Message from Principal Gavron

Kids are so different - even in the same family. Their skills at working independently can be like night and day.  I think my daughter came out of the womb with a planner in hand.  She loves to break down tasks and relishes in checking off a to-do list. She needs very little executive functioning coaching from me, and in fact, I tend to just get in her way. My oldest son; however, considered PLAN to be an out-of-bounds four letter word.  Throughout his schooling, breaking down projects and managing nightly assignments were Herculean tasks and often a battle that left both of us exhausted.  So how then do we as parents support such a range of learners on the journey to becoming self-sufficient, independent learners?

Benefitting from a generous grant through the Wayland Public Schools Foundation, curriculum leaders dove into the topic of “study skills” this summer, looking at how we as teachers might be more effective at explicitly teaching study skills.  We began with the research reading articles* and a chapter from the book Make it Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDaniel.   One of the things that we found to be most helpful (and you may find interesting) was looking at the research around characteristics among effective studiers and how they contrasted with those of ineffective studiers:

Other takeaways from the research that guided our thinking and work included:

1. Students who struggle the most – benefit the most from direct instruction around these skills
2. Study skills should be taught in context of subject area classes - not in “catch all” classes. 
   
3. Studying is a reflective process that requires both time and hard work.
   
4. Students need to know exactly what to focus on when studying.
   
5. Effective studiers develop skills, strategies and systems for success (in areas of memory, problem solving, reading comprehension, & metacognition).

Based on the research our priority was to begin to develop common language and identify areas for the explicit teaching of independent learning skills. We landed on the metaphor of “Setting the Table for Learning.” (We credit the language to Naami Turk who has consulted with us around executive functioning).  Here is the current working draft that teachers are using as they design ways to help students prepare effectively for independent learning.

Teachers are working with curriculum leaders to develop lessons, think-alouds, and reinforcement techniques within their curriculum to help students efficiently and effectively launch independent learning. We know that much of the work we do in school will actually play out at home in bedrooms, offices, and kitchen tables, as you look to support your learner.  I encourage you to try on this language of “Setting the Table for Learning” as well and experiment with questions like the following to support your student:

• Which assignment will you begin?
  
• Where will you place your table?
  
• What resources do you need to be successful?
  
• How can you organize supplies to be most useful?
  
• What are you being asked to do (read and unpack directions – and summarize
       them in your own words)? 
• How much time will it take?
• How might your prior classwork help you succeed (rubrics/notes/handouts)?
• If you get stuck who can help you? (Can you call a classmate or email a Teacher
       with a specific questions?)
  

The home-school partnership in shepherding students to become life long learners is a critical one.  Study skills are not one-size fits all, and each student will, over time, need to figure out what strategies work best for him or her.  Each child, like my son and daughter, may continue to need different levels of support from parents.  Please know you are not alone, and we want to partner with you and your child in building effective independent work habits. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of help.

Respectfully,

Betsy Gavron

References:
Gettiner, Maribeth & Jill Siebert. “Contributions of Study Skills to Academic Competence.” School Psychology Review, Vol. 31, 2002  pp. 350-365.

Wood, Karen & D. Taylor. “Research into Practice: Activating Study Skills in the Middle School Classroom.” Middle School Journal, Vol. 36, May 2005, pp. 51-55.

Brown, Peter, et. al. Make it Stick. Harvard University Press, 2014 .

MindsetGo TV Talk Show Host Program Full...