dan and Susan both give a strong thumbs up to The Outcomes Primer by Ruth Stiehl with Les Lewchuk available here.

Stiehl and Lewchuk challenge readers to consider what students will do in class that demonstrates evidence of the outcomes you want them to learn.

Susan recommends Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series).

by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross (Paperback - Mar 12, 1993)

Short, focused assessments that reveal what’s working and what’s not in a course.

Variety in instructional strategies. Dan uses a metaphor of the sampler pack of cereal. Both Susan and Dan point back to Brookfield in some fashion.

Susan suggests teachers become familiar with generational differences, or other student variables such as technology-proficiency and culture.

Why teach? Susan quotes Brookfield to close.

Listeners, we want your teaching stories and ideas! What would you tell a new teacher? What have been your successes or failures?

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!