Kids getting a good night’s sleep make better learners

As a Teacher Librarian, I am all for digital literacy and kids having access to quality information online. Being connected 24/7, however, is creating huge problems and has lead to a spike in anxiety and mental health issues in high school-aged children.

Recently I spoke to incoming year 7 parents about the value of sleep and keeping technology out of kids' rooms.

Here's what I had to say.....

"As a Teacher Librarian, my focus is learning across the curriculum. I work with every teacher & every student in the school. I believe the basis of all learning is reading and predictably, as an English teacher & a librarian, I am a  passionate advocate for books & traditional forms of literacy (reading & writing).

Reading is fundamental to literacy.

At our school we are very privileged to have a well-resourced library to support students to become avid readers and self-motivated learners.

Another part of what I do involves giving students the skill-set to be critical users of the tsunami of information & media they are swamped by on a daily basis. As a Teacher Librarian, it is my mission for students to become masters of media - not slaves to a screen.

My TL role ties in nicely with my role as Wellbeing Coordinator and the idea that “Happy Students Make the Best Learners”. Our school has a comprehensive wellbeing program where students learn about the importance of their own mental health and self-care. Respectful relationships, minimising exam stress and healthy use of social media are just some of the topics covered in our Wellbeing Program.

According to current research, a big part of student wellbeing is getting enough sleep. Today’s ‘screenagers’  spend more time with pixels than people, averaging 9 hours technology & media use per day. Many kids are inhabiting the unsupervised digital playgrounds of Snapchat & Instagram well into the early hours - and these are very dangerous places to be.

My apologies to any psychologists present - my interpretation of the latest research is in layman’s terms. I have some very interesting facts about kids and sleep that I have picked up in my reading and at conferences.

• Sleep-deprived kids are much more susceptible to addiction
• There is a direct correlation between sleep deprivation and certain psychotic disorders
• Sleep deprivation plus stress leads to a drop in mood that can lead to depression
• The average 14 year old needs 9 hours sleep per night
• Missed sleep leads to a quantifiable drop in IQ
• Devices in the bedroom leads to conditioned insomnia. The adolescent brain equates bedtime with action & expectant waiting (waiting on likes, responses from others). Instead of switching off the brain is being trained to switch on.

"Now you may be thinking “I trust my child - I’m sure they wouldn’t do the wrong thing, I’m fine with them having their devices in their room at night”.

This approach seems to be failing.

Teenagers WILL NOT MANAGE THEIR OWN SLEEP.

Sleep is precious and we need to protect it. The adolescent brain is not ready for self-regulation. Kids need to be supported in this and parents need to feel that they are empowered and supported too.  

At night the ‘emotional’, less evolved part of the brain takes over and the rational part turns off. The effects of risky decision making & cyberbullying are amplified at night. Our children are not capable of making considered, rational choices in the wee hours.

The adolescent brain is “all petrol and no brakes”  at night.

When should you be setting strict rules around devices at night? The research suggests the earlier the better. According to the Woolcock Institute, from year 9 on it gets really hard.

Start now.

Finally, sleep is a hard sell - you need to REALLY stand your ground on this one. Form a united front and make an agreement as a family to stick to it.

Be confident - you are not the only parents saying NO to devices in rooms at night (despite what your child may say!). "

More Reading...

• Teenage Sleep Explained - Dr Chris Seaton      
• Teens Clueless About Screen Sleep Threat - The Woolcock Institute
• Teenagers, Sleep & the Brain - Gen Next
• Sleep Fact Sheet - Headspace

A Question You Can't Easily Google the Answer To

Guided Inquiry is about exploring ideas rather than accumulating facts.

Over the past 8 weeks or so, I have worked with another teacher to guide 57 year 7 students in their inquiries into the fascinating world of Ancient Rome.

As the word ‘inquiry’ suggests, there was a great deal of emphasis on questioning 

and, in particular, open, higher order (Blooms) questions. The students really enjoyed delving deeper into their areas of interest using questions, rather than trying to find a series of superficial, lower-order answers.

We used The Question Formulation Technique several times at critical junctures throughout the inquiry process. Strong critical thinking is dependent upon asking questions and this technique allowed students to improve the quality of their questions, prioritise them and use the questions of their peers as a springboard for thinking critically.

As teacher-observers, we were pleased to witness the sense of relief when students realised they weren’t being judged on what they knew; but rather by their capacity to engage with and get excited about Ancient Rome. The QFT process gave them a freedom to explore Ancient Rome without a fear of failure. 

Wherever possible, we reinforced the idea that there is no such thing as a silly question. Kids need to know that asking questions is fundamental to learning.

The inquiry process encouraged students to move from closed (lower-order) to open (higher order) questions.The effectiveness of this strategy came through in the reflection survey completed at the end of the unit. 91% had a firm grasp of what a higher order question was…… “A question you can’t easily Google the answer to Miss!”

We worked with students to refine their inquiry questions and used peer assessment and ‘critical friends’ to test that each question was indeed, higher order on the Bloom’s scale. 

Our focus on the questioning process was vindicated by the calibre of Inquiry Questions produced.

Some of the questions included:

• ·      What did it take to become a great Roman emperor?

• ·       Were the Romans inventors or merely developers?

• ·       How did the social hierarchy in Rome operate?

• ·       Why didn't children in Ancient Rome have any rights?

• ·       Why have Roman roads been able to last so long?

• ·       What were the most effective strategies used by the Roman military?

Another interesting outcome was the level of engagement experienced through the ‘Inquiry Circle’ activities. Students were split into groups and each student was given a role to play and questions to answer. Their investigations culminated in a game of Roman ‘Hot Potato’ where each team pitted their collective knowledge against the others.

     Student responses to the Inquiry Circle’s question in the second survey are summarised below.  

1= Not at all, 2= Not really, 3= It was OK,  4 = I Liked it,  5= Loved it (can we do more?)

As educators, these results reinforced for us the concept of learning as a social process. 

The collaboration that occurred was interdependent – each student had a role and the success of the entire group depended upon their efforts.

The ‘social’ aspect of the inquiry was also incorporated at the Create and Share stage where students had to present their findings to a ‘critical friend’ from another class. Using a marking rubric and Inquiry Question checklist, students acted as both presenter and assessor. 

Metacognition was also a key factor at this point. Students had to explain to their ‘critical friend’ how they came up with the inquiry question. They also had to explain where they found primary and secondary sources and reflect upon how they might have improved. 

As predicted, this use of assessment as learning (peer assessment) proved very effective. Interestingly, 46.2% of students indicated that this form of assessment challenged them to think more deeply than regular research assignments submitted to be marked by teachers.

Despite these encouraging results, our Guided Inquiry experience was not all smooth sailing. We did have a yearly exam to contend with mid-unit which shifted our focus and in some cases, students found it hard to cope with this new style of self-directed learning. We learned also that the size of the Inquiry Circle groups is critical (no more than 4) and that more explicit modelling of note-taking strategies would be beneficial before starting the unit.

Overall though, HSIE and Guided Inquiry seem to be a natural fit. The process forced students to engage at a deeper level to construct a personal understanding of Ancient Rome. Far from presenting a ‘copied and pasted’ power point, students participated in some real learning.

I look forward to spreading the ‘Guided Inquiry’ good news story with other faculties. Science - I have you in my sights.   

Guided Inquiry - a 21st Century Approach

In the coming weeks I’ll be embarking upon some Inquiry Based Learning with year 7 history classes based upon the work of Kuhlthau, Maniotes and Caspari (2012). As mentioned previously, the new NSW History syllabus for the Australian Curriculum lends itself perfectly to the development of information literacy and Inquiry based learning.

The prospect of throwing myself wholeheartedly behind this particular pedagogy, however, both excites and terrifies me!

I'm really looking forward to team-teaching with other professionals who are passionate about their role as educators and keen to try something new. I know that tapping into what students really want to learn, allowing them to construct their own meaning and determine their own questions - has to be a better option than the usual simple collection and presentation of information that leads to copying and pasting with little real learning. 

Nevertheless, I do acknowledge that 'up-skilling' students to think critically and work collaboratively using a range of information literacy strategies will involve an incredible amount of work and organisation!!

Collaboration and self-directed learning do not come easily to many students and the 21^st Century dichotomy plagues me - how to cover the necessary content and achieve the mandated outcomes while allowing students to pursue their own autonomous areas of interest with a high level of engagement?

Although I have used aspects of the inquiry process in my teaching before, this will be the first time that I have fully embraced an inquiry based pedagogy, constructing the entire unit around the 8 distinct phases:

Kuhlthau, Maniotes and Caspari (2012) 

Having heard Alinda Sheerman speak at a Teacher Librarians' conference earlier in the year, I know that 'Guided Inquiry' can be transformative for both students and staff and embraced by the wider school community. 

Using the knowledge of the 'Guided Inquiry' gurus who have gone before me, I'm hoping to learn from my experiences, refining my practice as I go. Onward and upward we go!

Information Literacy and Parent Involvement

While most parents would agree that it is important for their child to be information literate in today’s digitally rich world, few parents would be aware of how to go about supporting their children in this area. Furthermore, many parents express concern about the potential misuse of IT by their children and feel ill-equipped to help their children use information critically, ethically and creatively (Kong & Li, 2009).  

Enter the teacher librarian.

As the information literacy expert, TLs have many opportunities to foster parent-school collaboration in this area.  They have the capacity to educate parents about the information skill-set required by students, while informing them of how learning has changed.

Learning today is vastly different to what it was 30 or even 15 years ago.  Rather than having to memorise content (we don’t need to - we have Google) and regurgitate it in a test, students are now expected to actively engage with the process of learning. In other words, it is no longer adequate to "know" a set number of facts. Students must now be able to identify problems and apply the skills and information to solve these problems.

Central to this is getting kids to think critically about information. Just because an article appears to be convincing on the internet, doesn’t mean that it is reliable or credible information. This message needs to be reinforced not only at school, but also at home.

Parents also need to be informed about the appropriate and ethical use of information and the new blurring of boundaries between learning at school and learning everywhere through social media and other networks.

The TL's role in the school community is critical in keeping the wider school community up-to-date on current pedagogical practice. Parent information nights, newsletters, guest speakers and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are useful tools in supporting parents in assisting their child’s information literacy development.

It’s often said that the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents. If this is the case, parents need to be positive role models for their children in their critical and ethical use of information. 

Silhouette, Father And Son, Sundown Pixabay

Reference

Siu Cheung Kong & Kai Ming Li (2009). Collaboration between school and parents to foster information literacy: Learning in the information society, Computers & Education, Volume 52, Issue 2, Pages 275-282