A Teacher's Life for Me: July 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011

Friday's Five - A Vision for Schools

Flickr/flickingerbrad

About a week ago, Michael Richards posted a question on Google +: If you were to create a public school from the ground up what would be one of the first things you would do? There was some great discussion in the comments, and the question and comments really got me thinking.

I've said many times before that educational reform is not enough to fix our system. We need educational revolution. But, what does the ideal school of our future look like? If we started from scratch, and ignored every pre-conceived notion of what "school" is and focused only on optimizing an environment for learning, what would the end result be?

I honestly still have no idea. It's such a large, exciting problem. This week, however, I'm going to list five core values that on which I would base a new school. I encourage you to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Content isn't as important as what you do with it. - Right now we treat students as empty containers waiting for us to fill with knowledge. We have endless lists of facts that students must learn, and we require few of the skills that will allow students to succeed in life. We argue over the best way to test the acquisition of these facts, and forget that 90% of this content can be found within 30 seconds by students if we allowed them to use the phones in their pocket. It's time to demand more. Whether through Project Based Learning, Service Learning, Activism, or some other process, students will use content as a means to achieve their goals, not as an end.
The most important role of administration is to hire the right people and professionally develop them. - It's been well documented that the quality of the teacher is the largest in-school factor in whether a student will learn. With that in mind, schools should not only seek out the best available talent when hiring teachers, but make a large investment in professional development. This doesn't necessarily mean paying money for training sessions, but rather promoting the use of professional learning networks, unconferences, webinars, and other readily available and under-utilized resources to inspire teachers and keep them continually improving their pedagogy.
The focus will change from the "3 Rs" to the "4 Cs." - As I mentioned above, we've evolved past the point where knowing how to read, write, and calculate will allow one to be successful in life. Much more important for today's students are the ability to Create, Collaborate, Communicate, and Critically Think. These are not skills that only gifted, advanced, or smart kids need to have. They should be woven into the very fabric of our schools so that every lesson demands the development of them.
School should not be a place separate from the "real world." - We have to stop separating school from life. School should be real. Students should be working on real problems, learning real lessons, and helping real people. Otherwise they will continue to view school as a time requirement that has no benefit to them in the "real world." Get rid of textbooks; they are heavily biased, expensive, outdated, and filled with exactly the types of pseudocontextual problems that drain student motivation. Instead, use sources with which students can interact, create, and analyze. For example, instead of banning Wikipedia, challenge students to identify the bias, extract the facts, and debate the truth. Then, allow them to change mistakes they find.
Put the focus on the students. - It seems obvious, and almost a cliche. We rarely do it, though. We give tests that can be easily graded instead of project based assessments that take more time. We make decisions based on what will lead to the fewest lawsuits, not based on what will give students the greatest opportunity to learn. We assign grades to students that parents can understand because we don't want to hear complaints rather than focusing on important skills that can't easily be quantified. We make students sit at desks so that they can be managed more easily, not because it's the best learning environment. We separate biology, chemistry, and physics because it's easier to teach that way despite the fact that they are intimately connected. We do the same with algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. We teach in 70 or 140 minute blocks. The list goes on and on. This is probably the biggest reason that we need a revolution instead of reform. It would be nearly impossible to change all of the ways that adults have molded the system to fit their needs rather than the needs of students.

Now it's your turn. What are your thoughts on Michael Richards's question? Is there a core value that you would list above my five? Do you disagree with any parts of my list? Is reforming our current system enough? Share your thoughts below in the comment section, and please pass the post along to others. I'd love to hear their thoughts, too.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Friday's Five - How to Talk About Math

Duke TIP/ Flickr

I spent a lot of time thinking about teaching math this week. Our district is struggling to develop an action plan for transitioning to the Common Core Curriculum from the current Pennsylvania Standards, and I've been reading a few books on elementary math teaching. While some of those thoughts are fresh in my mind, I wanted to focus this week on ways teachers (especially elementary teachers) can promote mathematical discussion in their classrooms.

Too many times our classrooms resemble ping-pong tables. We ask a question. (Ping) A student gives and answer. (Pong) We tell them whether they are correct or not. (Ping) Then we repeat the cycle over and over again. There's a lack of in-depth discussion about math.

After all, math is not about numbers or right answers. We've got calculators and computers for that. Math is about thinking and solving problems.

The books I've been reading are from a company called Math Solutions (Full disclosure - Math Solutions sent me these materials for free, but I do not currently have, nor have had in the past any kind of financial agreement with them.) Their mission is to help K-8 teachers teach math in a way that promotes understanding rather than focusing on using procedures to get a correct answer. I really like what I've learned about them so far and the fact that they aren't a textbook company or a program that's being touted as the answer to your standardized test score problems. Some of five suggestions below were influenced by what I've read.

Stop being scared of math. - The biggest thing we can do to promote mathematical discussion and understanding in our classrooms is to stop treating math as if it's something hard to understand and difficult for most adults. It's not if it's taught correctly. Why is it acceptable for an elementary teacher to say that they couldn't possibly pass an 8th grade math test, but not acceptable for that same teacher to claim that they can't read on an 8th grade level? They are both unacceptable.
Focus on the meaning, not on the procedure. - For example, when teaching division, stop trying to get kids to memorize that they should divide, multiply, subtract and bring down. They're going to forget it anyway (ask any 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade teacher and they'll back me up on this). Instead focus on what it means to divide. Explain that you are putting things into groups. Ask them to come up with a story that fits the division problem. Those discussions will promote your students' understanding infinitely more than a cute story about how Dead Monkeys Smell Bad, or any other memorization of procedure you push upon them.
Give students problems that don't have a simple answer. - "What's the healthiest vegetable?" is a much better problem than "Carrots have x calories per serving. How many calories are there in 8 servings?" The first problem promotes a lot more thinking, discussion, research, and debate. It also will lead to a whole heck of a lot more math, and it's a lot more interesting. You won't find questions like that in a textbook, which brings me to #4.
Get away from your textbook. - Textbooks are often a crutch that holds us back in elementary schools. There are a plethora of real problems out there in the world that both require math and have relevance to our students. Work towards solutions to those problems. Discuss them and demand that your students discuss, debate, and research them. Your students will gain skills they'll need in life, motivation, and a sense of purpose in addition to learning math.
Make the question "why?" the one you ask all the time. - I wrote a whole post on this, so I'll keep it brief here. Students must know that they will have to understand math well enough to explain their thinking to others and not just spit back a correct answer. When our classroom expectations rise to this level, students will rise to meet them. There is no more important question to ask.

Now it's your turn. How do you promote math discussion in your classroom? There are certainly more ways than the five I listed. What barriers do you see in implementing the ideas I'm suggesting? Why do elementary teachers seem to view math so negatively? How can we get them to change that view? Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below, and pass the post on to others who feel strongly about math. I'd love to hear their thoughts as well.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Give Teachers the Autonomy to Be Great

It's funny how things work sometimes. I was sitting in a math curriculum meeting yesterday where we were trying to develop an action plan for transitioning from Pennsylvania's current standards to the Common Core Curriculum which will become law in 2013. A group of elementary teachers and administrators from our district were debating the problem of having to balance great pedagogical practices like concept development, project based learning, and talking about math in the classroom versus the need to practice skills and teach standardized test taking strategies. Not one person in the room was arguing that skill practice and test prep were what's best for our students, but several expressed that not focusing in these areas would lead to a drop in test scores. I found myself thinking, "What if we didn't need to have this absurd argument? What if we as teachers were trusted enough as professionals to actually focus on best teaching practices to just teach effectively?"

It was almost at that exact moment that I got an e-mail pointing out that a quote of mine was used in a Washington Post article by Vicki Davis entitled The Greatest Teacher Incentive: The Freedom to Teach. (If you are unfamiliar with Vicki, her Cool Cat Teacher Blog is amazingly informative and insightful, and one you should consider checking out.)

The discussion at the meeting and Vicki's article got me thinking about how different, and how great our schools would be if we gave teachers the professional autonomy they deserved. What if, instead of blocking all social networking sites and sending the message that teachers cannot be trusted, we opened those sites up and encouraged teachers to network with other professionals to improve their craft? What if, instead of handing teachers a scripted textbook teachers' manual and demanding that they follow every lesson, we challenged teachers to collaborate to create lessons that were better than the textbook? And what if we then encouraged them to share those lessons with others? What if, instead of devising policies to punish "bad" teachers and ensure that all are mediocre, we identified ways to help all teachers continually improve their teaching and devised policies that allowed teachers to be great?

You cannot make a logical argument that our education system wouldn't be greatly improved if those, and other changes to give teachers more professional discretion were made. Autonomy is a great motivator.

Lately, many states and politicians have tried to use money as a motivational tool in the form of merit based pay. I've seen studies that show how this type of reward system doesn't work, but I think the following example is a better way to show how much more motivational a move towards trusting teachers would be.

Imagine you had two friends who needed your help with something in which you both had the expertise to help and truly enjoyed doing.

When you go to help the first friend, they refuse to listen to your advice, even though you are more knowledgeable about the subject than they are. Throughout the task, they bark orders at you, treat you like you are incapable of completing the task, and refuse to let you have access to some of the tools in the toolbox that you know would make the job easier. They demand that you do it their way, and promise to give you a few bucks when the job is completed, but only if it is done completely correctly.

At the second friend's house, you are greeted warmly and feel thoroughly appreciated. You are given the freedom to complete the task any way that you wish, and your friend offers assist you in any way that they can. Despite the fact that you sometimes run into difficulties, your friend encourages you by telling you that they trust your ability in this area, and they have confidence that you will overcome any challenges. Your friend never offers you money for helping.

In which scenario would you be more motivated? In which do you think you would do a better job?

Unfortunately, many public educators feel like they are stuck reliving the first scenario again and again. There is a serious lack of morale among teachers, and it's having an effect on the next generation. We want students to learn creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration to excel in the 21st Century workplace, but we punish teachers for being creative, enforce policies that discourage critical thinking, and block the tools that would allow teachers to collaborate. How can we realistically expect teachers to teach their students these skills in that environment? Is it really a shock that we are falling behind other countries?

It's time to start encouraging teachers to be more than "proficient." It's time to start giving them the professional autonomy that they deserve. If we do that, our students and communities will benefit. If we do that, we could be great.

Monday, July 18, 2011

A Response to the Atlanta Cheating Scandal: Nonviolent Protest

I've read several blog posts and articles in the past few days on the standardized test cheating scandal in Atlanta. Most fall into one of two categories. Either those who cheated are being vilified as criminals, or their actions are being touted as an inevitable result of high-stakes testing.

Those viewpoints are not exclusive. What those educators did was reprehensible, and did a disservice to those of us trying to fight against the damage the current standardized testing culture does to our students. It gave another reason for people to bash teachers and education. Those whose minds can be changed are not going to be swayed by immoral behavior. This kind of wide-spread cheating was also rather predictable. I've covered the absurdity of tying student test scores to teacher and school evaluation in past posts.

In order for the general public to listen to those of us calling for real educational reform, we must hold ourselves to the highest of moral standards. Cheating on tests cannot be an option.

Instead, school districts should simply refuse to administer the tests.

We know that they are harmful to our students. We know that they are harmful to our schools. We know that they have been harmful to our profession.

Don't we have a moral responsibility as educators to not harm our students, schools, and our profession?

JEFF WIDENER/The Associated Press

Think about what would happen if dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of school districts started refusing to give state tests and instead simply focused on good teaching. What if the message we sent was, "We understand that you may fire us or cut our funding, but we refuse to harm our students any more for your political benefit." This is the kind of message that resonates.

This is the kind of movement that led to Civil Rights reform, gave women the right to vote, gained India it's independence from Great Britain, and has changed the political landscape in the Middle East in the past 6 months. Certainly it can help us change the system so that our students start receiving the quality education and opportunities they deserve.

Truth is Truth. Let's start doing something about it other than cheating or complaining.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Friday's Five - What We Should Be Teaching

Chris Poulin/USFWS

Ask a parent what qualities they want to see in their children when those children become adults.

Ask a teacher what qualities they want to see in their students when they graduate high school.

Ask your neighbor what qualities they want to see in the next generation of young adults that will be living in the neighborhood.

Ask a businessperson who is looking to hire someone to work at their business what qualities they want in their employees.

I can guarantee that none of them will respond that they are hoping young adults will be able to find the main idea of a passage, identify the author's purpose for writing a poem, or be able to calculate the mean of a series of random numbers without context. With that in mind, today's post will focus on five subjects that are largely ignored in schools today due to the culture of standardized testing and the push for "accountability." I don't think that one can argue that a focus on the following five areas in schools would not be beneficial to our students, our communities, our country, and the world as a whole. If our students were "proficient" in these areas, everything else would take care of itself.

Innovation - We are robbing students of motivation and an understanding of what they are capable by forcing them to only perform tasks related to multiple choice questions on reading and math (those terms are used loosely) tests. It used to be that "creating" meant that students would glue cutouts from a magazine in a shoe box. Now, technology gives students the ability to share what they've learned in many ways instantly. Their writing can be published instantly on a blog for the world to read. Their videos can teach children thousands of miles away. The possibilities are vast and numerous, and we need to take advantage of them.
Empathy - The ability to understand others emotions and be compassionate is something that is rarely focused upon and is of paramount importance for our students. There are numerous studies that show that empathy and success in business are closely linked. A Google search for "empathy and success" produces over 770,000 results. Even more important than business success, however, is the fact that being able to empathize makes one more able to help others.
Service - In my experience, nothing gives a person a feeling of self-worth and a satisfaction of having filled one's purpose more than the act of helping others in need without expecting a reward in return. We should be giving our students opportunities and encouraging them to find ways to provide service in areas about which they feel strongly.
Critical Thinking - This crucial skill, which is closely related to innovation, is the one that has been most ignored due to our current standardized testing craze. There is simply no way to truly measure the ability to problem solve and think critically on an easily scored multiple choice assessment. Teachers don't demand critical thinking because they don't have time; they are forced to teach students to interpret test questions that measure low-level thinking skills instead. Teaching critical thinking takes time, leads to unpredictable lessons, and puts students in control - all things which are frowned upon in many of our schools.
The Love of Learning - We have to stop using our schools as places where we fill students' heads with facts. Unfortunately, most of what we teach can be Googled in less than 30 seconds on their phone, which too often we won't let them take out of their pocket. Our students have figured this out and largely find school to be irrelevant. I wish I could say that they are wrong. We need to start using schools to show them the power of learning. If we combine the above four subjects and teach our students to empathize with others, allow them to find ways to help others they can become passionate about, and give them opportunities to develop their creativity and critical thinking skills, what we will start to see is students who take control of their own learning. They will learn without us asking them too. How often do we hear complaints that students don't study? What if they were so engaged and passionate about a topic that they didn't view learning outside of school as studying, but rather as necessary to fulfill a desire deep inside of themselves?

Is what I describe above possible? Yes, but not in a culture based on assessment and test scores. It's being done right now in several amazing schools. Unfortunately, those schools are the exception. We need to change the culture of education so that this type of education is what is expected. What if we defined success by the positive impact we have on others rather than by how many low-level thinking questions one answers on a once-per-year assessment?

Now it's your turn. Are there any important skills that you think we are not teaching our students? What are some ways we could teach these topics in our schools? Should schools be teaching the above qualities? Would our society be better served if we left the development of these qualities to parents and continue focusing on reading and math? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and share the blog with friends and colleagues. We'd love to hear their opinions as well!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Friday's Five - Benefits of Local Libraries

Friday's Five is a feature every week where I pick a new topic and list five items that I think fit best. Then I ask you, my readers, to share your thoughts in the comment section. For an archive of past topics, check the Friday's Five Page. If you'd like to make suggestions about future topics or discuss topics I bring up on the blog with others, make sure you click the "like" button on the right hand side of the page to join A Teacher's Life for Me on Facebook. Don't be shy about sharing the blog and Facebook Page with others. Each post has a "Tweet" button on top and buttons on the bottom that allow you to share in several ways, including e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.

flickr/timetrax23

This morning, while visiting family in Michigan, I picked up the morning edition of the “Oakland Press”, the local newspaper. The lead article was entitled “Troy Group Promises Book Burning Party.” From reading the article, I was appalled to learn that there is a strong push from residents of this town to not only close their local library, but to burn the 300,000 publicly owned items housed there. At first glance, one would think that this is just satire or hyperbole to make a political point, but a Facebook page and Twitter account formed by the leaders of this movement make their incendiary intentions clear.
I am sensitive to the need to balance the needs of publicly funded institutions like local libraries with the tax burdens we are placing on our citizens during these tough economic times. I can understand why residents would not agree to a referendum increasing their taxes to pay for a library. What I can’t understand is the desire to destroy public property and revert to the practices common during the Spanish Inquisition. Have we really devolved that far as a civilization? During the Dark Ages, knowledge and education were feared and persecuted. It seems, with the numerous recent attacks on teachers and now books, that our society is headed back in that direction. Perhaps our lack of history education is starting to show. After all, if you don’t learn from mistakes in the past, you are doomed to repeat the consequences of your ancestors.
With this in mind, today’s Friday’s Five will focus on five invaluable services that our local library provides to our community.
A place to remember our local history - Without some of the books, documents, and artifacts saved by our local library, much of the history of our small, rural area would be lost.

A resource for parents, students, and community members - For many residents, getting books to read for themselves and their children would be difficult without out local library. For some, economic reasons would make purchasing new books difficult, and for many the half-hour drive to the nearest book store would be an obstacle.

A place to connect with the world - several of my students each year tell me that they do not have internet access at home. This makes researching and completing some of the projects we do challenging. The local library has several computers that are connected to the internet for the public to use.

A place for community meetings - The library has space where the community can gather for various reasons. In addition to children's read-alouds and story time, my wife has taken exercise classes there and my children have met for arts-and-crafts activities with others their age.

A source of community pride - Like our public schools, our local libraries give our communities a sense of pride and identity. When we look at these institutions and what they provide instead of only looking at what they cost us in property taxes, it's clear that they are of benefit to our towns and cities. Culture, knowledge, and thinking are not evil ideas. They are the very backbone of what lifted civilization out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. I, for one, hope that we are not headed back.

Now it's your turn. What do you think of the book burning movement? What benefits does your local library provide to your community? Are public libraries worth the tax money that they take to operate? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, and if you enjoy the blog, please pass it on to others.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Friday's Five - Young Adult Books

Photo: Lina Menazzi

In my fifth-grade classroom the fifteen minutes after lunch every day are set aside for a read aloud. I try and choose books to read that my students will find interesting, challenge some of the preconceptions they may have, and make them think. I wanted to write about some of these books in today's post for two reasons. In addition to being resources you can use in your classroom, these books are short enough that you can read them in an hour or two. They are perfect for taking out on the beach, reading in your hammock, or enjoying with a glass of iced tea in your backyard on a sunny day.

Incantation by Alice Hoffman - This story takes place during the Spanish Inquisition, about 600 years ago. Estrella is aware and saddened by some of the horrible events taking place around her, but doesn't think that they will effect her. Her opinion, and her views on everything she has ever known, begin to change as she learns a secret that her family has kept for generations. Every year I worry about the content in this book being too mature for my 5th graders, and every year they prove to me that they are able to handle it.
The Giver by Lois Lowry - Jonas lives in a time of "sameness" when everyone has their lives planned out for them and feels little emotion. When Jonas begins to receive memories of real emotion during his training as the one Receiver of Memory, he begins to understand the hypocritical nature of the life being lived by everyone he knows.
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau - This book is the second in a series after The City of Ember. Both books follow the adventures of Lina and Doon, two young adults who find ways of overcoming difficult situations to help others. While both books are excellent, I find that the message my students are left with after reading Sparks is a bit more powerful: Even one person can change the world if they have the courage to do what is right when it is most difficult.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan - Esperanza is the daughter of a rich plantation owner in Mexico. Almost overnight her world is thrown into chaos as her father is killed and she has to flee to America with her mother, losing everything in the process. The book shows her inner struggle as she tries to survive in her new situation.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - Annemarie and Ellen are best friends in Denmark during World War II. When the Danes learn that the occupying Nazis are going to start "relocating" the Jewish population, Annemarie must overcome her fears, find inner strength, and grow up quickly to help her Jewish friend.

Now it's your turn. Please share your favorite young adult book in the comment section below, or let us know what you think of the five books I listed. As always, if you enjoy the blog, please pass it along to your friends or colleagues. I'd love to hear their opinions as well!

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