How to stimulate intentional thinking in the 21-century classroom: T1I E3

Jonily : Oftentimes, we think
we're getting kids a good

cognitive demand. But we're
actually giving them cognitive

loads of good

Cheri Dotterer: morning. Welcome
to tier one interventions with

Jonily Zupancic and Cheri
Dotterer, a

Jonily : Jonily Zupancic. Here
Jay Z in the house today. And

tier one interventions is really
about strengthening our core in

schools, if you think about your
body, or our overall health

really depends on our poor and
our poor strength. So in schools

are poor, is our tier one
general classroom, general ed

teacher, with intervention
specialist or other support

personnel in the classroom, and
inclusive model serving all kids

at the same time. So tier one
interventions is about the

instructional strategies that
are going to enhance and

maximize the learning for all
students, regardless of ability

or disability. Tier one needs to
be strong enough to make certain

that all ability levels of
students get their needs met.

And I know this can seem really
overwhelming for the general

classroom teacher. However, tier
one interventions is all about

what are those techniques? Those
techniques have to do with the

student body, brain, and
emotion? And how do we get all

three of those things ready to
learn the content. When tier one

general classroom course I'm
Your Math girl. But it doesn't

matter what the content what the
subject is in tier one

classroom. The same techniques
apply for all content areas, all

subject areas, without a strong
tier one foundation. We tend to

overload tier two small group
and tier three intensive one on

one intervention to the point
where schools and districts

don't have the personnel to
serve all of these students. So

when we're getting these kids
ready for learning, and being

able to do that in an inclusive,
least restrictive environment,

tier one, there are certain
instructional strategies that we

need to focus on. If you're a
general classroom teacher,

administrator, support
specialists, occupational

therapists, speech therapists,
intervention specialists,

instructional coach, whatever
your role is, in your school or

district want you to think and
evaluate in your mind, the

strength of your tier one. Now,
how do we do this? There are

certain components in tier one,
meaning, how visual is the

content? How much do we adapt to
student visualization? How do we

embed conceptual cognitive
stimulating multi sensory

approaches to our content? How
is our content leveled and

adaptive? What connections and
associations are we making and

supporting students to make? And
we might be thinking, how do we

do this in a classroom with 36
students and not overload the

facilitators, the instructors,
the teachers in the room, and

that is where we have this gap.
And this gap can be filled with

our strategies on tier one
interventions. Before we get

into the mathematics of this, I
want to talk about getting the

brain ready for learning. And I
want to compare two phrases

cognitive load and cognitive
demand. Cognitive Load is much

more of a negative aspect,
cognitive demand is the sweet

spot. All of us have different
tolerances for cognitive load,

cognitive load, our stimulus
that are coming in things that

are happening around us that we
can't handle, and our brains

begin to disconnect,
malfunction. Set apart. And this

is where many times frustration
and behaviors arise with

students when they have too
great of a cognitive load. At

times, our instruction for
students triggers cognitive load

when we think we're trying to
reach cognitive demand.

cognitive demand, on the other
hand, is all about getting

students in the zone. So even
our students with ADHD or

processing issues or focus
issues, if we can still simulate

and instruct and facilitate
using all those components I

mentioned, conceptual, visual,
multi sensory, if we can use all

of these techniques in the right
way to simulate a good, just

right cognitive demand for
students, their brains and

bodies and emotions get in the
zone, just like if you're an

athlete, and you're in the zone
and time passes, and you don't

even realize how much time has
passed and you're able to

perform at the optimal level of
your sport. Same thing in the

classroom, if I can facilitate
so that kids are at, they're

just right cognitive demand
level, that's when ultimate

learning occurs. Now, I'm not
saying that this is easy, there

are simple strategies. But
teaching is very complex. And

tier one interventions is about
breaking down that complexity

for us facilitators implement
implementing in an easy way,

however, becoming more savvy and
artful with our teaching. If we

get kids into that sweet spot,
that cognitive demand, not only

are we going to maximize
learning, but we're going to

help support students attend
focus. Get them motivated, we're

going to help students
understand how to use their

stamina to stay on task for
longer periods of time. And

we're going to enhance their
independence and perseverance of

tasks. Oftentimes, we think
we're getting kids a good

cognitive demands, but we're
actually giving them cognitive

load. So if you notice your
students are out of focus or not

attending, or you noticed your
students behaviors are starting

to turn negative. Yes, there are
a lot of factors that go into

that one of the major factors is
the facilitation or lack of good

technique by the instructor. So
what do we do to get kids into

this good cognitive demand, I do
have to back up and say,

research has continued to show
that the number one factor in

student achievement is the
quality of the teacher. So think

about yourself. And for the last
20 years, I've videotaped and

audio taped and analyzed myself
and my own teaching, so that I

can continue to be a better
instructional facilitator

tomorrow than I was today, using
these components that I keep

mentioning. So this difference
between cognitive load and

cognitive demand is at times
very subtle. However, what we're

going to teach on these
sessions, is how to get that

sweet spot how to get that just
right cognitive demand. It's a

lot of people call it the
Goldilocks principle. So

Goldilocks and the Three Bears,
and you got the three bears in

the soup that's too hot the soup
that's too cold, the soup.

That's just right. So the
Goldilocks principle is how do

we get our instructional
facilitation just right at a

just right level for students,
so that their brains are

absolutely ready to intake the
learning, there are no barriers

to learning. And we can do that
with one lesson with 36 Plus

kids in one classroom. Cognitive
Load, cognitive demand share,

you are our neuroscience brain
based expert. Talk to us a

little bit about how what we do
impacts the brain and learning

if you could, please. Sure.

Cheri Dotterer: I've been
thinking a lot about this as

you've been talking, and you're
talking about the flow cycle. So

the flow cycle was developed by
a psych kya tourist

psychologist, several years
back, he's been gone a couple of

years, and I'm probably gonna
butcher his name. It's me. Hi,

son. chicony. Hi. Beautiful,
beautiful, hee hee. It's one

I've been having to practice for
a long time to get that one out.

Anyway, he realized that there
were four steps to, to creating

productivity through these four
steps. Our body goes through

them on a continuous basis. And
what Jonily is talking about is

that spot called flow. That's
when cognitive demand is

essentially at its peak. And so
when we're looking at struggle

is when we're getting the
information in. And it might

sound a little bit weird as far
as the title goes, when I I

think about struggle, I think
about concentrating on getting

the notes down on paper, getting
the concept in my brain release

must happen next. And that's why
recess. And these triggers that

in these activities that I share
all the time are so important,

because there needs to be a
break between the taking in of

the material and the putting out
of the material. And so what we

do during release is we have to
have physical exercise, it can

be as short as 30 seconds, it
can be as long as several hours.

While that is happening, the
brain is taking that new

information that you've been
thinking about. It's pairing it

with this information that we've
already had in our brain, it's

integrating them together, so
that when you get to the point

of re engaging with the
material, again, you're in a

state where you can really come
through and think about all

kinds of different things that
are related to the same topic,

but you didn't know. And that's
why asking questions, getting

kids to ask questions is so
essential, because that helps

that brain and that flow process
occur. And that will only last

20 minutes, then our brains
usable the fuel that's up here,

and we need to refuel it again.
And recovery is multi

dimensional, multi sensory,
multi dimensional. It's not just

going back out and having
physical exercise. It's also

hydration, nutrition,
interaction with the community.

So this is a part with release
and recovery. Having

communication is really helpful
and beneficial to the whole

process. I think, even if we've
talked about something totally

not part of the topic. So think
about that, when you're thinking

about what you're doing with the
kids. If you're even doing a 40

minute lesson with them, their
brain went into cognitive load,

about 20 minutes in.

Jonily : As we are thinking
about this low cycle, I want to

pinpoint struggle for a moment.
I had mentioned frustration

earlier. So cognitive load,
really triggering frustration.

There's a difference between
frustration and struggle, subtle

differences between frustration
and struggle. And the

differences are the same
differences in cognitive load,

cognitive demand, cognitive load
is going to cause a negative

frustration. However good
facilitation, inspiring

cognitive demand, is going to
trigger good struggle in

education. We have this phrase
that's been coined very recently

called productive struggle.
That's exactly what we're

talking about here. productive
struggle. If you're an

education, you know that this is
what is going to trigger kids

into a good, just right
cognitive demand. Depth of

Knowledge is another educational
phrase where we know that we can

have deep learning happen
through a good just right

cognitive demand, all these
phrases in education that had

been coined, they all relate
back to what the science says is

the flow states and chicks Me
sent chick me how you did it

better than than I did. Sherry
is called the godfather of flow,

Steven Kotler, and just given a
shout out to Steven Kotler, he

has a podcast his team, he's
written a number of books. One

of his books is called The Art
of impossible. He is if Mihai is

the The Godfather, the
grandfather of flow. Steven

Kotler is the father of flow and
then a great friend and coach

and mentor of mine of Sherry's
carry over Brunner has taken

flow into another direction as
far as business personal

relationships entrepreneur, and
has extended it to how in our

daily lives, our professional
lives and our personal lives as

adults can We become more
productive, and eliminate or at

least barrier, some of the
distractions that come in, sort

them out and get into this flow
state and go through this cycle.

So tier one instruction,
maximizing tier one instruction

is absolutely essential. I want
to give you three takeaways. And

we just talked about this.
Teresa, we just talked about

this right before we came on
live here in the recording.

There are three specific
examples of instructional

facilitation strategies that if
you leave with nothing else

today, these are three things
that I do as a teacher, as a

facilitator, that is going to
bring kids into a good

productive struggle, cognitive
demands, and that sweet spot,

they're the same. In one lesson
for all 2634 students that I

have in the classroom. And they
are content that I am sharing

with students, I'm going to ask
these questions, what do you

see? What do you notice? And I'm
going to use my favorite three

words, tell me about. So in tier
one, and instruction in the core

classroom, we want to frequently
and repetitively be using those

questions and prompts. What
those questions and prompts do

is trigger perspective for the
student. And the students brain

cognitively, will adjust in
education, we call it

differentiate. Naturally, it'll
differentiate the levels for

each individual student, without
me producing seven or eight

different lessons, what do you
see? What do you notice and tell

me about should be tools in our
toolbox that we're using

multiple times a day multiple
times a lesson to gain student

perspective. And then I can be
responsive in my teaching, take

student perspective, and use
that to instruct my content

that's going to engage students
and focus students, it's going

to tell them you belong, I care
what you think. And I mentioned

this before, I'm going to
mention Daniel Pink again, and

Dr. What motivates humans, I
want to know that I belong, I

want to know that my thoughts
matter, I want to know that my

perspective matters. So we can
engage in all of those emotions,

and increase the cognitive
demand and get students to that

sweet spot with those three
prompts. I get this question all

the time, we get this question
all the time. Are your

strategies research based?
That's a big topic. How do I

know that this is going to work?
What's it grounded in? And my

answer to that is absolutely
yes. Everything we're teaching

for this core general classroom
is research base. Now we have to

define what research base means.
And then I've just given you all

of the examples of it research
based is the work that we do. Is

it grounded in the Mighty Hands
of giants that have come before

us and what that means is the
research and the work that

others have done? How has that
then impacted or affected the

parallels in the strategies that
we teach? So research base is

about looking at these
influencers, many names that

I've just mentioned, I'm gonna
mention one other book, Make It

Stick, make it stick, make it
stick is a number of researched

strategies for cognitive
science. And all of the

strategies that Sherry and I are
teaching are supported through

the strategies that at the
university level, are taught in

the book make it stick and in
other places about how to

trigger and stimulate? Good,
just right cognitive demand. So

absolutely, yes, positively. And
that is why I wanted to mention

so many names this morning and
references to what this work

looks like. And as we move into
specifically the math work, I'm

going to be referring to each of
these strategies that are based

on cognitive demand and
everything we talked about. No,

I always say to teachers, when
they come to trainings, I always

say there's so much user error,
so much user error, and even us

as adults need interactions. Oh,
Over time, you need the same

training with a different twist
over to hesitate on action.

Action is hindered by
perfection. Don't wait till you

have it all figured out to go
implement, go implement wrong,

go in. I mean, I encourage you
take action go implement wrong.

And then next time, just do it
better. But do not let

perfection hinder your action
and implementing it to see

Cheri Dotterer: the slide deck
before everybody else. And I'm

sitting here going, Oh, but then
again, I'm not the math teacher,

and I've got to give it that. I
thought I understood math until

I met Ingo.

Jonily : You guys, we don't none
of us do. None of us do. I have

a bachelor's degree in
mathematics in pure mathematics,

I was not going to be a teacher.
Then I started teaching, I'm

certified secondary started
teaching eighth grade. And it

was in that first year of
teaching that I connect with

what Cheri just said, I was good
at math, I knew math. And man, I

got stumped on my first year of
teaching. I taught these

beautiful lessons, and my kids
weren't getting it. And I

couldn't help them. What I found
out very rudely and cruelly is I

did not know math. And I have a
bachelor's degree in

mathematics. None of us, even us
adults, that did well at math in

school. Listen to me, you were a
bright kid, you only achieved

because you worked hard. And you
mimicked no one asked you to

think deeply. And so you're
missing so many understandings

of mathematics. We are all a
product of our system, our tier

one core system. And that system
has proven to be broken time and

time again. Because us as math
teachers, as secondary math

teachers, we do not understand
the math well enough to help our

students understand at a deep
level, we don't. And I can prove

it to you time and time again,
with example, after example. And

I don't mean to be a downer at
the end of this training. But

what I'm saying is we need to
fix it through tier one

interventions, through our
collaborations and connections

to our therapists, and our
support staff. And you will only

get these interventions that are
game changing, that truly work

that are the next generation of
math achievement that we've

never seen before. You will only
get them here with Tier One

interventions.