On the Shoulders of Giants

2 Silver Bullets

We often hear that policy makers are looking for a "silver bullet" that will cure what ails public education. Here are two free ones.

This summer at one of first PD sessions at my new school, my principal said two things I've not forgotten and I'd never heard before from a school leader.  He said them calmly, matter-of-factly, but took a rare moment to say them--and be heard.  

1. "We don't yell at kids. It's very rare that that ever gets us the outcome we're looking for."  

2. "We don't talk over kids" (meaning if students are chatting with one another during a lesson, we don't continue teaching while they do this).   

These are two rules of thumb that seem obvious, and yet no one had taken the time--since I was a student in graduate school, and even then it seemed too obvious to dwell on--to make the expectation explicit.  Out in the field, however, especially in high need urban schools, it is quite common for adult staff members to resort to yelling and/or allowing students to have side conversations as they address a group of students.  I have been in situations where it's been extremely challenging not to do this, and I am familiar with the conditions that can create such situations.  Of course, these actions by adults send a confusing message to students about what appropriate school behavior looks and feels like.  (Note: I do see a difference between raising your voice at times, or speaking in a firm tone with students, and yelling.  Also, occasionally applying the strategy of consciously ignoring attention-getting behaviors is not the same thing as just teaching through students' side conversations.) 

I call these two rules silver bullets, because I am amazed at what a huge difference it makes for students to go through the day without being yelled at at all, and with a clear expectation that the teacher will not speak over them, and they should not speak over the teacher.  The tone of the school is much more calm, which is an important working condition for both students and teachers.  The adults are in control, which makes the kids feel safe, which is the bottom line.  

If policy makers could do something to support teachers and principals in creating schools that can follow these rules of thumb, they should.  Ideas? 

 

[Image credit: drivereducationbrisbane.com]

 

Giving Thanks

The health of the public education system in this country is in peril. I am beyond disappointed at the appointment of another non-educator, Cathy Black, to run our city's schools.

So this weekend, I wanted to give thanks for all that is working in my education life.

Giving thanks for...

My students.  I am so thankful to be working with an amazing group of 7th graders that regularly impress, challenge, teach, make me laugh and remind me to appreciate the moment. I can honestly say I look forward to being at school every day.  

My school.  I'm working at a school founded by master teachers, who understand, respect, support and CAN DO the complex and challenging work of teaching.  I have the opportunity to collaborate, learn from, and rely on wonderful colleagues.  

My professional communities.  My involvement in CTQ projects, TLN, blogging, and Bank Street College alumni networks put me in dialogue with so many inspiring educators.  These networks push me to keep thinking about the big picture of what we are doing as teachers.  There are many giants in these networks, who are my mentors, whether they know it or not.  

My teacher friends.  My relationships with my colleages, past and present, keep me sane in a lot of ways.  Among other things, we are bound together by the fact that we stay working with kids, and when we come together, we talk about it.  I am thankful to have amazing teacher friends to trade stories, troubles and advice with, especially when it comes to balancing our personal and professional lives.  

My family and loved ones who support the work I do by listening, understanding that teaching for me is a labor of love and requires many more exhausting hours than we would sometimes like; reminding me to stop, take a breath, and relax when I need it. 

Those who speak up. I am thankful for all the teachers/leaders/writers who are speaking the truth about the incredibly valuable and complex work teachers do; and those who are speaking out against education policies that are for-profit and test-driven, rather than for-the-public and child-driven, and those which shut out the voices and expertise of teachers. You are heard, at least by me. 

 

[image credit: americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org]

Preparing for the Big Ideas Fest!

I've been preparing a solo presentation for the 2010 Big Ideas Fest in Half Moon Bay, California, hosted by ISKME--The Institute For the Study of Knowledge Management in Education.  I'm especially excited about this, not only because I get to spend several days on the West Coast, but because the conference, or festival, promises to be something special.  It is described as "three dynamic days of experts and creative thinkers inspiring and modeling ways for education to become relevant to learning, which includes rapid fire presentations on cutting-edge innovations in education, and design-thinking workshops that make real innovation actionable."

I know the conference will be special because of the way ISKME has supported and challenged me to prepare this presentation.  I am to give one of the rapid fire presentations about "teacherpreneurship," which was a key concept, or emergent reality, in the TeacherSolution 2030 team's vision of the future of teaching, soon to be released in our book, Teaching 2030.  Preparing for the Big Ideas Fest has given me a great opportunity to push the idea even further.  

In past presentations, I have been given a topic and told to speak about my experiences.  For example, "we'd like you to talk about teacher retention" (one of my favorite topics, and one that teacherpreneurship has a lot to offer...)  I am pretty comfortable talking about my own experiences.  I usually discuss with colleagues, prepare some notes, talk myself through them, revise, and go. Sometimes there is a Powerpoint to go along with it.  

Not so with the Big Ideas Fest.  First of all, Powerpoint is discouraged!  I like this already... nothing wrong with Powerpoint, when coupled with a dynamic presenter, but too often it is the crutch for a boring presentation.  

The format of the day itself is unique too.  Usually I might be told, "you'll be speaking in the segment about teacher retention." In the Big Ideas Fest, each presentation fits within a four part design cycle.  My presentation will be the "Identifying Opportunities" part of the particular design cycle I'm a part of. Though my topic fits pretty naturally into that category, I had to keep this in mind when planning my piece.  (You can read more about the design cycle, called "Action Collabs," here.)

Next, I had a long conversation with the president and founder of ISKME, Lisa Petrides, to work through my presentation idea.  Lisa pushed back in several areas that helped me locate the heart of the story I want to tell about teacherpreneurship.  She emphasized the importance of story to an impactful rapidfire presentation (Think Tedtalks).  As an English teacher, who believes stories and storytelling are valuable to our society way beyond the realm of actual literary works, I was really happy to be pushed in that direction.  Later I received an email with the running notes she had taken during our conversation, with a few comments intejected.  This is a tool I use with students when they are working with ideas and writing--take notes on what they say, then print and let them be a reference.  I was glad to find the notes as helpful for me as I've always hoped they were for students!

Now, I need to get my presentation outline finished!  I'm nervous and excited for the final product.  It feels good to be pushed to do something unique and creative.  By the end of the Big Ideas Fest, I expect to have some new thoughts--or big ideas, he, he--about making teacherpreneurships a reality.  And I'm not forgetting, we never said we needed to wait 'til 2030.  

 

[image from iskme.org]

 

Striking the Right Tone in a Literature Classroom

My seventh grade ELA classes had been reading The Jacob Ladder, by Gerald Hausman and Uton Hinds, a short, highly engaging read with some deep themes, for almost three weeks.  

My co-teacher was about to read one of the final chapters aloud to students.*  I mentioned that once we finished it,over the next few days we'd be discussing the novel.  I added that there would also be a quiz on the literary elements we'd been studying along the way.  

One student put her hand over her mouth and said quietly, "Oh my god."  Then she blurted out, incredulously, "There's going to be a quiz on this book?!" 

My co-teacher and I looked at one another, confused.  "Well, yes, this is the material we've been working on for a few weeks and there are some things we want to know if you've learned.  What did you think we were doing this for?" my co-teacher said calmly, genuinely looking for clarification.

"For enjoyment!" she said, as if we were crazy.  

Oooooohhhhhhh...I thought.  She's actually right.  The method I use for teaching novels, The Whole Novels program, is designed for students to authentically experience the literary work in its entirety before analyzing and studying it in a substantive way.  It is my hope, always, that students will find pleasure in the story and the act of reading it.  So on one level, her comment made me smile.  

On the other hand, it raises the question of, how do we balance the tone of the classroom?  I want my students to enjoy the learning process. I also want them to be aware that they are learning, and put forth effort in a conscious way, allowing themselves to be challenged.  Sometimes--not always--these two things feel like they're at odds with one another when we structure the class so students learn through experience.  I've seen students enjoy the activities so much they forget to pay attention to what they've learned.  I guess that's part of good constructivist teaching--to make sure to include time for students to assess and reflect on their own learning.

I believe that in this case, the learning became much more evident for students after we had completed book discussions and the writing assignment that came out of the discussions.  The quiz itself, too, helped students become aware of how much they'd come to understand the literary elements in the context of this novel.  

It was an awkward moment for her to be reminded that she's responsible for learning, because she was, at that time, genuinely looking forward to the ending of the novel.  Ultimately, that feeling is probably far more valuable and enduring than the quiz on literary elements.  How easily we forget...

 

[image credit: littlewhitebat.blogspot.com]

 

*Note about the choice to read parts of the novel aloud to middle school students: Since this was our first whole-class novel and a short one at that, my co-teacher and I elected to alternate reading sections of it aloud to students and having students read photo-copied chapters independently. The book is out of print, so copies of the entire book for everyone wasn't an option. Reading significant portions of the book aloud, we could be sure that every student had easy access to this first text, and we could focus on introducing the format for discussions we'd be using throughout the year for studying novels.  In the future, students will have their own copy of the novel and read mostly on their own in and out of class, according to a reading schedule.

Unmeasured Impact of a Teacher: A Singer's Story

I was talking earlier today with a friend, Jennevee Frias, who is a successful professional singer and financial advisor, about the value of good teachers.  She said, as many people do, that she can trace many of her life decisions back to specific teachers who encouraged her and helped her find her way.  

One teacher in particular, her high school music teacher, pushed her to realize her potential.  She had always been serious about singing, but when she became a teenager, she lost motivation to sing, and didn't think it was something she could really do.  "I didn't think it was a real gift I had, even though it had been--for my my whole life--something that saved me. When that was gone I felt like I had nothing, but that teacher gave it back to me."  Her high school music teacher recognized her talent and also her uncertainty and need for direction at the time.  

"He made it almost impossible for me to leave music behind.  He went after me and told me, 'this is your world. You have to do this.'"  When she didn't try out for the high school musical, the casting director called her and told her her name was on the list for tryouts.  She knew that her music teacher had signed her up.  She ended up trying out and landing the lead.  "I felt like I had every reason to give up singing, but he made me feel like I had every reason not to.  It was very much a difficult time in my life, and I needed music more than ever," says Frias.  In addition to her career in finance, Jennevee continues to sing and act, and is recording an album of original music with her band, Lo Primo.  

The difference this music teacher made in Jennevee's life was invaluable, yet it probably had little direct impact on her standardized test scores.  Students need teachers who see it as part of their mission to recognize and help students develop their strengths as well as make strong decisions.  Most of us have benefitted at some point from a teacher like this and we would want the same for our own children.  

Taking this story into account, two things need to change in how we measure teacher effectiveness:

(1) Teachers need to be rewarded for the impact we have on our students, beyond their performance on standardized tests, which is far too narrow, and beyond their performance in the year that we actually teach them.  Some lessons show up much later, as we saw in the story of the $300,000 kindergarten teacher.  

(2) Current programming and accountability measures discourage teachers and students from focusing on the arts.  Arts programs are virtually non existent in city schools today and are not part of the testing movement. I'm not advocating for arts to become tested subjects, but I am advocating for them to be valued and developed.  They can, in fact, save lives.