I am all for graphic organizers! I actually use them quite often in my teaching. When reading Improving Adolescent Literacy, I learned a few things. I did not realize how complex they are at first. Teachers literally have to teach students how to use them! Now, I have to admit, I have never done that! I simply explained what was on the paper and what needed to be placed in the empty parts. I also have thought about using graphic organizers for assessments; however I thought it would cause rote memorization, and students really would not learn anything, just where a word goes on a particular map. I have to admit, this book does have some truth as to why graphic organizers as assessments are good. The true measure of understanding is the ability other learner to construct an answer, and graphic organizers will evaluate that. The only problem I have with it is it is all too similar with matching tests. If you have students write or place one answer in a particular place, it opens the opportunity for cheating. I have actually performed an assessment where students were given a long piece of colored paper and twelve slips of paper on it. They were to match the different types of nouns to the best example. It was a very hard to watch everyone to make sure they did not cheat. When I graded them, some that I would think would not have done well did. That was mainly the reason I thought cheating was going on.
Like I mentioned, I do like graphic organizers. Even though you should teach them, and they could be a hassle to grade and explain, I still believe they are better for some students; especially visual learners as well as kinesthetic learners.
You raise some interesting points. I love graphic organizers as well especially when beginning a new standard. It helps the students know where they are going and what to expect. I have limited myself to the graphic organizers outlined in the book. The resources that D.r Webb gave us will be very helpful when it comes to lesson preparation. I teach the students how to use a graphic organizer in the first few days of school and that has helped me and the students when it comes to future uses of graphic organizers.
ReplyDeleteI like graphic organizers too and they seem to be almost made for history classes. I think they can be very beneficial as well.
ReplyDeleteI share some of the same concerns as you do. They almost have a "worksheet" feel to them and I guess they are worksheets, I don't intend them to be busy work like people think of when they think of worksheets.
I try to vary them as much as possible, but like you said, when you intro a new graphic organizer, you have to spend some time explaining the process. I have found that if I don't spend some time explaining the process that I either end up getting no value from the exercise or spending twice as much time as needed on the graphic organizer.
I have to force myself to slow down at times, but it is really hard when I have so many standards to cover in such a short time. I guess its all in that delicate balance.
I have never been a big user of the graphic organizer but I can see both the benefits and complexity of initiating them with students that are unaccustomed to them. I would love to incorporate them more in my History classes because they would be more hands-on and aid those visual learners within my classes. I guess once you have implemented a certain format a few times, the students take control of the "instruction" process. Also, like Jarrett said, it is essential to vary your approach because students would be bored with the mundane. At the same time we need to balance novelty with boredom to ensure the students aren't overwhelmed with both monotony and sensory overload.
ReplyDeleteI think that I will slowly adopt graphic organizer applications in my class, and as I sift through all the activities and examples we are given to find the best for my class and the current situation. If I don't succeed, well at least I may learn from my mistakes.