At this morning's Coffee and Diet Coke with the Principal, a parent asked a question, which I am paraphrasing, "How does one know a student's level of engagement...I'm asking as a parent interested in various states of consciousness, not just at school but at home."
This question came up because our school-wide "Problem of Practice" is student engagement in high-order Bloom's, and our schoolwide "lookfor" when our Instructional Leadership Team visits classrooms is high student engagement in high-order Bloom's for as long as possible. We actively count the number of students in the room and then count how many are deeply engaged in high-order Bloom's, and we pay close attention to when that engagement shifts.
So, in answer to the question, "How does one know...?" there are two things observers consider:
1) the student's body language and 2) the task at hand.
Regarding body language, what specifically do we look for? Well, when I was teaching a 4-5 combo class back in the days of yore, I came up with a way to make this seemingly abstract endeavor more concrete. I compared the levels of concentration to the rock cycle:
The Four Levels of Concentration:Igneous: You are off-task and self-conscious; your energy is in your eyes. If you and others are writing in private journals, you are looking around at what others are doing or elsewhere at what is going on around you.
Sedimentary: You are beginning to get on task and are starting to "go through the motions," hoping to appear to be on task. You are engaged in low-order thinking. Your energy is moving toward your head (and eventually toward the Magma). But because you dip in and out of Top Soil, you don't yet fully move forward.
Metamorphic: You are moderately engaged and are on the journey toward the Magma. Your energy is approaching your belly. Your mind and emotions are starting to merge. If you are writing in your journal, you are engaging your feelings and are writing somewhat diligently, stopping only occasionally to look around and/or to ponder.
Magma: You are so engaged, you don't notice much (or anything) of what is going on around you. You are so enthralled! Your energy is in your spirit. If you are writing in your journal, it is as though your journal is writing you. This is the place where epiphanies happen (or the inklings of epiphanies which solidify later during REM sleep). When a roomful of students is in the Magma Layer during journal writing, the sound of pencil hitting page is like rain.
High Engagement = Magma
Now, of course, one could come up with other metaphors to use to help understand and explain the various levels of consciousness and/or concentration. If I were teaching a class right now, I would invite my students to come up with another possibly more apt metaphor. Or they could come up with a more detailed and specific rock-cycle metaphor that more fully and accurately explains the perceived (or scientifically exact) levels of concentration.
In the absence of that, I have found this rock cycle metaphor to be sufficient and even potent.
Regarding the task at hand, we look to see what task the students are actively engaged in. If they are copying from the board, they are engaged in a low-order Bloom's activity. If they are writing a summary, they are engaged in a slightly higher, low-order Bloom's activity. If they are coming up with a more apt metaphor than my rock cycle metaphor, they are analyzing, evaluating AND creating and are hence engaged in a high-order Bloom's activity.
Why is it important to spend much time engaged in high-order Bloom's activities? The more high-order thinking you do, the more your synapses connect, and the better you do in all manner of endeavors from divining your own business or non-profit to writing a graphic novel to taking high-stakes tests.
For more information on Bloom's and its application to the classroom (and potentially to home), here is a helpful article about how a Constructivist approach to Bloom's Revised Taxonomy yields even greater rewards. For example, in lieu of having students first memorize the attributes of the elements of the Periodic Table, via copying, memorizing, making flashcards, etc., and then afterward create something that involves that information, have them right from the start write a play where the characters are the elements of the Periodic Table. Give the students access to two key resources: 1) the basic elements and structure of a play, and 2) a chart that lists the attributes of the elements of the Periodic Table. Students simply reference both tools as they create. No "front-loading" or laborious time engaged (or disengaged) in low-order Bloom's required. Through the process of creating, they more deeply remember salient facts.
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