Here We Go Again: 5 Things I'm Looking Forward to This School Year

The school year officially starts tomorrow for me, and I'm pretty excited to get back to helping my students do and learn amazing things.  

Image:  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The summer was a wonderful time for me, and I enjoyed pursuing passions I have outside of teaching.  I spent three amazing weeks touring Europe with my family and did a bit of travel blogging.  I started training for a half marathon that I'm going to run in November.  I enjoyed time with my wife and kids.

For the first summer in a long time, I took time away from teaching and education.  I didn't attend any conferences this summer or teach any graduate classes.  The books I read were all on subjects other than education (most were travel guides to places in Europe).  You may have noticed that I haven't posted on this blog for about two months.  

I needed that time away.  I wasn't feeling burned out by any means, but I was feeling frustrated.  So many of the trends in education are bad for our students, and I needed time away to accept that the change in direction I'm fighting for sometimes happens slower than I want.

Now, refreshed, I'm looking forward to a new school year and all of the amazing things that will happen in the next 9 months.  As a throwback to my previous "Friday's Five" posts, here are five things I'm really looking forward to this year:

• Having my students blog regularly - I've done bits of blogging with my kids before, but not on any kind of regular basis.  This year, I'm going to have them start in the first week of school and post often.  While our class wiki has been a great place for students to post the amazing things they've done over the past 5 years, I want each student to also have a place on the web that is their own.  I want them to be able to share the incredible things they are doing with others, get feedback, and have pride in the product of their learning.
• Giving students more freedom in what they read - Every year it seems that I learn new ways to ditch the reading textbook, give students more choice, and still teach all of the standards that my kids are supposed to learn.  I'm hoping to expand that even more this year and rely on the textbook even less.
• Math class - I love teaching math.  I love that my students seem to love learning math.  I love that my admin collected all the math textbooks in trucks and sold them to some other school district.
• Being an American History teacher during a presidential election.  Sure, there's the obvious benefits of it being an election year like the fact that it's much easier for kids to understand the electoral college.  There's also the less obvious benefits that students will disagree, argue, and debate more.  There will be ample opportunity to have them defend their positions, research why candidates do the things they do, and learn about bias.  
• The unknown - Each year and each group of kids is so different than any other.  I love that the best lessons and the most meaningful interactions usually happen in moments of unplanned serendipity.  I can't wait to experience more of those moments with this year's group of students.

Friday's Five - Developing Better Writers

When I've talked to college professors, high school teachers, local business owners, and others who deal with our young adults I'm often told that the ability of these young adults to express themselves in writing is sorely lacking.  Even in my fifth grade classroom I've seen an increase in students who struggle to write complete sentences, cannot use correct punctuation, and find it difficult to express themselves.  Some of the causes are probably an increase in "textese" and  the increased shift from a balanced curriculum to one that focuses solely on  math and reading during the last decade of NCLB testing.  Instead of looking at causes, however, let's look at five ways we can develop better writers in our classrooms and schools.

Photo Credit:  János Fehér

1. Make a commitment to have each student write at least one complete sentence per subject per day.  At first, this sounds like something that must already be happening in our schools.  It's not.  Think about the average math or science classroom.  Often there is very little writing going on, and even less that is written in complete sentences.  Instead of having students raise their hands to answer questions, make every student write their responses in complete sentences.  Then choose a few at random to share their responses.  In addition to building writing skills, you'll be using formative assessment to check the understanding of all of your students.
2. Get your students blogging.  When your work is being published to a wide audience, you are more likely to pay attention to the details of your writing.  The reading specialist and special education teacher in my building claim that their students' punctuation, capitalization, and spelling improved dramatically when they started blogging.  Blogging also is a great way to get students in subjects outside of language arts writing as well.  Asking students to share their learning ensures that they really understand the concepts being taught.  It's impossible to write about a topic well without understanding it.
3. Grade less.  Not everything that an author writes gets published.  Students need opportunities to simply write for the purpose of writing.  I can't tell you how many posts I start and then scrap.  If I were being graded on each of my posts I'd stop blogging.  I'm sure many of our students feel the same way.  Just like students sometimes draw for fun, we should encourage them to write for fun.  
4. Give opportunities for students to be creative.  In the past 10 years I've seen writing become much more formulaic in schools due to the rubrics on standardized tests.  We tell students, "If you do X, Y, and Z, then you'll get a '4' on the test."  I can't think of anything more detrimental to building a love of writing, nor more likely to destroy a student's ability to write creatively.  Allow students to illustrate their writings if they are artistic, write in verse if they enjoy poetry, or use web 2.0 tools to enhance their writings.  Give students writing assignments that lend themselves to creativity.  One of my favorite writing activities that I do with my class is to pass out cards with random narrative titles, main character descriptions, and settings.  I then ask my students to put together a good narrative using the elements they randomly received.  One student might have to write a story entitled "The Missing Day" that takes place in the old west about a pillow salesman, while another student gets "Elbow Soup" as a title, present day New York City as a setting, and an alien from the planet Oooff as a main character.  Since we spend a lot of time talking about how good narratives are composed in reading class, the stories they write are usually very good.
5. Build a love of reading.  It's very difficult to complete a job when you don't have access to the right tools.  Students who don't read much often are lacking the vocabulary and figurative language skills to write well.  Because of that they often have no confidence in their writing abilities and shut down any time they are asked to express themselves that way.  For these students, helping them find the motivation to read is supremely important.

How do you develop writing skills in your classroom?  Have you seen a change in the writing ability of students entering your class over the past few years?  What else can we do to show students the power of well-written words?

Friday's Five - My Favorite Lessons

Every teacher has a few lessons that they get excited to teach every year.  I'd bet that for the majority of teachers these are lessons that do not come from a textbook, are engaging, and get students excited to learn.  They probably have nothing to do with preparing students for standardized tests.  In today's post, I'd like to share five of my favorites, and encourage you to share your favorites in the comment section.

1. Pasta Mining - I love this lesson because it allows me to combine social studies, writing, math, and science into one lesson, makes my students use higher order thinking, and gives me an excuse to dump 16 pounds of pasta onto my classroom floor.
2. You Be the Supreme Court - Every year when we finish learning about the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I give my students the opportunity to listen to overviews of actual court cases dealing with each Amendment (except #3, which has never been relevant in a Supreme Court case).  They then get to vote on what they believe the Court's decision should be based on the facts.  I then tell them how the Supreme Court actually ruled.  The case overviews come from a beat up, highlighted, and written on book that I bought for 25 cents at a garage sale about fifteen years ago.  It's the best quarter I ever spent.
3. π Day - On March 14th we celebrate π Day in my math class every year.  The activities vary from year to year, but there's always an abundance of pie, excitement, and learning.  You can see what we did the past two years here and here. 
4. Book Reviews - I always hated book reports, both as a student and as a teacher.  There didn't seem to be a purpose for either reading or the report that came afterward.  Since I've started having my students write book reviews and publish them to our class wiki, I've seen a great deal more interest.  Since many of my students refer to book reviews from past years when they are choosing books to read in their free time, they understand that publishing a book review will help others in the future.  It's also refreshing to them to be able to say, "I really didn't find this book interesting or entertaining at all" if they feel that way.  I simply ask that they back up any of their opinions with examples and details from the book.
5. State of the Union Address - For someone that teachers American History, there is no better event than the State of the Union.  Regardless of who the president is, there is always a plethora of material for students to discuss and learn ranging from the content of the speech to the historical significance and procedure.  My students always love learning about the presidential line of succession and the reason one cabinet member is always hidden in a secure location.

What are your favorite lessons to teach?  Share with us in the comment section below.  Feel free to steal my lesson ideas; I'm sure I'll steal yours if they fit what I'm teaching.  Also, please share the post with others in your network so that we can steal their lesson ideas as well.  After all, imitation is the finest form of flattery, right?  

Friday's Five - Teaching Reading without Putting Students in a Coma

Every teacher has had moments when they realize that their students have a glazed look in their eyes, are drooling on their textbooks and are on the verge of slipping into a boredom coma.  We strive to make our lessons interesting, fun, and engaging, but sometimes we fail.  Sometimes our hands are tied because we have been told by our superiors that we need to use scripted lessons from XYZ Textbook company because such lessons are backed by research, aligned to our state's standards, and helped a neighboring district increase state test scores by 3% last year.

I seem to get that glazed, drooling, semi-comatose look from my students at times when I am teaching reading.  I love teaching math, history, and civics.  I've gotten quite good at ditching the textbook in those subjects, letting students have more autonomy over their own learning, and creating lessons that are engaging.  Reading is another story.  I'm the rare elementary teacher who dislikes teaching reading.  Because of that, I've lacked the confidence to totally ditch the textbook like I do in other subjects.


Photo Credit:  David Castillo Dominici


It's not that I don't believe reading is important, or that I don't like to read.  I do.  My problem is that I've found it difficult over the years to find ways to make the required reading series interesting in any way, and I've had difficulty identifying ways to ensure my students will pass state tests without it.  Lately I've made a great effort to devise ways to both become more textbook free, and make our reading series/textbook tolerable.  I've still got a lot to learn, but here are five ideas that I've used with some success:

1. Teach non-fiction reading skills in other content areas.  Educational research has shown for decades that students learn best when reading is taught within content areas.  Why school districts are ignoring this research and cutting social studies and science classes in the hope of increasing reading test scores is perplexing to me.  A much better strategy would be to provide professional development to science and social studies teachers so that they can teach reading skills.  I've found that once I get my students engaged with topics in those subject areas, reading information about those topics becomes more relevant to them.  
2. Let students choose the subject matter of their reading choices.  A few weeks ago I told my students to read the next story in our textbook, which was a narrative about a paleontologist.  Three students looked interested.  Seventeen moaned.  I moaned.  I don't really care if my students know about paleontology, dinosaurs, or anything else in that story.  What I need them to know is how to identify setting, conflict, etc.  Why should I force them to read something that they hate?  I changed the assignment on the spot.  Each student was allowed to pick one of six topics, and I handed them short books on those topics.  They still learned what they needed to and were much more interested.
3. Don't make students take a test on everything they read.  I read a lot.  If someone forced me to take a test on each article, blog post, book, and magazine I read, I'd probably read a lot less.  I'd imagine our students feel the same way.  It's hard to build a love of reading in our students if we don't allow them to love reading.  Isn't that the reading skill that's more important than all the others?
4. Use technology to give students purpose for reading.  Writing the main idea of the passage they read in their notebook is not purposeful.  Just typing that sentence makes me one step closer to the semi-comatose state I described earlier.  Let them publish a book review on your class website or wiki.  Let them create a study guide.  Let them share their opinions about what they read in a blog post.  It is impossible to create such things without comprehending what you read.  If students have a purpose they care about for reading, they are much more likely to practice good reading skills like re-reading, deciphering the meaning of words, etc.
5. Allow students to get creative by incorporating the arts into reading class.  Forced to read a boring textbook narrative?  Ask students to create a comic book representation of the story that includes the rising action, conflict, climax and conclusion.  Have students turn the narrative into a screenplay and then videotape themselves acting it out.  See if students can create and record a ballad that tells the story in song.  Better yet, give them the option to choose any of those three, or another creative way to retell the story.  For informational/persuasive writing, product advertisements, commercials, and pamphlets can be great opportunities for students to get creative. 

The biggest issue I run into when trying to implement some of the above ideas is time.  We are supposed to read one textbook story per week.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing my job if we spend three weeks exploring one topic.  I have to remind myself that students are learning more when they are emotionally connected to the material they are studying, and that quality always trumps quantity when it comes to learning.  It would be a lie to say that I don't fall into the trap of "covering" material and topics at times.  Perhaps that's why I find teaching reading more difficult than math and social studies.  I don't find myself falling into that trap as often in those subjects.

What are some ways that you keep students engaged when learning to read?  Have you done any of the above activities?  Do you have suggestions to improve them?  What have you tried that didn't work?  What are some stumbling blocks you face when trying to make reading fun and interesting for your students?  I'd love to hear your ideas.  Please share with us in the comment section below, and pass this post along to others in your networks so that we can get their ideas as well.

Friday's Five - Benefits of Local Libraries

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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.

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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.  

1. 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. 
2. 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.  
3. 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.  
4. 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.
5. 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's Five - Young Adult Books

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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.

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.

1. 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.  
2. 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.  
3. 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.  
4. 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.
5. 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!

ISTE 2011 - Day Three

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As I mentioned in my last few posts, I am fortunate to be attending my first ISTE conference this year in Philadelphia.  Yesterday was another fantastic, exhausting day, and I wanted to share some of the insights, resources, and information that I learned as a way to "pay it forward" to those who aren't attending.  The volume of information that came my way was so overwhelming that I cannot possibly share all of it, so I'm passing on what I found most illuminating.  If you want more info from the conference, those attending and tweeting the conference are using the hashtag #ISTE11.

• Brandon Lutz from Philadelphia presented "60 Tools in 60 Minutes."  I was blown away by the number of tools that I had never heard of before.  My speed typing skills were tested as I tried to get them all into my Delicious account.  You can get all of the tools, videos, Prezis, and the backchannel for the session here.
• Walking the Expo Hall was loads of fun (see the cheesy picture above).  I saw lots of awesome products that I can't afford and met loads of interesting people.
• I spent more time browsing the poster sessions.  One that was really good was "Using Tech to Promote Young Adult Literature" by Colette Cassinelli.  You can see all of her information on this Google Sites page.
• I found out about an amazing new tool that just launched - a free, online graphing calculator  from a company called Desmos.  Instead of me explaining more, watch the video below.  
• Around lunchtime I had a cup of coffee with Mary Garrison from Math Solutions, a company founded by Marilyn Burns that provides professional development for teachers so that they can teach math in a way that emphasizes conceptual understanding.  I really like what they are trying to do.  
• I met my goal of learning enough about Livebinders and Edmodo to use them effectively in my classoom next year from some of the amazing people in my PLN.  It's been fantastic to meet some of these educators in person.  While it's sad that after tomorrow I probably won't see many of them until at least next summer, it's wonderful that sites like Plurk and Twitter allow us to keep in contact throughout the year to learn from each other and give each other the support that allows us to grow as teachers.

First Reflections

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At the conclusion of a school year, it's natural and professional to look back at what you did right, what you did wrong, and what can be improved.  An honest reflection of our practices is the one of the most powerful tools we have in improving our craft as teachers.  Below are some things I've thought about in the past few days, now that I'm on summer vacation.

Here's what the standardized testing data says:  84% (16 out of 19) of my students passed the state reading test.  One student missed passing by one question.  The same student had passed in 4th grade by one question.  100% of my students passed the state writing test.  I was slightly surprised and very happy about that.  It's not a surprise that all of my math students passed the math test, but 2 students fell from "advanced" in 4th grade to "proficient" in 5th grade.

I've been pretty vocal (or whatever the blog equivalent is) about the evils of standardized testing.  The way we use tests to evaluate teachers, judge schools, and drive every aspect of our school day from recess to pedagogy has been devastating to our educational system.  However, standardized tests do have a small purpose in education.  Using the data generated to see students' strengths and weaknesses, and then help those students overcome their weaknesses has been done successfully for decades.  State assessments don't measure what's most important, but the data they generate shouldn't be totally ignored.

This year I think I did a good job at expanding my use of technology to effectively teach collaboration and creativity.  Our class wiki received over 15,000 hits during this school year alone and now has had visitors from 122 countries.  Most of those hits came from people searching Google or Bing for information and getting it from the content my students created.  That's a pretty powerful thing for a bunch of 10 and 11 year olds in a tiny town in Pennsylvania.

I demanded more critical thinking from my math class and saw more learning from this group than any other math class I've taught.  The results on the math final exam were excellent (all but one student scored a 91 or higher), but what really exited me was the one question I gave them after the final was over.  It basically asked, "Joe Smith ran his best mile in 6 minutes.  Later that month he ran his first 26 mile marathon.  How long did the marathon take him?"  Almost every one of my students resisted the urge to multiply 6 by 26 and added on time to account for fatigue.  They thought about the problem instead of just manipulating numbers.  (Thanks to Dan Meyer for that problem.)

As the Head Teacher in the building, I'm proud of the way our discipline program has continued to evolve and the leadership role that I've been allowed to take.  Our office discipline referrals fell 30.1% from last year.

I'm extremely proud of some successes that I've had with students in tough situations and personal triumphs that I've seen in some of our students in different aspects of their lives that I can't mention here.  If you are a teacher, you can imagine the types of situations to which I refer.

I continue to feel unsatisfied, however, with my pedagogical practices when I'm with my reading class.  I love teaching math and American history.  I can't say the same for reading, and I think that comes across to my students more than it should.  In math, I have the confidence to let the textbooks gather dust while I focus on good teaching and learning.  In reading, I don't have that same confidence.  I'm hesitant to stray from the textbook, although at the end of the year I used our wiki to create book clubs based on interest that went very, very well.  You can see the results here.

Since I am well aware that the best way to teach reading is in the content areas, I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I did less direct reading instruction this year within American History that I've done in the past.  Those subjects had a lot more separation between them than I would have liked.

I need to get better with passing control in the classroom to my students.  This is difficult for me.  I want my students to be able to work the way adults do.  Right now I'm typing in a comfy chair with my feet up.  Most of the time when I read it's while relaxing on the couch or lying on the floor.  When I do my taxes, I usually have a snack and a can of diet soda next to me.  But in my classroom, I demand that my students sit in those ridiculously uncomfortable blue plastic chairs for much too long.  They may have the snack they brought only at 9:30.  I think my students would learn more if I gave them more freedom, but I've found that hard to do.

Friday's Five: Summer Reading Books

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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.

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Since today marks the last day of the school year and the beginning of summer vacation for me, I thought I'd share five books that I plan to read over the summer.  After all, summer is the time when we, as teachers, finally get the chance to read and go to the bathroom.  Not all of the books are education based, but that's OK.  Being well-rounded is one of the things that makes us good teachers.

After reading my list, please share a book or two that you plan to read or that you suggest in the comment section.  I'm always looking for a good book, and I'm sure others who read the blog would appreciate suggestions and/or recommendations.

1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - This book was highly recommended and loaned to me by a colleague.  It's the story of Randy Pausch's last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a professor, just before he died of pancreatic cancer.  
2. The Vault of Walt by Jim Korkis - I admit it.  I'm a Disney Geek.  I love the stories behind the parks, stories of Walt's life, and stories about the company that very few people know or remember.  That's what this book is filled with.  It's a collection of short anecdotes from the memory and research of Jim Korkis, former Disney employee and respected Disney historian.  The forward is written by Diane Disney Miller, Walt's daughter.   
3. Why We Do What We Do:  Understanding Self-Motivation by Edward L. Deci - The High School principal in our district loaned this book to me a while back.  It's time that I read it and gave it back to him.  When he gave it to me there was a sticky note on the cover that said, "Mike, Read with caution.  This one has made me rethink everything we do in education."  Sounds like my kind of book!
4. Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography - When people find out that I am a photographer, or see my portfolio, I often get asked, "Who is your favorite photographer?"  The answer is Galen Rowell.  The guy was an amazing photographer, writer, and person.  His passion for outdoor adventure photography is evident in his work, and contagious.  It's unfortunate that he died in a plane crash in 2002 because the world lost one of it's great creative minds and artists.
5. A World in Transition:  Finding Spiritual Security in Times of Change - This anthology of essays and talks has been sitting on my shelf for many years, but I have yet to read it cover to cover.  I have found the parts I have read to be inspirational, thought provoking, and enlightening.  The inside of the book jacket claims, "Today there is a great emphasis on external solutions to our problems.  Yet, peace, happiness, and prosperity all come from within."  That message is similar to Gandhi's "Be the Change" quote that I referenced in a previous post.  

Now it's your turn.  What books do you plan to read this summer?  What books would you suggest to others?  Have you read any of the above books?  What did you think?  Let us know in the comment section.

Also, don't forget to share the blog with others by clicking on the "Tweet" button up top, sharing on Facebook, sending a plurk to your PLN, or all of the above!

Absurd Contrasts

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This morning, as I was reading the New York Times Education Section I came across an article called "Improving the Science of Teaching Science."  The following paragraph jumped out at me:

“As opposed to the traditional lecture, in which students are passive, this class actively engages students and allows them time to synthesize new information and incorporate it into mental model,” said Louis Deslauriers, a postdoctoral researcher who, with Ellen Schelew, a graduate student, taught the experimental classes. “When they can incorporate thing into a mental model, we find much better retention.”

The article went on to explain that when researchers compared classes where traditional lecture was used to classrooms that were collaborative and structured as mentioned above, students in the second group learned twice as much as students in the first.

As I read, I thought in my most sarcastic mental voice, "Really?  Students who collaborate, are actively engaged, and are synthesizing new information learn more than those who get talked at for hours on end?"

Take a second and think about how we teach our subjects and what those subjects look like outside of our classrooms.  There are some huge contrasts.

When scientists work, they are usually working in teams.  They have regular collaborative meetings to discuss how their work is progressing and how to improve their methodology and research.  They read a lot of research.  Most times they try things, they fail.  Those failures are learning experiences which help them guide their work going forward.

Now think of what science looks like in a typical classroom.  There's a textbook.  The teacher talks a lot about stuff in the textbook.  Students aren't allowed to research much.  Everything they need is provided in the textbook.  They may do some experiments, but failure is not an option if they want a good grade.  Most of their studying is done on their own, with the exception of a few very controlled labs where they may have one partner.

The contrast is absurd, and not just in science.

Why do people read outside of schools?  Either they read because they enjoy the content, or they read because they need the information that's in the material they are reading.  When you read to find information you need, how often do you thoroughly read the entire book/article/manuel/etc?  I would think that it happens rarely.  You usually find what you need and get on with whatever you were doing.

How do we teach reading in schools?  We spend weeks at a time forcing students to pick apart informational passages that contain information the student won't ever need and won't ever care about.  We force students to read "classics" that they hate.  Assignments that require research are usually on topics that the student doesn't care about and have been researched thousands of times before.

When we discuss teaching math, often the terms "real-world situations" or "real-life problems" are used. The very fact that we tell students that most of the math they learn is not for "real-life" is a huge problem.  How can we expect them to care or become emotionally invested if we tell them this?  We give them dozens of out-of-context calculations during the week, and then have a "real-world" problem that looks something like this:

Betty and Tracy planned a 5000km trip in an automobile with five tires, of which four are in use at any time. They plan to interchange them so that each tire is used the same number of kilometers. What is the number of kilometers each tire will be used? (Source - Word Problems for Kids)

Every student upon reading that problem is going to think, "This is math I am never going to use.  Why on earth would they need the tires to go the same number of km or spend the time to change them if none go flat?"

Many studies have shown that our students feel that school is not relevant and does not teach them what they will need to know in their lives outside of school.  Unfortunately, they may be more right than we want to admit.  Think about the skills and knowledge you use in your life.  How much of it did you learn in formal classrooms?  We need to spend more time teaching kids to find, analyze, and create knowledge instead of trying to fill their heads with facts.  We need to start teaching students in a way that reflects the world outside our classrooms.

Photo Credit -Thomas Favre-Bulle, Flickr

The Most Important Word to Use in Your Classroom

One of the toughest jobs that a teacher has right now is to overcome the culture of standardized test prep.  The pressure to pass state tests has lead us to a place where more importance is placed on memorization of factual nuggets, learning test taking tricks, and following memorized procedures than real critical thinking.  For many teachers, it's tough to remember that we entered this profession to inspire the next generation to greatness when we spend the majority of our time filling our students' heads with unrelated facts.  The term "problem solving" used to mean the ability to actually come up with practical solutions to real problems.  It has evolved to mean "coming up with the right answer to a math problem that is written with words." 

That's not problem solving.  That's not critical thinking.  That's the ability to read and make a calculation.

It doesn't take real thinking.  It won't help you figure out how to solve the problems that will face you in life.

When it comes to reading and social studies, our demands on students are no better.  We still ask for the main idea of a passage that students have no interest in reading, but never insist they read something they feel strongly about and give them a change to motivate their fellow students to action.  We ask for the date of the American Revolution and the cause of the Civil War, but never insist that they find parallels to current world events. 

It's as if those in power want us to pump out automatons that blindly follow orders instead of innovators who can mold the future. 

Can we rise above these pressures to inspire students, demand critical thinking, and at the same time prepare our students for state tests? Is there something that can be done which doesn't take a ton of professional development, training, or an overhaul of current practices?  Is there something we can do right now?

Yes.  Start asking "Why?"

When your students tell you the answer they came up with on your math assignment, don't tell them whether it's right or wrong.  Ask them why that's their answer.  When your students tell you that the main character in the story was "friendly", don't let them off the hook.  Ask them to prove why he was friendly.  When your students tell you that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, ask them "why?"  Make the use of "why" so ubiquitous in your classroom that your students know it's coming before you even ask.

Your students will hate it at first, and for a while it will probably be uncomfortable for you.  They'll look at you with blank stares, speechless at the fact that you are making them think.  After all, they've been convinced by our standardized testing culture that this type of real thinking is unnecessary.  They'll hope that staying silent for long enough will convince you to give them the answer.  They'll tell you "because the textbook says so."  They'll hope that telling you, "I don't know" will shut you up.

Don't let them get away with it.  Demand an answer that shows real understanding. Do this until the culture in your classroom is one where critical thinking is expected.

Do this, and your students will be able to do more than just pass "the test."  They'll start to evaluate and judge.  They'll start to wonder and debate.

Something else might happen, too.  You may start to remember "why" you chose the profession that creates all others.  Along with inspiring your students, you may find renewed inspiration yourself.

A Good Day

I wanted to write about something profound for my first blog post.  For well over a year now I've been thinking of entering the world of blogging.  There are ideas, questions, arguments, and research bouncing around in my head that I've wanted to write about.  I've wanted to share opinions on ed-tech, teacher motivation, standardized testing, teaching math, and a variety of other hot topics.  This morning I decided that I would start today and choose an issue that I feel passionate about.  But something happened that changed my mind and forced me to write this post instead.

I had a good day.  

It wasn't one of those days where all your students listen quietly, hand in their homework, and smile politely.  I dealt with several minor discipline issues in my room, a couple of kids didn't have homework, and I definitely got at least one scowl (after one of the discipline issues).  Those things tend to happen every day.

What made this day special was that I know I made a difference today.

Example #1:  Math class - We were going over an assignment on linear, square, and cubic units.  It's the kind of lesson I loathe:  poor examples out of a textbook, little practical application, and rather boring.  Most of the time I shun these lessons, ignore the text, and develop something much more interesting, but with a test coming up in a few days I figured I'd do a little personal white-board formative assessment w/ boring textbook problems to make sure my students knew what I thought they knew.  

After a few minutes, I could tell that my students were starting to get a little bored, and I saw that all of them knew to use cubic units to measure volume, square units for area, and linear units for distance.  So I asked them, "If we measure 1 dimension in linear units, 2 dimensions in square, and 3 dimensions in cubic, is it possible to come up with a unit that measures 4 dimensions?"  It was something I hadn't really thought about before, and I was curious.

It was like the classroom hit with lightning.  Suddenly there was a buzz.  Little arguments broke out.  Discussions were going on.  After a few minutes we figured that if "time" was the 4th dimension, then measuring the output of an air conditioner in "cubic feet of air per hour" might be the kind of measurement we were looking for.

Great.  I figured we'd had our fun, and we'd go back to the boring text problems.  They'd have none of that, though.  The next few minutes went something like this:

"Mr. Soskil, if time is the 4th dimension, what's the 5th?"

"I'm really not sure.  You'd have to ask a physicist."

"What's a physicist?"

"Someone who studies physics.  Some of them study particles, and there's a theory called the 'String Theory' that some of those particles exist in multiple dimensions."

"WOW!  Tell us more about that!"

"I don't really know enough to tell you.  I just know that the theory says that there are something like 10 different dimensions.  I'm not a physicist."

"Then how'd you know about this stuff?"

"I watch the Science Channel.  I think I saw it on 'Through the Wormhole w/ Morgan Freeman'"

"Can we watch that in class sometime?"

"Sure.  It's math.  I'll find some time for us."

Two students then told me that they now want to be physicists.  I told them that they better continue to really understand math.  Awesome!

Example #2:  Lunch - At the end of math class I told my students that I'd be happy to have lunch with them if they needed help with anything we've been doing in class lately.  I've made this offer before, but none of them have ever taken me up on it.  Today I had six join me for lunch in my room.  

One wanted me to go over a few test questions that she missed on her last test and one had a question about the Million Dollar Project we're working on.  I think the others wanted to discuss particle physics some more, but we never got around to that.  We reviewed the relationship between perimeter and area, and then talked a bit about their project.  When we were done, I sent them out to recess.

Then something really cool happened.  One of them stayed behind for a minute, and sincerely thanked me for taking the time to help.  That totally made my day!

Example #3:  Reading - My students were genuinely excited to start their reading assignments.  After months of reading short textbook stories, I decided to organize in-class book clubs and allow them to choose what they wanted to read.  Today, I saw genuine excitement.  I heard good discussions on tough questions.  I saw learning taking place, and not "I can meet standard 5R.1.3.6" learning, but genuine critical thinking learning.

I guess those deep thoughts and discussions I mentioned earlier will have to wait for another post.  Today, I'm not worried about the state of education, how to get teachers to teach 21st century skills, or whether the teaching methods of Singapore and/or Finland can be used effectively in the United States.  Those discussions can happen some other time.

Right now, I'm happy that I got a reminder of why I teach.  Today was a good day.