Induction
Change Package
Still In Development
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The Problem
Teachers are providing too few opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students to carry the cognitive load effectively.
Theory of Action: able to carry the cognitive load.
Theory Of Action
If we, as teachers, provide students with meaningful opportunities to develop personalized processing strategies, students will grow as independent learners,
Change Idea
If students have consistent opportunities to use Total Physical Response as a processing strategy then they will strengthen schema with scientific concepts and academic language and be able to carry the cognitive load when grappling with and expressing their learning.
Rationale
Our group spent time reflecting about how often we provide processing time in lessons and the amount of new content delivered in between moments for processing. The amount of things students can hold in their working memory (as they work to attach info to schema and move it to long term memory) is their cognitive load capacity. This is different for each person, however patterns show generally students can hold between 2-5 bits (Simmering. 2013). The brain can transfer working memory information to long term memory after, processing that information, making connections, and being able to apply the information. There are four variables we were interested in exploring. The amount of information provided to the students before processing time, the length of time for the chunk, the method of processing , and ways to assess understandings during and after application (Hammond 2015.) We were hoping to gather evidence that some of our strategies supported students ability to carry the cognitive load once scaffolds are removed and that students would use processing strategies independently. I developed an addition to a lesson planning template to help keep track of these variables. The practice I was using for processing was Total Physical Response (TPR.)
I chose to focus on TPR because it builds on the assets and developmental needs of my youngest students. Children like to move and get the wiggles. Attention decreases through lessons and ignoring physical movement needs will only increase the rate in which students disengage from learning. For students that need breaks to regulate their behavior, TPR can help them feel less isolated by extending the group time between breaks.
Different parts of the brain are used for movement, language, and reasoning. Activation of different parts of the brain at the same time can lead to neural pairing and make this learning even more sticky. The "more frequent or more intense stimulation of memory a person is given, the stronger the memory associations connected and easier to remember.” (Fahrurrozi, F. 2017) Students can use the movement, that represents a concept, to help them process that concept and add it to their existing schema. When students use movements to represent concepts , they must think about abstract pieces of concepts to make that connection. The use of TPR helps develop cognitive structures of symbolic representation. (Garner. 2008)
Put It To Practice
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Total Physical Response In Your Classroom
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Here are suggested steps to use total physical response in the classroom as a chew or review strategy to support symbolic representation.
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Start by identifying the number of independent new items within a lesson learning goal. This can be things like concepts, vocabulary, strategies, and practices. If the structure of the learning activity is new, the rules for that are new items too. -
Group items into chunks based on connections between items. Aim to have between 2-5 items in each chunk. This will vary by age, ability, and subject as well. -
When planning instruction for the chunks, consider the time it will take. The chunk should be no longer than x + 2 minutes, where x the class' average age. -
Identify vocabulary or concepts that can be reinforced with a movement. This is the tricky part. If possible, plan movements that cross the body's midline. You may want students to generate movements as this becomes routine. -
Processing can have many different structures. Some are think time, turn & talk, and TPR. Processing time & structures should be consistent routines to reduce threat and lower affective filter. I like to have 2 instructional chunks and 2 processing times. I will always plan a turn & talk for my first chew time and usually a TPR activity for my second. -
To use TPR as a processing routine, model or invite movements connected to concepts or vocabulary in the chunk stage, and have students use TPR movements with a chant, song, or game. You can use melodies that are familiar to students to not increase cognitive load. Using TPR with a game is very engaging for students. -
TPR movements should be mimed every time the concept or vocabulary is used. Students can be encouraged to mime the movement when they share. -
TPR movements can be used for review as well. They can be used for activities like student led games, students teach activities, and assessments. -
TPR can also be used to cue transitions or as a reminder for cognitive routines used in the classroom. (Ex: silent signals for turn and talk, connections, add on, disagree...)
TPR Activities
Tell a story, progression, or sequence: Students use movements to show the order of an event. Kids like to come up with transitional movements as well. (ex: moving from pupa to butterfly)
Simon Says: Simon will say an application of a word or concept and students will show the movement and say the word tied to the movement.
Charades: Students take turns miming movements and the class can respond with the verbal cue.
Visual Quiz: Show Visual cues and students respond with TPR movement. Especially fun if time is a factor. (ex: We were learning about thermal expansion and contraction. We had gestures for each word that represented the concept. Students saw an image of something cold or hot and had to demonstrate the change compared to the previous photo.)
Lesson Planing Resource
This is an addition to a lesson template that helps keep track of chunk size, time, and cognitive structures supported to help teachers develop mindful practices around information processing.
Impact
Students were playing a game as a form of assessment with movements for the life cycle of a moth. Most of the students were engaged with the lesson despite this lesson being over zoom.
Changes in my Teaching
I have become so much more aware of the use of time in my classroom. I am more intentional with the planning of each chunk and the opportunities to process information. I plan for a variety of processing strategies within each lesson. I am also more excited about routines. I have so many more goals around scaffolding routines and building more TPR into those as well. I want to have routine movement references on anchor charts. I am also excited about designing activities that help reinforce cognitive structures.
I am more intentional about removing scaffolds and feeling ok when students grapple. I have a more structured plan for support when it is requested to help build confidence. I call attention to student voice to share ideas when a student might be stuck. I encourage students to reference their movements when they might need a push. I am feeling more confident with using various forms of assessment to develop a personalized picture of student growth.
Distance Learning
Distance learning provided a whole new set of challenges. I decided that TPR was even more valuable with this new platform. Using the internet as the major delivery tool for instruction is new to our students. They will miss friends, games with peers and playful interactive learning. Watching students enjoy opportunities to play movement games over zoom or find funny ways to mime life cycle stages in their homes made me so happy I cried. Providing them opportunities to learn in fun and community building ways not only helps them develop cognitive structures, retain vocabulary, and feel safe to learn through play; it also helps me feel successful and confident. This seems like a selfish take away. When students express joy in class, I feel more able to continue developing exciting strategies. I know it can't all be fun and games, but if we are all more confident and feel safe together with them I will excitedly continue designing them. Inspiring joy in the classroom as a priority also helps strengthen the relationships with students that make them feel safe to challenge themselves and push their own thinking.
Student Impact
Students learned academic vocabulary so quickly with the use of TPR. They were using the vocabulary to explain their thinking and sometimes miming motions mid sentence to help them remember. They were excited to learn new moves and often share chants or dances with family and friends. Students were able to transfer movements to visual representations of the same concept. The class was joyful and active during movement games, often asking to play again. They suggested other movements to use and demonstrated ways to represent concepts with their bodies and space.
The students were more energized throughout the lesson and there were less unexpected behaviors. Students that need body breaks didn't always have to leave the group area as the body breaks were built into the lesson. Students that might not always feel successful with more traditional tasks, felt successful "winning" a movement game and more confident within the group. During zoom meetings, more students got out of their chairs and off their couches to join in the movements. More students raised hands to share thinking after a movement activity. We even got parents to join in movement activities once.
Professional Development
The experience of induction and concept of continuous change also impacted my practice. In person we grappled with what improvement looks like in a group of diverse students with independent needs, and when to definitively say there is growth, and how to attribute that growth to the change idea. With our developing skills and time, I learned to not jump into too many rabbit holes. I celebrate these questions and continue developing my answers to them all, but I am excited that they may never be answered and my answers may change the more I know about how the brain learns. This helped me have more grace with my growth and get excited about the development, abandonment, and expansion of practices and theories as I grow as an educator. I think that is continuous improvement.
My work relates to these CA Standards for the Teaching Profession:
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# 1: Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning
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# 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students
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# 5: Assessing Students for Learning
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# 6: Developing as a Professional Educator
Extension Questions:
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Are our TPR movements a scaffold that needs to be removed? Can we use TPR for assessment if movements are a scaffold?
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What other ways can we use TPR?
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Should I be trying to increase cognitive load? (5+?)
This students is sharing the first 3 stages of the life cycle of a moth with movements. She is saying the movements as she does them but it is hard to hear. She has also modified the suggested movements based on her own understanding of the life cycle stages.
Students are practicing the parts of a spider with a variation to the Itsy Bitsy Spider with movements.
Team Journey
Our team worked really hard to iron out the causes to this problem that we could take on with immediate actionable ideas. We brainstormed and deduced a root cause then modified our root causes based on developing understandings of the brain science behind cognitive load.
References and Resources
This is an interview with Zaretta Hammond where she discusses dependent learners and cognitive development. The focused bit is 17:58 - 21:00
This is the fishbone protocol we used to narrow down the causes for our problem.
This is a video we used to understand the student experience with carrying the cognitive load. We compared this experience to the ones we are currently providing for our students.
References
Hammond, Zaretta. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE Company. 2015.
Simmering, Vanessa R., and Sammy Perone. “Working Memory Capacity as a Dynamic Process.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 3, 7 Jan. 2013, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00567.
Garner, Betty K. Chapter 1 Cognitive Structures: What They Are and Why They Matter.Getting to "Got It!": Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn. Hawker Brownlow Education, 2008.
Khorasgani, A. T., & Khanehgir, M. Teaching New Vocabulary to Young Learners: Using Two Methods Total Physical Response and Keyword Method. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 6(2), 150–156. (2017).