http://edge.ascd.org/service/getFeed.kickAction?mediaType=BLOG&quantity=25&as=127586 New blogs from Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides on ASCD EDge Tue, 21 May 2013 13:03:16 GMT Tue, 21 May 2013 13:03:16 GMT website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) KickApps Feed Builder 2013-05-21T13:03:16Z 41 http://edge.ascd.org/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=127586&sortType=recent&tags=null 0 http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Importance-of-Student-Feedback/blog/6531874/127586.html I had no idea how important it was to my high school students that I asked them for their feedback on our courses. The impact was far more profound than I ever imagined. In light of the recent Duncanville issue, where student Jeff Bliss offers criticism to his teacher, the time to discuss listening to student feedback, particularly on how they're learning, is now. Had his teacher taken the time to establish a learning environment where criticism was not considered a form of disrespect, but rather, a constructive dialogue, things might have turned out differently for both of them. In this video, some of my former students offered their perspective on just how much they appreciated being asked for their feedback. We're also offering a webinar on the topic!  Unmuted: Using Student Feedback to Create an Effective Secondary Learning Environment Hosted by Kappa Delta Pi, June 25, 8pm Register at:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/580671226 I had no idea how important it was to my high school students that I asked them for their feedback on our courses. The impact was far more profound than I ever imagined. In light of the recent Duncanville issue, where student Jeff Bliss offers criticism to his teacher, the time to discuss listening to student feedback, particularly on how they're learning, is now. Had his teacher taken the time to establish a learning environment where criticism was not considered a form of disrespect, but rather, a constructive dialogue, things might have turned out differently for both of them. In this video, some of my former students offered their perspective on just how much they appreciated being asked for their feedback. We're also offering a webinar on the topic!  Unmuted: Using Student Feedback to Create an Effective Secondary Learning Environment Hosted by Kappa Delta Pi, June 25, 8pm Register at:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/580671226 Tue, 21 May 2013 13:03:16 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Importance-of-Student-Feedback/blog/6531874/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-05-21T13:03:16Z ASCD EDge I had no idea how important it was to my high school students that I asked them for their feedback on our courses. The impact was far more profound than I ever imagined. In light of the recent Duncanville issue, where student Jeff Bliss offers criticism to his teacher, the time to discuss listening to student feedback, particularly on how they're learning, is now. Had his teacher taken the time to establish a learning environment where criticism was not considered a form of disrespect, but rather, a constructive dialogue, things might have turned out differently for both of them. In this video, some of my former students offered their perspective on just how much they appreciated being asked for their feedback. We're also offering a webinar on the topic!  Unmuted: Using Student Feedback to Create an Effective Secondary Learning Environment Hosted by Kappa Delta Pi, June 25, 8pm Register at:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/580671226 nonadult false The Importance of Student Feedback video blog 45 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 0 6531874 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Paved-with-Unintention/blog/6517648/127586.html Sometimes, it's paved with unintention, this test culture road.    I recently came across this strategy on Pinterest, and at first glance, I really liked it. I liked the template wording, particularly for the age group targeted (3rd-8th graders). I also liked the visual appeal.  The strategy is great! However, check out what the teacher wrote under the purpose for learning and the metacognitive indicator. I’m also dubious about the lesson itself. [image]The purpose for learning that day –identified by “So that I can”--is, basically, to do well on the Connecticut Mastery Test. The metacognitive indicator-- indicated by “I’ll know I’ve got it when”-- is the score she receives on this practice exercise. Finally, while practicing a strategy is certainly laudable, should it be the objective of the lesson? DRP strategies, by the way, are pretty awesome reading strategies. But that’s just it. They are strategies for doing the learning…not the learning itself. This is no way to integrate creativity and curiosity, nor is it a way to instill a love for learning.  Nor is it the ONLY way to help students acquire these skills. One of the biggest arguments I get into with teachers is how to design curriculum that addresses what the students need to know how to do, but does it in a way that instills a greater purpose for the learning.    The teacher, who created this objective, would probably tell me, “Students need to know  how to use these strategies on the reading passages of the test.” Absolutely they need to know these strategies! However, does the use of the strategies have to be the emphasized objective of the lesson for the student? Why? Why can’t it be the means of obtaining a more creative objective? Why can’t the use of strategies be an objective that the teacher has under her belt, but is NOT the focus for the student? Most likely, given the reference to an answer sheet, the students are reading a series of passages, probably from a workbook of some sort. The passages will have no rhyme or reason other than to exist for the student to use DRP strategies on. Why not locate and provide several short articles that are based on the current unit of study, whether that’s Sarah, Plain and Tall or Mammals of the Sea? Students can decide which ones they want to read and use the strategies to read them. The misuse of metacognitive activities, here, is particularly painful. These students begin to perpetuate themselves as data or scores, and they have no idea how they know what they know. Why not find a more simple, authentic way to incorporate metacognition? I humbly suggest that teachers can instill a love of learning, while still teaching crucial skills. We need to do everything we can to stop paving the test-culture road.   OBJECTIVE (Revised) Today, I am:  reading and deciding on two articles that will help me with my final project on [whales, the turn of the century lifestyle].   So that I can:  understand more about why [whales, dolphins, the Pioneers] do what they do and figure out why we don’t do the same thing.   I'll know I've got it when:  I can explain what the article is about to my friend, who has read a different article.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!    Sometimes, it's paved with unintention, this test culture road.    I recently came across this strategy on Pinterest, and at first glance, I really liked it. I liked the template wording, particularly for the age group targeted (3rd-8th graders). I also liked the visual appeal.  The strategy is great! However, check out what the teacher wrote under the purpose for learning and the metacognitive indicator. I’m also dubious about the lesson itself. [image]The purpose for learning that day –identified by “So that I can”--is, basically, to do well on the Connecticut Mastery Test. The metacognitive indicator-- indicated by “I’ll know I’ve got it when”-- is the score she receives on this practice exercise. Finally, while practicing a strategy is certainly laudable, should it be the objective of the lesson? DRP strategies, by the way, are pretty awesome reading strategies. But that’s just it. They are strategies for doing the learning…not the learning itself. This is no way to integrate creativity and curiosity, nor is it a way to instill a love for learning.  Nor is it the ONLY way to help students acquire these skills. One of the biggest arguments I get into with teachers is how to design curriculum that addresses what the students need to know how to do, but does it in a way that instills a greater purpose for the learning.    The teacher, who created this objective, would probably tell me, “Students need to know  how to use these strategies on the reading passages of the test.” Absolutely they need to know these strategies! However, does the use of the strategies have to be the emphasized objective of the lesson for the student? Why? Why can’t it be the means of obtaining a more creative objective? Why can’t the use of strategies be an objective that the teacher has under her belt, but is NOT the focus for the student? Most likely, given the reference to an answer sheet, the students are reading a series of passages, probably from a workbook of some sort. The passages will have no rhyme or reason other than to exist for the student to use DRP strategies on. Why not locate and provide several short articles that are based on the current unit of study, whether that’s Sarah, Plain and Tall or Mammals of the Sea? Students can decide which ones they want to read and use the strategies to read them. The misuse of metacognitive activities, here, is particularly painful. These students begin to perpetuate themselves as data or scores, and they have no idea how they know what they know. Why not find a more simple, authentic way to incorporate metacognition? I humbly suggest that teachers can instill a love of learning, while still teaching crucial skills. We need to do everything we can to stop paving the test-culture road.   OBJECTIVE (Revised) Today, I am:  reading and deciding on two articles that will help me with my final project on [whales, the turn of the century lifestyle].   So that I can:  understand more about why [whales, dolphins, the Pioneers] do what they do and figure out why we don’t do the same thing.   I'll know I've got it when:  I can explain what the article is about to my friend, who has read a different article.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!    Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:51:29 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Paved-with-Unintention/blog/6517648/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-03-25T11:51:29Z Blogs ASCD EDge Sometimes, it's paved with unintention, this test culture road.    I recently came across this strategy on Pinterest, and at first glance, I really liked it. I liked the template wording, particularly for the age group targeted (3rd-8th graders). I also liked the visual appeal.  The strategy is great! However, check out what the teacher wrote under the purpose for learning and the metacognitive indicator. I’m also dubious about the lesson itself. [image]The purpose for learning that day –identified by “So that I can”--is, basically, to do well on the Connecticut Mastery Test. The metacognitive indicator-- indicated by “I’ll know I’ve got it when”-- is the score she receives on this practice exercise. Finally, while practicing a strategy is certainly laudable, should it be the objective of the lesson? DRP strategies, by the way, are pretty awesome reading strategies. But that’s just it. They are strategies for doing the learning…not the learning itself. This is no way to integrate creativity and curiosity, nor is it a way to instill a love for learning.  Nor is it the ONLY way to help students acquire these skills. One of the biggest arguments I get into with teachers is how to design curriculum that addresses what the students need to know how to do, but does it in a way that instills a greater purpose for the learning.    The teacher, who created this objective, would probably tell me, “Students need to know  how to use these strategies on the reading passages of the test.” Absolutely they need to know these strategies! However, does the use of the strategies have to be the emphasized objective of the lesson for the student? Why? Why can’t it be the means of obtaining a more creative objective? Why can’t the use of strategies be an objective that the teacher has under her belt, but is NOT the focus for the student? Most likely, given the reference to an answer sheet, the students are reading a series of passages, probably from a workbook of some sort. The passages will have no rhyme or reason other than to exist for the student to use DRP strategies on. Why not locate and provide several short articles that are based on the current unit of study, whether that’s Sarah, Plain and Tall or Mammals of the Sea? Students can decide which ones they want to read and use the strategies to read them. The misuse of metacognitive activities, here, is particularly painful. These students begin to perpetuate themselves as data or scores, and they have no idea how they know what they know. Why not find a more simple, authentic way to incorporate metacognition? I humbly suggest that teachers can instill a love of learning, while still teaching crucial skills. We need to do everything we can to stop paving the test-culture road.   OBJECTIVE (Revised) Today, I am:  reading and deciding on two articles that will help me with my final project on [whales, the turn of the century lifestyle].   So that I can:  understand more about why [whales, dolphins, the Pioneers] do what they do and figure out why we don’t do the same thing.   I'll know I've got it when:  I can explain what the article is about to my friend, who has read a different article.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!    blogs nonadult false Paved with Unintention text blog blogs 613 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6517648 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Busting-the-Myth-To-be-Effective-Teachers-Must-Work-Tirelessly/blog/6516994/127586.html In his blog post on The Qualities of an Effective Teacher: No. 4—An Effective Teacher is Tireless, Jake Hollingsworth argues that “good” teachers understand that they will work long hours and have no care for the fact that students neither realize or appreciate the number of those hours. I respectfully disagree. First, there is a distinction to be made between “good” and “effective.” Good implies a quality that is desirable by another whereas effective implies a quality of successful implementation. One of the worst adjectives that can be attributed to a teacher is good because it perpetuates this strange morality of martyrdom in teacher identity: that he/she can only be good if he/she works tirelessly, the unappreciated, selfless educator. The image conveyed by Mr. Hollingsworth is that of a teacher sitting at a desk (at home and/or at work), with a computer and stacks of papers. It is a tiring image, and one becomes weary in just looking at it.  Why set this image up in front of new teachers? They will think that this is the way it should be, and that unless they are doing so, then they are not “good.”  It’s simply not true.  Effective teachers spend their planning time wisely and purposefully, and they DO care what their students think about the presentation of lessons and assessments. We can spin our wheels for days on a particular unit, and it will fall flat in presentation. It just won’t “jive.” On the other hand, an afterthought of a lesson, which took moments to plan, will garner an enthusiastic response.  The difference really lies in how the teacher spends his or her planning time in reaction to what has occurred in the class.  Ascribing to the definition above, the “good” teacher will simply pick up and do the same thing again, using the same approach on the next unit, spending the same amount of ineffectual time.  However, effective teachers will not spend the next number of hours planning in the same way. He or she will reflect, first, so that the same problem/issue won’t happen again in another unit.  The effective teacher also asks students what they think, and by doing so, will find the first of many time-savers. For example, as opposed to agonizing for hours over a rubric for a project, effective teachers will work alongside students in determining a rubric of expectations. Generally, what they’ll find is that a student-created rubric is far more rigorous than what they would have created. Further, students who have created it will strive more diligently to meet those expectations.  Thus, a good deal of an effective teacher's time is in thought, not in doing something tirelessly. I will concede that the motivation for preparation should NOT be to gain appreciation from students. (I write about teaching as a thankless job at length in a previous blog post.) However, effective teachers will “see” appreciation of students in the form of engaged interest, interactive discussion, and the dawning of understanding. If we do not see any of those, then we cannot say we are effective.  Truly effective teachers might spend a large chunk of time planning a large unit, the first time. However, following their reflection on the reception of the lesson and garnering student feedback, the next time will be much more fluid and purposeful, lessening the time but increasing the impact. Additionally, effective teachers do not always start from scratch; they collaborate with others to save time  and share with others to improve practice. Truly effective teachers are not hinged to any desk for a ridiculous number of hours every day. If you’re doing that, stop. If you find yourself grading papers endlessly, STOP. Talk to your mentor or talk to someone who just seems to “have it all together.” That person will have valuable information as to how to work not only effectively, but realistically. Effective teachers do not seek to reach an idealized "tirelessness." Rather, they seek and find efficiency. Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse.  In his blog post on The Qualities of an Effective Teacher: No. 4—An Effective Teacher is Tireless, Jake Hollingsworth argues that “good” teachers understand that they will work long hours and have no care for the fact that students neither realize or appreciate the number of those hours. I respectfully disagree. First, there is a distinction to be made between “good” and “effective.” Good implies a quality that is desirable by another whereas effective implies a quality of successful implementation. One of the worst adjectives that can be attributed to a teacher is good because it perpetuates this strange morality of martyrdom in teacher identity: that he/she can only be good if he/she works tirelessly, the unappreciated, selfless educator. The image conveyed by Mr. Hollingsworth is that of a teacher sitting at a desk (at home and/or at work), with a computer and stacks of papers. It is a tiring image, and one becomes weary in just looking at it.  Why set this image up in front of new teachers? They will think that this is the way it should be, and that unless they are doing so, then they are not “good.”  It’s simply not true.  Effective teachers spend their planning time wisely and purposefully, and they DO care what their students think about the presentation of lessons and assessments. We can spin our wheels for days on a particular unit, and it will fall flat in presentation. It just won’t “jive.” On the other hand, an afterthought of a lesson, which took moments to plan, will garner an enthusiastic response.  The difference really lies in how the teacher spends his or her planning time in reaction to what has occurred in the class.  Ascribing to the definition above, the “good” teacher will simply pick up and do the same thing again, using the same approach on the next unit, spending the same amount of ineffectual time.  However, effective teachers will not spend the next number of hours planning in the same way. He or she will reflect, first, so that the same problem/issue won’t happen again in another unit.  The effective teacher also asks students what they think, and by doing so, will find the first of many time-savers. For example, as opposed to agonizing for hours over a rubric for a project, effective teachers will work alongside students in determining a rubric of expectations. Generally, what they’ll find is that a student-created rubric is far more rigorous than what they would have created. Further, students who have created it will strive more diligently to meet those expectations.  Thus, a good deal of an effective teacher's time is in thought, not in doing something tirelessly. I will concede that the motivation for preparation should NOT be to gain appreciation from students. (I write about teaching as a thankless job at length in a previous blog post.) However, effective teachers will “see” appreciation of students in the form of engaged interest, interactive discussion, and the dawning of understanding. If we do not see any of those, then we cannot say we are effective.  Truly effective teachers might spend a large chunk of time planning a large unit, the first time. However, following their reflection on the reception of the lesson and garnering student feedback, the next time will be much more fluid and purposeful, lessening the time but increasing the impact. Additionally, effective teachers do not always start from scratch; they collaborate with others to save time  and share with others to improve practice. Truly effective teachers are not hinged to any desk for a ridiculous number of hours every day. If you’re doing that, stop. If you find yourself grading papers endlessly, STOP. Talk to your mentor or talk to someone who just seems to “have it all together.” That person will have valuable information as to how to work not only effectively, but realistically. Effective teachers do not seek to reach an idealized "tirelessness." Rather, they seek and find efficiency. Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse.  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:40:49 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Busting-the-Myth-To-be-Effective-Teachers-Must-Work-Tirelessly/blog/6516994/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-03-19T16:40:49Z Blogs ASCD EDge In his blog post on The Qualities of an Effective Teacher: No. 4—An Effective Teacher is Tireless, Jake Hollingsworth argues that “good” teachers understand that they will work long hours and have no care for the fact that students neither realize or appreciate the number of those hours. I respectfully disagree. First, there is a distinction to be made between “good” and “effective.” Good implies a quality that is desirable by another whereas effective implies a quality of successful implementation. One of the worst adjectives that can be attributed to a teacher is good because it perpetuates this strange morality of martyrdom in teacher identity: that he/she can only be good if he/she works tirelessly, the unappreciated, selfless educator. The image conveyed by Mr. Hollingsworth is that of a teacher sitting at a desk (at home and/or at work), with a computer and stacks of papers. It is a tiring image, and one becomes weary in just looking at it.  Why set this image up in front of new teachers? They will think that this is the way it should be, and that unless they are doing so, then they are not “good.”  It’s simply not true.  Effective teachers spend their planning time wisely and purposefully, and they DO care what their students think about the presentation of lessons and assessments. We can spin our wheels for days on a particular unit, and it will fall flat in presentation. It just won’t “jive.” On the other hand, an afterthought of a lesson, which took moments to plan, will garner an enthusiastic response.  The difference really lies in how the teacher spends his or her planning time in reaction to what has occurred in the class.  Ascribing to the definition above, the “good” teacher will simply pick up and do the same thing again, using the same approach on the next unit, spending the same amount of ineffectual time.  However, effective teachers will not spend the next number of hours planning in the same way. He or she will reflect, first, so that the same problem/issue won’t happen again in another unit.  The effective teacher also asks students what they think, and by doing so, will find the first of many time-savers. For example, as opposed to agonizing for hours over a rubric for a project, effective teachers will work alongside students in determining a rubric of expectations. Generally, what they’ll find is that a student-created rubric is far more rigorous than what they would have created. Further, students who have created it will strive more diligently to meet those expectations.  Thus, a good deal of an effective teacher's time is in thought, not in doing something tirelessly. I will concede that the motivation for preparation should NOT be to gain appreciation from students. (I write about teaching as a thankless job at length in a previous blog post.) However, effective teachers will “see” appreciation of students in the form of engaged interest, interactive discussion, and the dawning of understanding. If we do not see any of those, then we cannot say we are effective.  Truly effective teachers might spend a large chunk of time planning a large unit, the first time. However, following their reflection on the reception of the lesson and garnering student feedback, the next time will be much more fluid and purposeful, lessening the time but increasing the impact. Additionally, effective teachers do not always start from scratch; they collaborate with others to save time  and share with others to improve practice. Truly effective teachers are not hinged to any desk for a ridiculous number of hours every day. If you’re doing that, stop. If you find yourself grading papers endlessly, STOP. Talk to your mentor or talk to someone who just seems to “have it all together.” That person will have valuable information as to how to work not only effectively, but realistically. Effective teachers do not seek to reach an idealized "tirelessness." Rather, they seek and find efficiency. Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse.  blogs nonadult false Busting the Myth: To be Effective, Teachers Must Work Tirelessly. text blog blogs 811 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6516994 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_What-happens-when-you-ask-creative-people-to-do-something-uncreative/blog/6514476/127586.html My classmate, Sean, and I grew up within one block of each other. We went to high school and college together, and because we both loved theatre, we performed together many times. Eventually, we both wound up as high school English teachers at the same high school.Test preparation was in high gear at this point, and administration decided that all teachers, no matter their individual discipline, were going to teach math and English for the state assessment test. Further, we were "paired" up with a fellow colleague for twenty minutes at the start of the day to complete a daily test prep exercise.Quite fortuitously, Sean and I got thrown together. But "math"? Seriously?Now, Sean was okay with it. I was a mess. Math really isn't my thing. So, he took over the Math stuff on Math days, and I did the English stuff on English days, and so it went.  For a while. But creative people just can't leave things so...orderly.Having worked together onstage, we knew how to "pick up" on each other's cues. And one day, Sean spontaneously began to portray a student. He was all like, "Dude, why does the poet say that?" It was hysterically funny. He asked crazy questions about the exercise, and the students loved it.And they were learning. He was coming across as "dumb", but they were learning the strategies because he was asking those questions.We switched it up on Math days. I became the student, and the dumb questions (in my case) weren't so far off the mark. I really had a tough time with math! I really didn't understand. However, forcing him to explain why and how he was doing things obviously helped the other students, who would often chime in and share why and how the teacher was doing what he was doing.It was so cool. Further, it made--what most of our peers considered to be-- the most boring part of the day enjoyable for everyone.I remembered our creative approach while watching this training video on Teaching Critical Thinking, wherein college instructors and college students are sitting together in a class. Side by side, these two groups struggled through the same concepts and ideas. No doubt, the college students felt a bit awkward at first, but later, the groups became a learning community. Isn't this what we want to do?Why don't we do this more often? Why don't we ask teachers to "sit in" on a colleague's class to learn something new? For example, have a PE teacher sit in on an Art Class, English teachers in Algebra, History teachers in Music. Maybe just for one week out of the school year.  Maybe just for one day?What students would see would be a powerful model for learning, if not an incentive to do better than the teacher. More to the point, they would see how to learn. They could watch what the teachers do as far as note-taking, participation, and asking questions. All the stuff that we want them to do well but never have time to teach explicitly.Just a thought.We wouldn't want to do anything too crazy...    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse My classmate, Sean, and I grew up within one block of each other. We went to high school and college together, and because we both loved theatre, we performed together many times. Eventually, we both wound up as high school English teachers at the same high school.Test preparation was in high gear at this point, and administration decided that all teachers, no matter their individual discipline, were going to teach math and English for the state assessment test. Further, we were "paired" up with a fellow colleague for twenty minutes at the start of the day to complete a daily test prep exercise.Quite fortuitously, Sean and I got thrown together. But "math"? Seriously?Now, Sean was okay with it. I was a mess. Math really isn't my thing. So, he took over the Math stuff on Math days, and I did the English stuff on English days, and so it went.  For a while. But creative people just can't leave things so...orderly.Having worked together onstage, we knew how to "pick up" on each other's cues. And one day, Sean spontaneously began to portray a student. He was all like, "Dude, why does the poet say that?" It was hysterically funny. He asked crazy questions about the exercise, and the students loved it.And they were learning. He was coming across as "dumb", but they were learning the strategies because he was asking those questions.We switched it up on Math days. I became the student, and the dumb questions (in my case) weren't so far off the mark. I really had a tough time with math! I really didn't understand. However, forcing him to explain why and how he was doing things obviously helped the other students, who would often chime in and share why and how the teacher was doing what he was doing.It was so cool. Further, it made--what most of our peers considered to be-- the most boring part of the day enjoyable for everyone.I remembered our creative approach while watching this training video on Teaching Critical Thinking, wherein college instructors and college students are sitting together in a class. Side by side, these two groups struggled through the same concepts and ideas. No doubt, the college students felt a bit awkward at first, but later, the groups became a learning community. Isn't this what we want to do?Why don't we do this more often? Why don't we ask teachers to "sit in" on a colleague's class to learn something new? For example, have a PE teacher sit in on an Art Class, English teachers in Algebra, History teachers in Music. Maybe just for one week out of the school year.  Maybe just for one day?What students would see would be a powerful model for learning, if not an incentive to do better than the teacher. More to the point, they would see how to learn. They could watch what the teachers do as far as note-taking, participation, and asking questions. All the stuff that we want them to do well but never have time to teach explicitly.Just a thought.We wouldn't want to do anything too crazy...    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:08:24 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_What-happens-when-you-ask-creative-people-to-do-something-uncreative/blog/6514476/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-03-02T17:08:24Z Blogs ASCD EDge My classmate, Sean, and I grew up within one block of each other. We went to high school and college together, and because we both loved theatre, we performed together many times. Eventually, we both wound up as high school English teachers at the same high school.Test preparation was in high gear at this point, and administration decided that all teachers, no matter their individual discipline, were going to teach math and English for the state assessment test. Further, we were "paired" up with a fellow colleague for twenty minutes at the start of the day to complete a daily test prep exercise.Quite fortuitously, Sean and I got thrown together. But "math"? Seriously?Now, Sean was okay with it. I was a mess. Math really isn't my thing. So, he took over the Math stuff on Math days, and I did the English stuff on English days, and so it went.  For a while. But creative people just can't leave things so...orderly.Having worked together onstage, we knew how to "pick up" on each other's cues. And one day, Sean spontaneously began to portray a student. He was all like, "Dude, why does the poet say that?" It was hysterically funny. He asked crazy questions about the exercise, and the students loved it.And they were learning. He was coming across as "dumb", but they were learning the strategies because he was asking those questions.We switched it up on Math days. I became the student, and the dumb questions (in my case) weren't so far off the mark. I really had a tough time with math! I really didn't understand. However, forcing him to explain why and how he was doing things obviously helped the other students, who would often chime in and share why and how the teacher was doing what he was doing.It was so cool. Further, it made--what most of our peers considered to be-- the most boring part of the day enjoyable for everyone.I remembered our creative approach while watching this training video on Teaching Critical Thinking, wherein college instructors and college students are sitting together in a class. Side by side, these two groups struggled through the same concepts and ideas. No doubt, the college students felt a bit awkward at first, but later, the groups became a learning community. Isn't this what we want to do?Why don't we do this more often? Why don't we ask teachers to "sit in" on a colleague's class to learn something new? For example, have a PE teacher sit in on an Art Class, English teachers in Algebra, History teachers in Music. Maybe just for one week out of the school year.  Maybe just for one day?What students would see would be a powerful model for learning, if not an incentive to do better than the teacher. More to the point, they would see how to learn. They could watch what the teachers do as far as note-taking, participation, and asking questions. All the stuff that we want them to do well but never have time to teach explicitly.Just a thought.We wouldn't want to do anything too crazy...    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse blogs nonadult false What happens when you ask creative people to do something uncreative... text blog blogs 272 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6514476 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_You-say-Me-when-you-say-my-name/blog/6505309/127586.html [image]   There's a lot of nots in me.I know I'm not the smartest kid in class.I'm not your favorite student, especially when I say, "I don't know" and "Miss, what eez thees?" really loud with that funny accent so my friends laugh.I'm not good-looking, not skinny, and not careful when I walk.   There's a lot of a lots in me.I break the rules a lot.I speak too loud a lot.I forget to raise my hand a lot.I don't bring my books a lot.So when you say my name, you know, that way you say it...mad. My mom and dad do it, too, so, I'm kind of used to it.Some bigger words I looked up are angrily, with exasperation, annoyance, sarcasm, disgust, hatred, repulsion, venom, vitriol, and self-righteousness. Maybe those big teacher words help you understand better.You say my name a lot. Today, you said it 18 times in class.  But I have 6 periods to go to. I have 6 teachers. Today, all of my teachers said my name about a hundred times.but no one said it nice. There's a lot of maybes in me.Maybe if you only said my name when I did something good, even something small, I don't know. Maybe I'd pay more attention to when you said it.Maybe if you only said my name when you smiled hello at me, I'd feel better.Maybe if every teacher only ever said my name in a nice way, I'd do better.  I mean, you can still tell me to stop doing my stupid stuff that I do for attention, just maybe don't say my name?  You can kind of look at me and then say whatever, like "Raise your hand." I'll know you mean me.I guess that's dumb, never mind. I'm just a kid, what do I know? I'm still trying to figure stuff out. but, my name is me. You say me when you say my name.     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse  [image]   There's a lot of nots in me.I know I'm not the smartest kid in class.I'm not your favorite student, especially when I say, "I don't know" and "Miss, what eez thees?" really loud with that funny accent so my friends laugh.I'm not good-looking, not skinny, and not careful when I walk.   There's a lot of a lots in me.I break the rules a lot.I speak too loud a lot.I forget to raise my hand a lot.I don't bring my books a lot.So when you say my name, you know, that way you say it...mad. My mom and dad do it, too, so, I'm kind of used to it.Some bigger words I looked up are angrily, with exasperation, annoyance, sarcasm, disgust, hatred, repulsion, venom, vitriol, and self-righteousness. Maybe those big teacher words help you understand better.You say my name a lot. Today, you said it 18 times in class.  But I have 6 periods to go to. I have 6 teachers. Today, all of my teachers said my name about a hundred times.but no one said it nice. There's a lot of maybes in me.Maybe if you only said my name when I did something good, even something small, I don't know. Maybe I'd pay more attention to when you said it.Maybe if you only said my name when you smiled hello at me, I'd feel better.Maybe if every teacher only ever said my name in a nice way, I'd do better.  I mean, you can still tell me to stop doing my stupid stuff that I do for attention, just maybe don't say my name?  You can kind of look at me and then say whatever, like "Raise your hand." I'll know you mean me.I guess that's dumb, never mind. I'm just a kid, what do I know? I'm still trying to figure stuff out. but, my name is me. You say me when you say my name.     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse  Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:49:09 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_You-say-Me-when-you-say-my-name/blog/6505309/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-01-27T16:49:09Z Blogs ASCD EDge [image]   There's a lot of nots in me.I know I'm not the smartest kid in class.I'm not your favorite student, especially when I say, "I don't know" and "Miss, what eez thees?" really loud with that funny accent so my friends laugh.I'm not good-looking, not skinny, and not careful when I walk.   There's a lot of a lots in me.I break the rules a lot.I speak too loud a lot.I forget to raise my hand a lot.I don't bring my books a lot.So when you say my name, you know, that way you say it...mad. My mom and dad do it, too, so, I'm kind of used to it.Some bigger words I looked up are angrily, with exasperation, annoyance, sarcasm, disgust, hatred, repulsion, venom, vitriol, and self-righteousness. Maybe those big teacher words help you understand better.You say my name a lot. Today, you said it 18 times in class.  But I have 6 periods to go to. I have 6 teachers. Today, all of my teachers said my name about a hundred times.but no one said it nice. There's a lot of maybes in me.Maybe if you only said my name when I did something good, even something small, I don't know. Maybe I'd pay more attention to when you said it.Maybe if you only said my name when you smiled hello at me, I'd feel better.Maybe if every teacher only ever said my name in a nice way, I'd do better.  I mean, you can still tell me to stop doing my stupid stuff that I do for attention, just maybe don't say my name?  You can kind of look at me and then say whatever, like "Raise your hand." I'll know you mean me.I guess that's dumb, never mind. I'm just a kid, what do I know? I'm still trying to figure stuff out. but, my name is me. You say me when you say my name.     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse  blogs nonadult false You say Me, when you say my name. text blog blogs 820 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6505309 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_An-Open-Letter-to-Ed-Majors-Guest-Blog-Post/blog/6499013/127586.html I wanted to share one of the replies to my blog post on "Why I Teach". Elizabeth brings up some powerful points. I was surprised that this reasoning is STILL pervading the College of Education. What might WE do to help offset this issue?     Guest Blogger Elizabeth Anderson is an education major at the University of Toledo, specializing in English-Language Arts and Sciences. She writes the newsletter for the UT Writer’s Guild; she also runs their blog. Her own blog, Inkwell, can be found here, or you can follow her on Twitter here.   Dear fellow education majors,   I just thought you should know that you should change majors if you chose education because:   1. You hate kids but want to teach college someday.   You don’t need teacher certification to teach college; you need a Ph.D. in your area (at least to be full time). If you hate kids, you should not be a teacher.   2. You want summers and weekends off and the other benefits that teachers get.   It’s not bad to want these things—I’m looking forward to them myself. But if benefits are the only reason you want to be a teacher, you should not be a teacher.   3. You want to be paid to sit at a desk and do nothing.   YOU, you more than any of the aforementioned people who should not be teachers, are exactly the reason why the public has such a poor opinion of teachers. Teachers are not supposed to sit at a desk and do nothing. Teachers are supposed to teach. If you don’t want to teach, you should not be a teacher.   Look. It’s not that I begrudge you benefits or any easy job. But I do begrudge you a job that I actually want, for what I flatter myself are the right reasons, when you don’t actually want said job. Every time I tell people that I’m going into education, they say, “WHY? You won’t make any MONEY.” As if money is the only important thing.   I’ll tell you why.   I’m majoring in education because I like kids. While I admit that kids are much worldlier now than they were when I was a kid (much worldlier than I am now, frankly), they’re still not as jaded as adults—not as disbelieving. I’ve had kids at camp who say, “Fairies don’t exist,” but they’re not quite sure, and when I point out the glitter on the ground, their disbelief vanishes, and they run ahead to find fairies.   I love kids. You can still do fun stuff with kids.   And I chose education because I love English and biology, and I wanted to share my passion with people. I can’t think of a better way to do it. What better way to get people excited about biology than taking them out in nature and scooping up pond water to examine under a microscope? Who better to build people’s confidence as writers than someone who loves reading, writing, and editing?   But most of all, I want to become a teacher because I want to teach. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.   And if you’re becoming a teacher for a different reason—if you don’t want to teach, or you don’t like kids, or you aren’t passionate about your subject—then you should not be a teacher.   Because YOU are the reason the public turns teachers into the enemy—part of the reason—and I and people like me are going to have to fight against that opinion, and you, every step of the way.   Sincerely,   a proud future teacher     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse      I wanted to share one of the replies to my blog post on "Why I Teach". Elizabeth brings up some powerful points. I was surprised that this reasoning is STILL pervading the College of Education. What might WE do to help offset this issue?     Guest Blogger Elizabeth Anderson is an education major at the University of Toledo, specializing in English-Language Arts and Sciences. She writes the newsletter for the UT Writer’s Guild; she also runs their blog. Her own blog, Inkwell, can be found here, or you can follow her on Twitter here.   Dear fellow education majors,   I just thought you should know that you should change majors if you chose education because:   1. You hate kids but want to teach college someday.   You don’t need teacher certification to teach college; you need a Ph.D. in your area (at least to be full time). If you hate kids, you should not be a teacher.   2. You want summers and weekends off and the other benefits that teachers get.   It’s not bad to want these things—I’m looking forward to them myself. But if benefits are the only reason you want to be a teacher, you should not be a teacher.   3. You want to be paid to sit at a desk and do nothing.   YOU, you more than any of the aforementioned people who should not be teachers, are exactly the reason why the public has such a poor opinion of teachers. Teachers are not supposed to sit at a desk and do nothing. Teachers are supposed to teach. If you don’t want to teach, you should not be a teacher.   Look. It’s not that I begrudge you benefits or any easy job. But I do begrudge you a job that I actually want, for what I flatter myself are the right reasons, when you don’t actually want said job. Every time I tell people that I’m going into education, they say, “WHY? You won’t make any MONEY.” As if money is the only important thing.   I’ll tell you why.   I’m majoring in education because I like kids. While I admit that kids are much worldlier now than they were when I was a kid (much worldlier than I am now, frankly), they’re still not as jaded as adults—not as disbelieving. I’ve had kids at camp who say, “Fairies don’t exist,” but they’re not quite sure, and when I point out the glitter on the ground, their disbelief vanishes, and they run ahead to find fairies.   I love kids. You can still do fun stuff with kids.   And I chose education because I love English and biology, and I wanted to share my passion with people. I can’t think of a better way to do it. What better way to get people excited about biology than taking them out in nature and scooping up pond water to examine under a microscope? Who better to build people’s confidence as writers than someone who loves reading, writing, and editing?   But most of all, I want to become a teacher because I want to teach. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.   And if you’re becoming a teacher for a different reason—if you don’t want to teach, or you don’t like kids, or you aren’t passionate about your subject—then you should not be a teacher.   Because YOU are the reason the public turns teachers into the enemy—part of the reason—and I and people like me are going to have to fight against that opinion, and you, every step of the way.   Sincerely,   a proud future teacher     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse      Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:54:23 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_An-Open-Letter-to-Ed-Majors-Guest-Blog-Post/blog/6499013/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2013-01-15T11:54:23Z Blogs ASCD EDge I wanted to share one of the replies to my blog post on "Why I Teach". Elizabeth brings up some powerful points. I was surprised that this reasoning is STILL pervading the College of Education. What might WE do to help offset this issue?     Guest Blogger Elizabeth Anderson is an education major at the University of Toledo, specializing in English-Language Arts and Sciences. She writes the newsletter for the UT Writer’s Guild; she also runs their blog. Her own blog, Inkwell, can be found here, or you can follow her on Twitter here.   Dear fellow education majors,   I just thought you should know that you should change majors if you chose education because:   1. You hate kids but want to teach college someday.   You don’t need teacher certification to teach college; you need a Ph.D. in your area (at least to be full time). If you hate kids, you should not be a teacher.   2. You want summers and weekends off and the other benefits that teachers get.   It’s not bad to want these things—I’m looking forward to them myself. But if benefits are the only reason you want to be a teacher, you should not be a teacher.   3. You want to be paid to sit at a desk and do nothing.   YOU, you more than any of the aforementioned people who should not be teachers, are exactly the reason why the public has such a poor opinion of teachers. Teachers are not supposed to sit at a desk and do nothing. Teachers are supposed to teach. If you don’t want to teach, you should not be a teacher.   Look. It’s not that I begrudge you benefits or any easy job. But I do begrudge you a job that I actually want, for what I flatter myself are the right reasons, when you don’t actually want said job. Every time I tell people that I’m going into education, they say, “WHY? You won’t make any MONEY.” As if money is the only important thing.   I’ll tell you why.   I’m majoring in education because I like kids. While I admit that kids are much worldlier now than they were when I was a kid (much worldlier than I am now, frankly), they’re still not as jaded as adults—not as disbelieving. I’ve had kids at camp who say, “Fairies don’t exist,” but they’re not quite sure, and when I point out the glitter on the ground, their disbelief vanishes, and they run ahead to find fairies.   I love kids. You can still do fun stuff with kids.   And I chose education because I love English and biology, and I wanted to share my passion with people. I can’t think of a better way to do it. What better way to get people excited about biology than taking them out in nature and scooping up pond water to examine under a microscope? Who better to build people’s confidence as writers than someone who loves reading, writing, and editing?   But most of all, I want to become a teacher because I want to teach. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.   And if you’re becoming a teacher for a different reason—if you don’t want to teach, or you don’t like kids, or you aren’t passionate about your subject—then you should not be a teacher.   Because YOU are the reason the public turns teachers into the enemy—part of the reason—and I and people like me are going to have to fight against that opinion, and you, every step of the way.   Sincerely,   a proud future teacher     Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse      blogs nonadult false An Open Letter to Ed Majors (Guest Blog Post) text blog blogs 2313 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6499013 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-I-Teach/blog/6490004/127586.html Always Prepped, (@alwaysprepped), an awesome ed tech site, recently tweeted this question to followers “Why do you teach?”  This is my response.I can tell you that I did not become a high school English teacher because I love children. I do love children, but that’s not the reason why I do it. Nonetheless, it’s a solid reason, and I’m very glad some teachers have it—children, particularly teens, need to feel that love. Nor did I become a teacher because I love my subject. I do love reading and writing, but that’s not it either.Maybe the question is too poignant in light of the tragedy in Newtown because I keep returning to thoughts of responsibilities and rights.I teach because I feel that it is my duty to help people, particularly young people, become aware of unrealized potential, to share a perhaps previously unconsidered perspective with them, and to let them know that they are accepted (tattoos, piercings, zits, silliness, weirdness, and all). Sometimes, it seems like a one-way street, though, this teaching gig.Sometimes, I feel like I’m shouting into an abyss (not unlike blogging, really). That’s why I try to make sure that whatever I’m shouting is worthy because it might just “stick”.For example, Einstein reminds us that “We must realize that we cannot simultaneously plan for war and peace.” That’s a discussion worth having with the next generation of leaders. It’s also an analogy worth dissecting. Planning for war seems to be something our country does well. Can we even plan for peace? How? Why? What does it look like?  What do our rights have to do with peace and war? Are our rights inherent or bestowed? Who decides? Why? Where do they end and begin? We have the right to go to war, but what is our responsibility for doing so? What is the criteria? Why? If it is our right to have peace, then what is our responsibility for doing so?Where does a 'right' end and a 'responsibility' begin?  It was Mrs. Lanza’s right to own a gun and her responsibility to use it wisely and teach her son how to use it wisely. In that, it can be said that she met her legal and ethical responsibilities, her end of the deal. She taught well. Adam, her student, tragically, did not do the same.But what was she planning for? I teach because I want to hear my students' answers and thoughts.         Reference: Albert Einstein in an interview with Michael Amrine.  Published in Decision magazine and The New York Times Magazine in 1946   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Always Prepped, (@alwaysprepped), an awesome ed tech site, recently tweeted this question to followers “Why do you teach?”  This is my response.I can tell you that I did not become a high school English teacher because I love children. I do love children, but that’s not the reason why I do it. Nonetheless, it’s a solid reason, and I’m very glad some teachers have it—children, particularly teens, need to feel that love. Nor did I become a teacher because I love my subject. I do love reading and writing, but that’s not it either.Maybe the question is too poignant in light of the tragedy in Newtown because I keep returning to thoughts of responsibilities and rights.I teach because I feel that it is my duty to help people, particularly young people, become aware of unrealized potential, to share a perhaps previously unconsidered perspective with them, and to let them know that they are accepted (tattoos, piercings, zits, silliness, weirdness, and all). Sometimes, it seems like a one-way street, though, this teaching gig.Sometimes, I feel like I’m shouting into an abyss (not unlike blogging, really). That’s why I try to make sure that whatever I’m shouting is worthy because it might just “stick”.For example, Einstein reminds us that “We must realize that we cannot simultaneously plan for war and peace.” That’s a discussion worth having with the next generation of leaders. It’s also an analogy worth dissecting. Planning for war seems to be something our country does well. Can we even plan for peace? How? Why? What does it look like?  What do our rights have to do with peace and war? Are our rights inherent or bestowed? Who decides? Why? Where do they end and begin? We have the right to go to war, but what is our responsibility for doing so? What is the criteria? Why? If it is our right to have peace, then what is our responsibility for doing so?Where does a 'right' end and a 'responsibility' begin?  It was Mrs. Lanza’s right to own a gun and her responsibility to use it wisely and teach her son how to use it wisely. In that, it can be said that she met her legal and ethical responsibilities, her end of the deal. She taught well. Adam, her student, tragically, did not do the same.But what was she planning for? I teach because I want to hear my students' answers and thoughts.         Reference: Albert Einstein in an interview with Michael Amrine.  Published in Decision magazine and The New York Times Magazine in 1946   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:55:53 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-I-Teach/blog/6490004/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-12-19T12:55:53Z Blogs ASCD EDge Always Prepped, (@alwaysprepped), an awesome ed tech site, recently tweeted this question to followers “Why do you teach?”  This is my response.I can tell you that I did not become a high school English teacher because I love children. I do love children, but that’s not the reason why I do it. Nonetheless, it’s a solid reason, and I’m very glad some teachers have it—children, particularly teens, need to feel that love. Nor did I become a teacher because I love my subject. I do love reading and writing, but that’s not it either.Maybe the question is too poignant in light of the tragedy in Newtown because I keep returning to thoughts of responsibilities and rights.I teach because I feel that it is my duty to help people, particularly young people, become aware of unrealized potential, to share a perhaps previously unconsidered perspective with them, and to let them know that they are accepted (tattoos, piercings, zits, silliness, weirdness, and all). Sometimes, it seems like a one-way street, though, this teaching gig.Sometimes, I feel like I’m shouting into an abyss (not unlike blogging, really). That’s why I try to make sure that whatever I’m shouting is worthy because it might just “stick”.For example, Einstein reminds us that “We must realize that we cannot simultaneously plan for war and peace.” That’s a discussion worth having with the next generation of leaders. It’s also an analogy worth dissecting. Planning for war seems to be something our country does well. Can we even plan for peace? How? Why? What does it look like?  What do our rights have to do with peace and war? Are our rights inherent or bestowed? Who decides? Why? Where do they end and begin? We have the right to go to war, but what is our responsibility for doing so? What is the criteria? Why? If it is our right to have peace, then what is our responsibility for doing so?Where does a 'right' end and a 'responsibility' begin?  It was Mrs. Lanza’s right to own a gun and her responsibility to use it wisely and teach her son how to use it wisely. In that, it can be said that she met her legal and ethical responsibilities, her end of the deal. She taught well. Adam, her student, tragically, did not do the same.But what was she planning for? I teach because I want to hear my students' answers and thoughts.         Reference: Albert Einstein in an interview with Michael Amrine.  Published in Decision magazine and The New York Times Magazine in 1946   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse blogs nonadult false Why I Teach text blog blogs 353 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6490004 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Unfairness-of-34A34/blog/6486607/127586.html As I sit here, waiting on my essay to be returned from the online writing lab before submitting my final project, I'm struck by the unfairness of my grade in my higher-ed course. Oh, I've got an A coming, but that grade is solely due to the fact that I have a great deal of a precious resource at my disposal:  time.It's why I decided to return to grad school, actually--because I have the time. Thus, my papers and discussion posts and comments and replies are all spiffy nifty sharp and on-topic. I have fun with my assignments. I relish the reading. And, as I discovered of an online course, time = A. Time = better work, better learning, more creativity, stronger connections to the material.My classmates, who are desperately submitting things at all hours of the night, do what they have to do simply to get it done. They meet the goals, sometimes barely under the wire, sometimes late. I can imagine they have to skim the multiple chapters from the multiple texts we've had to read each week. I came to the conclusion that my A isn't fair.Is it fair that we will all be assessed with the same criteria, when we don't have the same amount of time at our disposal?For that matter, is it fair that we assess our students on the same criteria, given that they are coming at any given assignment with a host of individual needs? Now, I'm not talking about the kid who doesn't have a job (although I don't know too many high schoolers without one) or the kid who has all the latest gizmo gadgets.I'm talking about that one kid, who, if he didn't have to go to school all day and work part-time so as not to be a financial drain on his family, would be submitting creative, powerful work. Or those who lack other resources, such as family support or access to a computer. This student is submitting the bare minimum to get by. What about him?Is it fair to assess him by the same criteria, if he doesn't have the same resources?We could argue of my classmates that they should know what they're getting into. These classmates are full-time teachers, and how they'll ever get the time to complete our huge final project, I'll never know. It has taken me upwards of thirty hours or so, on top of the regular classwork. Putting myself in their shoes, I see my work as ostentatious overkill and hyper-organized. I color-coded a fifteen page template, not because I was required to, but because it looked more visually pleasing to me. (I went right-brained nuts with it is what I did.) It's feverishly detailed, but compared to those individuals who are straining simply to input the required information, I'm either setting a bar or I'm showing off. Either way, it's got to be frustrating and annoying to look at.How does that student feel who knows that if he had the time and/or resources, he'd be doing higher-level work?"They just need time-management," some may say. "We give them enough time to complete their work."Do we?Do you have thirty some-odd hours free over the course of two weeks, plus your eight-ten hour days at school, plus your regular reading and outside work to do the project you've assigned to your students?I know we want students to be creative. I know we want them to experience success. So, how can we allot them the resources they need to level the playing field?  Or, how can we better address the inequity of resources with the assignment criteria?I admire those who put forth effort in the midst of their maelstrom. Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse As I sit here, waiting on my essay to be returned from the online writing lab before submitting my final project, I'm struck by the unfairness of my grade in my higher-ed course. Oh, I've got an A coming, but that grade is solely due to the fact that I have a great deal of a precious resource at my disposal:  time.It's why I decided to return to grad school, actually--because I have the time. Thus, my papers and discussion posts and comments and replies are all spiffy nifty sharp and on-topic. I have fun with my assignments. I relish the reading. And, as I discovered of an online course, time = A. Time = better work, better learning, more creativity, stronger connections to the material.My classmates, who are desperately submitting things at all hours of the night, do what they have to do simply to get it done. They meet the goals, sometimes barely under the wire, sometimes late. I can imagine they have to skim the multiple chapters from the multiple texts we've had to read each week. I came to the conclusion that my A isn't fair.Is it fair that we will all be assessed with the same criteria, when we don't have the same amount of time at our disposal?For that matter, is it fair that we assess our students on the same criteria, given that they are coming at any given assignment with a host of individual needs? Now, I'm not talking about the kid who doesn't have a job (although I don't know too many high schoolers without one) or the kid who has all the latest gizmo gadgets.I'm talking about that one kid, who, if he didn't have to go to school all day and work part-time so as not to be a financial drain on his family, would be submitting creative, powerful work. Or those who lack other resources, such as family support or access to a computer. This student is submitting the bare minimum to get by. What about him?Is it fair to assess him by the same criteria, if he doesn't have the same resources?We could argue of my classmates that they should know what they're getting into. These classmates are full-time teachers, and how they'll ever get the time to complete our huge final project, I'll never know. It has taken me upwards of thirty hours or so, on top of the regular classwork. Putting myself in their shoes, I see my work as ostentatious overkill and hyper-organized. I color-coded a fifteen page template, not because I was required to, but because it looked more visually pleasing to me. (I went right-brained nuts with it is what I did.) It's feverishly detailed, but compared to those individuals who are straining simply to input the required information, I'm either setting a bar or I'm showing off. Either way, it's got to be frustrating and annoying to look at.How does that student feel who knows that if he had the time and/or resources, he'd be doing higher-level work?"They just need time-management," some may say. "We give them enough time to complete their work."Do we?Do you have thirty some-odd hours free over the course of two weeks, plus your eight-ten hour days at school, plus your regular reading and outside work to do the project you've assigned to your students?I know we want students to be creative. I know we want them to experience success. So, how can we allot them the resources they need to level the playing field?  Or, how can we better address the inequity of resources with the assignment criteria?I admire those who put forth effort in the midst of their maelstrom. Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:05:52 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Unfairness-of-34A34/blog/6486607/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-12-11T16:05:52Z ASCD EDge As I sit here, waiting on my essay to be returned from the online writing lab before submitting my final project, I'm struck by the unfairness of my grade in my higher-ed course. Oh, I've got an A coming, but that grade is solely due to the fact that I have a great deal of a precious resource at my disposal:  time.It's why I decided to return to grad school, actually--because I have the time. Thus, my papers and discussion posts and comments and replies are all spiffy nifty sharp and on-topic. I have fun with my assignments. I relish the reading. And, as I discovered of an online course, time = A. Time = better work, better learning, more creativity, stronger connections to the material.My classmates, who are desperately submitting things at all hours of the night, do what they have to do simply to get it done. They meet the goals, sometimes barely under the wire, sometimes late. I can imagine they have to skim the multiple chapters from the multiple texts we've had to read each week. I came to the conclusion that my A isn't fair.Is it fair that we will all be assessed with the same criteria, when we don't have the same amount of time at our disposal?For that matter, is it fair that we assess our students on the same criteria, given that they are coming at any given assignment with a host of individual needs? Now, I'm not talking about the kid who doesn't have a job (although I don't know too many high schoolers without one) or the kid who has all the latest gizmo gadgets.I'm talking about that one kid, who, if he didn't have to go to school all day and work part-time so as not to be a financial drain on his family, would be submitting creative, powerful work. Or those who lack other resources, such as family support or access to a computer. This student is submitting the bare minimum to get by. What about him?Is it fair to assess him by the same criteria, if he doesn't have the same resources?We could argue of my classmates that they should know what they're getting into. These classmates are full-time teachers, and how they'll ever get the time to complete our huge final project, I'll never know. It has taken me upwards of thirty hours or so, on top of the regular classwork. Putting myself in their shoes, I see my work as ostentatious overkill and hyper-organized. I color-coded a fifteen page template, not because I was required to, but because it looked more visually pleasing to me. (I went right-brained nuts with it is what I did.) It's feverishly detailed, but compared to those individuals who are straining simply to input the required information, I'm either setting a bar or I'm showing off. Either way, it's got to be frustrating and annoying to look at.How does that student feel who knows that if he had the time and/or resources, he'd be doing higher-level work?"They just need time-management," some may say. "We give them enough time to complete their work."Do we?Do you have thirty some-odd hours free over the course of two weeks, plus your eight-ten hour days at school, plus your regular reading and outside work to do the project you've assigned to your students?I know we want students to be creative. I know we want them to experience success. So, how can we allot them the resources they need to level the playing field?  Or, how can we better address the inequity of resources with the assignment criteria?I admire those who put forth effort in the midst of their maelstrom. Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse nonadult false The Unfairness of "A" text blog 313 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 0 6486607 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Motivating-Teens-to-Research/blog/6481825/127586.html Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001) found that student achievement can increase when teachers show the relationship between an increase in effort to an increase in success. However, at the adolescent stage, the explicit illustration or discussion of this topic would most likely disengage at-risk learners who deem themselves (or have been deemed as) low-achievers. The condescension of the topic is off-putting, particularly for upperclassmen. In order to avoid coming across as “preachy”—which is very unproductive with teens—the secondary educator has to think more peripherally.In order to support an upper-level learning environment, high-school teachers must consider the foundation of what drives effort or creates it in the first place: intrinsic motivation . Without intrinsic motivation, effort is merely compliance; thus, motivation must come first. Easier said than done with a group of adolescents who’d really rather be playing video games. How does one build intrinsic motivation in teenagers, particularly in a project that spans weeks of preparation and looks suspiciously like a research paper?One way to implement the strategy may be found in ourselves as “Teachers with high self-efficacy create mastery experiences for their students. Those beset by self-doubts construct classroom environments that are likely to undermine students’ judgments of their abilities and their cognitive development” (Gibson & Dembo, 1984; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990 as cited in Pajares & Urdan, 2006, p. 11). How's your self-efficacy level these days?In a Research Paper Unit, then, it stands to reason that I should parallel the students’ efforts, working alongside them from start to finish. I.e. Completing my own research project, warts and all. Schunk (1991) echoes this thinking: “Classroom models—teacher and peer—are important sources of vicarious efficacy information; observing others succeed can convey to observers that they too are capable” (p. 216). Determining a problem that I really want to solve and working through my analysis of what causes the problem will help them see that not all ideas work right away nor will I necessarily be successful at all I attempt. Further, watching the messiness of research and problem-solving will help undercut the strange notion that some students have that everything should be “perfect” right away. Rather, it’s the thinking that matters, first, followed by a polishing later.Another approach to consider in a research unit is the integration of a reflection component of the project.  To understand their self-efficacy, teens have to figure out where they are, where they're going, and where they want to be.  Collins (1982) found that “self efficacy predicts motivation and achievement across levels of student ability” (as cited in Schunk 220). Thus, how the student judges his or her ability directly correlates to the success of the outcome and the depth of learning.Additionally, tapping into the students’ perceptions of self-efficacy as it pertains to their projects would help them see that they are, indeed, making progress as Schunk (1991) advocates: “Motivation is enhanced when students perceive they are making progress in learning (p. 209). Identifying the more difficult performance tasks and providing a booster shot of motivation/self-efficacy right before those tasks may help offset potential issues with laziness, apathy, or dwindling self-efficacy.Addressing failure, what I call the “elephant in the room”, connects to all of these topics of effort, motivation, and self-efficacy. Failure has a bad reputation in the classroom, and dispelling it as such may actually contribute to effort. Kapur and Bielaczyc (2012) found that under different conditions a teaching method that involves invention and productive failure is more effective than direct instruction. The method requires students to struggle to figure out how to solve novel problems before they are given the solution. In their abstract, they note:Despite seemingly failing in their problem-solving efforts, [productive failure] students significantly outperformed [direct instruction] students on the well-structured and complex problems on the posttest. They also demonstrated greater representation flexibility in solving average speed problems involving graphical representations, a representation that was not targeted during instruction. (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012)How to deal with failure or the usefulness of failure, as a discussion, as opposed to the value of effort, may engage adolescent learners more authentically. It is a life skill and, most likely, would work best right after a student reflection on initial self-efficacy and before moving into research.Although reward for effort and recognition of effort are effective strategies, in general, I do find that with teenagers, the act of doing so is not unlike walking on a tightrope. Things may go well at first, then, the wobbling starts. What then? The weakness to the strategy is found in what it doesn’t do: help students embrace intrinsic motivation. In his powerful TED talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, Dan Pink links motivation for performance to an economic model, but his findings can easily relate to students and speak to the weakness of the strategy.Depending on the task, Pink (2009) asserts, the incentive may not work and may cause harm. For 21st Century tasks, which require less narrow and more abstract, right brain, conceptual, creative thinking, incentive slows workers down. If/then rewards work well for simple tasks and easy rules because “rewards narrow focus and concentrate the mind” (Pink, 2009). If the person can see the goal—incentive works. For a more complex, multi-step problem, rewards as motivation narrow possibilities. Given that a research project is not a simple or narrow task, providing concrete symbols for recognition may not work and may negate the effort.Schunk (1991) also found that performance-contingent rewards for solving a math problem resulted in enhanced motivation. However, task-contingent rewards, such as participation, didn’t (p. 219). Again, the narrowness of the task seems to make a difference in the choice to include any sort of incentive as a motivator. My goal is for students to find or arrive at a sense of self-motivation and self-recognition as well as an enhanced self-efficacy. I don’t want them to think with blinders on or to “get” the trinket (whether symbolic or tangible). I want them to recognize their own effort.All in all, I know the strategy of recognizing effort is worthwhile. However, its application for today’s adolescents requires a bit more tact and precision than presented in Marzano et al. (2001).     Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   ReferencesGlucksberg, Sam. (1962). The influence of strength of drive on functional fixedness and perceptual recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63 (1), 36-41. doi: 10.1037/h0044683Kapur, M. & Bielaczyc, K. (2012). Designing for Productive Failure. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21 (1), 45-83. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2011.591717Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001) Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Pajares, F. & Urdan, T. (2006). Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Pink, D. (July 2009) The puzzle of motivation. [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.htmlSchunk, D. H. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26 (3& 4), 207-231.  Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001) found that student achievement can increase when teachers show the relationship between an increase in effort to an increase in success. However, at the adolescent stage, the explicit illustration or discussion of this topic would most likely disengage at-risk learners who deem themselves (or have been deemed as) low-achievers. The condescension of the topic is off-putting, particularly for upperclassmen. In order to avoid coming across as “preachy”—which is very unproductive with teens—the secondary educator has to think more peripherally.In order to support an upper-level learning environment, high-school teachers must consider the foundation of what drives effort or creates it in the first place: intrinsic motivation . Without intrinsic motivation, effort is merely compliance; thus, motivation must come first. Easier said than done with a group of adolescents who’d really rather be playing video games. How does one build intrinsic motivation in teenagers, particularly in a project that spans weeks of preparation and looks suspiciously like a research paper?One way to implement the strategy may be found in ourselves as “Teachers with high self-efficacy create mastery experiences for their students. Those beset by self-doubts construct classroom environments that are likely to undermine students’ judgments of their abilities and their cognitive development” (Gibson & Dembo, 1984; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990 as cited in Pajares & Urdan, 2006, p. 11). How's your self-efficacy level these days?In a Research Paper Unit, then, it stands to reason that I should parallel the students’ efforts, working alongside them from start to finish. I.e. Completing my own research project, warts and all. Schunk (1991) echoes this thinking: “Classroom models—teacher and peer—are important sources of vicarious efficacy information; observing others succeed can convey to observers that they too are capable” (p. 216). Determining a problem that I really want to solve and working through my analysis of what causes the problem will help them see that not all ideas work right away nor will I necessarily be successful at all I attempt. Further, watching the messiness of research and problem-solving will help undercut the strange notion that some students have that everything should be “perfect” right away. Rather, it’s the thinking that matters, first, followed by a polishing later.Another approach to consider in a research unit is the integration of a reflection component of the project.  To understand their self-efficacy, teens have to figure out where they are, where they're going, and where they want to be.  Collins (1982) found that “self efficacy predicts motivation and achievement across levels of student ability” (as cited in Schunk 220). Thus, how the student judges his or her ability directly correlates to the success of the outcome and the depth of learning.Additionally, tapping into the students’ perceptions of self-efficacy as it pertains to their projects would help them see that they are, indeed, making progress as Schunk (1991) advocates: “Motivation is enhanced when students perceive they are making progress in learning (p. 209). Identifying the more difficult performance tasks and providing a booster shot of motivation/self-efficacy right before those tasks may help offset potential issues with laziness, apathy, or dwindling self-efficacy.Addressing failure, what I call the “elephant in the room”, connects to all of these topics of effort, motivation, and self-efficacy. Failure has a bad reputation in the classroom, and dispelling it as such may actually contribute to effort. Kapur and Bielaczyc (2012) found that under different conditions a teaching method that involves invention and productive failure is more effective than direct instruction. The method requires students to struggle to figure out how to solve novel problems before they are given the solution. In their abstract, they note:Despite seemingly failing in their problem-solving efforts, [productive failure] students significantly outperformed [direct instruction] students on the well-structured and complex problems on the posttest. They also demonstrated greater representation flexibility in solving average speed problems involving graphical representations, a representation that was not targeted during instruction. (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012)How to deal with failure or the usefulness of failure, as a discussion, as opposed to the value of effort, may engage adolescent learners more authentically. It is a life skill and, most likely, would work best right after a student reflection on initial self-efficacy and before moving into research.Although reward for effort and recognition of effort are effective strategies, in general, I do find that with teenagers, the act of doing so is not unlike walking on a tightrope. Things may go well at first, then, the wobbling starts. What then? The weakness to the strategy is found in what it doesn’t do: help students embrace intrinsic motivation. In his powerful TED talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, Dan Pink links motivation for performance to an economic model, but his findings can easily relate to students and speak to the weakness of the strategy.Depending on the task, Pink (2009) asserts, the incentive may not work and may cause harm. For 21st Century tasks, which require less narrow and more abstract, right brain, conceptual, creative thinking, incentive slows workers down. If/then rewards work well for simple tasks and easy rules because “rewards narrow focus and concentrate the mind” (Pink, 2009). If the person can see the goal—incentive works. For a more complex, multi-step problem, rewards as motivation narrow possibilities. Given that a research project is not a simple or narrow task, providing concrete symbols for recognition may not work and may negate the effort.Schunk (1991) also found that performance-contingent rewards for solving a math problem resulted in enhanced motivation. However, task-contingent rewards, such as participation, didn’t (p. 219). Again, the narrowness of the task seems to make a difference in the choice to include any sort of incentive as a motivator. My goal is for students to find or arrive at a sense of self-motivation and self-recognition as well as an enhanced self-efficacy. I don’t want them to think with blinders on or to “get” the trinket (whether symbolic or tangible). I want them to recognize their own effort.All in all, I know the strategy of recognizing effort is worthwhile. However, its application for today’s adolescents requires a bit more tact and precision than presented in Marzano et al. (2001).     Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   ReferencesGlucksberg, Sam. (1962). The influence of strength of drive on functional fixedness and perceptual recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63 (1), 36-41. doi: 10.1037/h0044683Kapur, M. & Bielaczyc, K. (2012). Designing for Productive Failure. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21 (1), 45-83. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2011.591717Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001) Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Pajares, F. & Urdan, T. (2006). Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Pink, D. (July 2009) The puzzle of motivation. [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.htmlSchunk, D. H. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26 (3& 4), 207-231.  Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:59:05 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Motivating-Teens-to-Research/blog/6481825/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-12-01T13:59:05Z Blogs ASCD EDge Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001) found that student achievement can increase when teachers show the relationship between an increase in effort to an increase in success. However, at the adolescent stage, the explicit illustration or discussion of this topic would most likely disengage at-risk learners who deem themselves (or have been deemed as) low-achievers. The condescension of the topic is off-putting, particularly for upperclassmen. In order to avoid coming across as “preachy”—which is very unproductive with teens—the secondary educator has to think more peripherally.In order to support an upper-level learning environment, high-school teachers must consider the foundation of what drives effort or creates it in the first place: intrinsic motivation . Without intrinsic motivation, effort is merely compliance; thus, motivation must come first. Easier said than done with a group of adolescents who’d really rather be playing video games. How does one build intrinsic motivation in teenagers, particularly in a project that spans weeks of preparation and looks suspiciously like a research paper?One way to implement the strategy may be found in ourselves as “Teachers with high self-efficacy create mastery experiences for their students. Those beset by self-doubts construct classroom environments that are likely to undermine students’ judgments of their abilities and their cognitive development” (Gibson & Dembo, 1984; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990 as cited in Pajares & Urdan, 2006, p. 11). How's your self-efficacy level these days?In a Research Paper Unit, then, it stands to reason that I should parallel the students’ efforts, working alongside them from start to finish. I.e. Completing my own research project, warts and all. Schunk (1991) echoes this thinking: “Classroom models—teacher and peer—are important sources of vicarious efficacy information; observing others succeed can convey to observers that they too are capable” (p. 216). Determining a problem that I really want to solve and working through my analysis of what causes the problem will help them see that not all ideas work right away nor will I necessarily be successful at all I attempt. Further, watching the messiness of research and problem-solving will help undercut the strange notion that some students have that everything should be “perfect” right away. Rather, it’s the thinking that matters, first, followed by a polishing later.Another approach to consider in a research unit is the integration of a reflection component of the project.  To understand their self-efficacy, teens have to figure out where they are, where they're going, and where they want to be.  Collins (1982) found that “self efficacy predicts motivation and achievement across levels of student ability” (as cited in Schunk 220). Thus, how the student judges his or her ability directly correlates to the success of the outcome and the depth of learning.Additionally, tapping into the students’ perceptions of self-efficacy as it pertains to their projects would help them see that they are, indeed, making progress as Schunk (1991) advocates: “Motivation is enhanced when students perceive they are making progress in learning (p. 209). Identifying the more difficult performance tasks and providing a booster shot of motivation/self-efficacy right before those tasks may help offset potential issues with laziness, apathy, or dwindling self-efficacy.Addressing failure, what I call the “elephant in the room”, connects to all of these topics of effort, motivation, and self-efficacy. Failure has a bad reputation in the classroom, and dispelling it as such may actually contribute to effort. Kapur and Bielaczyc (2012) found that under different conditions a teaching method that involves invention and productive failure is more effective than direct instruction. The method requires students to struggle to figure out how to solve novel problems before they are given the solution. In their abstract, they note:Despite seemingly failing in their problem-solving efforts, [productive failure] students significantly outperformed [direct instruction] students on the well-structured and complex problems on the posttest. They also demonstrated greater representation flexibility in solving average speed problems involving graphical representations, a representation that was not targeted during instruction. (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012)How to deal with failure or the usefulness of failure, as a discussion, as opposed to the value of effort, may engage adolescent learners more authentically. It is a life skill and, most likely, would work best right after a student reflection on initial self-efficacy and before moving into research.Although reward for effort and recognition of effort are effective strategies, in general, I do find that with teenagers, the act of doing so is not unlike walking on a tightrope. Things may go well at first, then, the wobbling starts. What then? The weakness to the strategy is found in what it doesn’t do: help students embrace intrinsic motivation. In his powerful TED talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, Dan Pink links motivation for performance to an economic model, but his findings can easily relate to students and speak to the weakness of the strategy.Depending on the task, Pink (2009) asserts, the incentive may not work and may cause harm. For 21st Century tasks, which require less narrow and more abstract, right brain, conceptual, creative thinking, incentive slows workers down. If/then rewards work well for simple tasks and easy rules because “rewards narrow focus and concentrate the mind” (Pink, 2009). If the person can see the goal—incentive works. For a more complex, multi-step problem, rewards as motivation narrow possibilities. Given that a research project is not a simple or narrow task, providing concrete symbols for recognition may not work and may negate the effort.Schunk (1991) also found that performance-contingent rewards for solving a math problem resulted in enhanced motivation. However, task-contingent rewards, such as participation, didn’t (p. 219). Again, the narrowness of the task seems to make a difference in the choice to include any sort of incentive as a motivator. My goal is for students to find or arrive at a sense of self-motivation and self-recognition as well as an enhanced self-efficacy. I don’t want them to think with blinders on or to “get” the trinket (whether symbolic or tangible). I want them to recognize their own effort.All in all, I know the strategy of recognizing effort is worthwhile. However, its application for today’s adolescents requires a bit more tact and precision than presented in Marzano et al. (2001).     Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   ReferencesGlucksberg, Sam. (1962). The influence of strength of drive on functional fixedness and perceptual recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63 (1), 36-41. doi: 10.1037/h0044683Kapur, M. & Bielaczyc, K. (2012). Designing for Productive Failure. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21 (1), 45-83. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2011.591717Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001) Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Pajares, F. & Urdan, T. (2006). Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Pink, D. (July 2009) The puzzle of motivation. [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.htmlSchunk, D. H. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26 (3& 4), 207-231.  blogs nonadult false Motivating Teens to Research text blog blogs 530 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6481825 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_How-Improv-can-Help-Students-Transfer-Understanding/blog/6470193/127586.html How Improv can Help Students Transfer Skills Improv is one of the best ways to see the brain working-making connections and inferences, based on understandings and knowledge. Whose Line is it Anyway? is a show that fully rests on its participants' ability to improvise scenes, characters, and plotlines. No scripts, no memorization. On Bloom's taxonomy, the results of this type of performance are indicative of the highest intellectual behaviors, namely creating, analyzing, and applying. While there are a few regular participants on the American version of the show, most notably Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, guest participants keep things fresh. What makes this show work, though, is the fact that its primary participants have the ability to access and recall information at lightening speed. Their respective repertoires, particularly Mochrie's ability to synthesize literary and cinematic genres, Stile's ability to portray and/or mimic a character or actor, and Brady's musical adroitness, reflect a vast amount of knowledge.  In the video excerpt, the structure, "Scenes From a Hat", finds guest Robin Williams joining the crew. As you view the video, pay particular attention to the scene "World's Worst Subject for an Interpretive Dance".  In this particular scene, participants have to make choices that convey at least three of the facets of understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005,pp. 85-103) in order to satisfy the prompt: interpretation, application, and empathy. In order to provide his interpretation, Ryan conveys his understanding of the concept of interpretive dance (a style that seeks to express human conditions or situations) and does so through his empathetic subject, diarrhea, as the expression. He makes this choice in three seconds. It is this ability to reach into the brain's already existent body of knowledge to express that knowledge in a new and different way that we want students to be able to do, isn't it? The biggest issue is not that we're not teaching students the "What" of the curricula or the standards. We've got that handled! It is that we sometimes forget to teach them how to use what they know in different situations, what Wiggins & McTighe refer to as "transfer" (p. 78). Much like the muscles in our body that we have "train", we can also train the brain to more effectively and expediently find/locate/access information already stored . And we can do it using these improv structures. Consider also the collaborative potential, which requires acute awareness of a situation--a valuable skill for a reading passage or math problem and a standard for improv performance. Robin specifically seizes upon Ryan's choice of a body function to express a body non-function--impotence.  Most likely, he also does this in three seconds as well, but he appropriately and professionally "holds" for laughter and applause. Then, Wayne immerses himself in the scene by acknowledging Robin's perspective as the "impotent entity"and he, Wayne, as the "owner"--three seconds. Robin has to acknowledge the shift to one of collaboration, which he does when Wayne touches him, and the two then convey a dual connection to dance by applying a (albeit not very graceful) ballet-type exit.  Can improv be used in the classroom? Absolutely. It may require a bit of establishment of protocol (e.g., in our Theatre classes we had the No P-Rule: No Profanity or Pornography), depending on your level of students. But imagine this:Explaining a concept to students and creating "Scenes From a Hat" that would require them to use their knowledge of that concept. Recently, for example, I observed a Biology Class that discussed endocytosis and exocytosis. Imagine students prompted with something like, "World's Worst Cell Membrane". In order to satisfy the prompt, they'd have to access their understanding of the fluidity of the membrane and seek to do the opposite. What I'd recommend (based on my experiences with varying degrees of student confidence at doing these sorts of things) is putting students into two or three groups and having them do a few rounds of the structure using scenes or props that you have selected. That way, the sense of "all eyes on me" isn't so profound. Then, you can have volunteers do a few rounds for the class on the "fun" topics, followed by the "real" concepts you want to them to understand. What naturally occurs is that those observing soon turn their thinking towards the prompt as opposed to just "watching". That is, they begin to make the choices they would use IF they were performing.  What I would inevitably hear from those observing to those performing was "Why didn't you___?" The ability to think quickly, coupled with the kinesthetics of this approach, will most certainly have all students authentically engaged, and if you develop your topics well, also conveying a depth of understanding. "Scenes From a Hat" is only one of many structures. Taking a few moments out of your day to watch a few videos from this show will no doubt give you some more ideas!  Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.   Mindy Keller-Kyriakides is the author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents: Defining the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers.  Become part of the conversation! Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     How Improv can Help Students Transfer Skills Improv is one of the best ways to see the brain working-making connections and inferences, based on understandings and knowledge. Whose Line is it Anyway? is a show that fully rests on its participants' ability to improvise scenes, characters, and plotlines. No scripts, no memorization. On Bloom's taxonomy, the results of this type of performance are indicative of the highest intellectual behaviors, namely creating, analyzing, and applying. While there are a few regular participants on the American version of the show, most notably Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, guest participants keep things fresh. What makes this show work, though, is the fact that its primary participants have the ability to access and recall information at lightening speed. Their respective repertoires, particularly Mochrie's ability to synthesize literary and cinematic genres, Stile's ability to portray and/or mimic a character or actor, and Brady's musical adroitness, reflect a vast amount of knowledge.  In the video excerpt, the structure, "Scenes From a Hat", finds guest Robin Williams joining the crew. As you view the video, pay particular attention to the scene "World's Worst Subject for an Interpretive Dance".  In this particular scene, participants have to make choices that convey at least three of the facets of understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005,pp. 85-103) in order to satisfy the prompt: interpretation, application, and empathy. In order to provide his interpretation, Ryan conveys his understanding of the concept of interpretive dance (a style that seeks to express human conditions or situations) and does so through his empathetic subject, diarrhea, as the expression. He makes this choice in three seconds. It is this ability to reach into the brain's already existent body of knowledge to express that knowledge in a new and different way that we want students to be able to do, isn't it? The biggest issue is not that we're not teaching students the "What" of the curricula or the standards. We've got that handled! It is that we sometimes forget to teach them how to use what they know in different situations, what Wiggins & McTighe refer to as "transfer" (p. 78). Much like the muscles in our body that we have "train", we can also train the brain to more effectively and expediently find/locate/access information already stored . And we can do it using these improv structures. Consider also the collaborative potential, which requires acute awareness of a situation--a valuable skill for a reading passage or math problem and a standard for improv performance. Robin specifically seizes upon Ryan's choice of a body function to express a body non-function--impotence.  Most likely, he also does this in three seconds as well, but he appropriately and professionally "holds" for laughter and applause. Then, Wayne immerses himself in the scene by acknowledging Robin's perspective as the "impotent entity"and he, Wayne, as the "owner"--three seconds. Robin has to acknowledge the shift to one of collaboration, which he does when Wayne touches him, and the two then convey a dual connection to dance by applying a (albeit not very graceful) ballet-type exit.  Can improv be used in the classroom? Absolutely. It may require a bit of establishment of protocol (e.g., in our Theatre classes we had the No P-Rule: No Profanity or Pornography), depending on your level of students. But imagine this:Explaining a concept to students and creating "Scenes From a Hat" that would require them to use their knowledge of that concept. Recently, for example, I observed a Biology Class that discussed endocytosis and exocytosis. Imagine students prompted with something like, "World's Worst Cell Membrane". In order to satisfy the prompt, they'd have to access their understanding of the fluidity of the membrane and seek to do the opposite. What I'd recommend (based on my experiences with varying degrees of student confidence at doing these sorts of things) is putting students into two or three groups and having them do a few rounds of the structure using scenes or props that you have selected. That way, the sense of "all eyes on me" isn't so profound. Then, you can have volunteers do a few rounds for the class on the "fun" topics, followed by the "real" concepts you want to them to understand. What naturally occurs is that those observing soon turn their thinking towards the prompt as opposed to just "watching". That is, they begin to make the choices they would use IF they were performing.  What I would inevitably hear from those observing to those performing was "Why didn't you___?" The ability to think quickly, coupled with the kinesthetics of this approach, will most certainly have all students authentically engaged, and if you develop your topics well, also conveying a depth of understanding. "Scenes From a Hat" is only one of many structures. Taking a few moments out of your day to watch a few videos from this show will no doubt give you some more ideas!  Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.   Mindy Keller-Kyriakides is the author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents: Defining the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers.  Become part of the conversation! Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:25:20 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_How-Improv-can-Help-Students-Transfer-Understanding/blog/6470193/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-11-19T21:25:20Z ASCD EDge How Improv can Help Students Transfer Skills Improv is one of the best ways to see the brain working-making connections and inferences, based on understandings and knowledge. Whose Line is it Anyway? is a show that fully rests on its participants' ability to improvise scenes, characters, and plotlines. No scripts, no memorization. On Bloom's taxonomy, the results of this type of performance are indicative of the highest intellectual behaviors, namely creating, analyzing, and applying. While there are a few regular participants on the American version of the show, most notably Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, guest participants keep things fresh. What makes this show work, though, is the fact that its primary participants have the ability to access and recall information at lightening speed. Their respective repertoires, particularly Mochrie's ability to synthesize literary and cinematic genres, Stile's ability to portray and/or mimic a character or actor, and Brady's musical adroitness, reflect a vast amount of knowledge.  In the video excerpt, the structure, "Scenes From a Hat", finds guest Robin Williams joining the crew. As you view the video, pay particular attention to the scene "World's Worst Subject for an Interpretive Dance".  In this particular scene, participants have to make choices that convey at least three of the facets of understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005,pp. 85-103) in order to satisfy the prompt: interpretation, application, and empathy. In order to provide his interpretation, Ryan conveys his understanding of the concept of interpretive dance (a style that seeks to express human conditions or situations) and does so through his empathetic subject, diarrhea, as the expression. He makes this choice in three seconds. It is this ability to reach into the brain's already existent body of knowledge to express that knowledge in a new and different way that we want students to be able to do, isn't it? The biggest issue is not that we're not teaching students the "What" of the curricula or the standards. We've got that handled! It is that we sometimes forget to teach them how to use what they know in different situations, what Wiggins & McTighe refer to as "transfer" (p. 78). Much like the muscles in our body that we have "train", we can also train the brain to more effectively and expediently find/locate/access information already stored . And we can do it using these improv structures. Consider also the collaborative potential, which requires acute awareness of a situation--a valuable skill for a reading passage or math problem and a standard for improv performance. Robin specifically seizes upon Ryan's choice of a body function to express a body non-function--impotence.  Most likely, he also does this in three seconds as well, but he appropriately and professionally "holds" for laughter and applause. Then, Wayne immerses himself in the scene by acknowledging Robin's perspective as the "impotent entity"and he, Wayne, as the "owner"--three seconds. Robin has to acknowledge the shift to one of collaboration, which he does when Wayne touches him, and the two then convey a dual connection to dance by applying a (albeit not very graceful) ballet-type exit.  Can improv be used in the classroom? Absolutely. It may require a bit of establishment of protocol (e.g., in our Theatre classes we had the No P-Rule: No Profanity or Pornography), depending on your level of students. But imagine this:Explaining a concept to students and creating "Scenes From a Hat" that would require them to use their knowledge of that concept. Recently, for example, I observed a Biology Class that discussed endocytosis and exocytosis. Imagine students prompted with something like, "World's Worst Cell Membrane". In order to satisfy the prompt, they'd have to access their understanding of the fluidity of the membrane and seek to do the opposite. What I'd recommend (based on my experiences with varying degrees of student confidence at doing these sorts of things) is putting students into two or three groups and having them do a few rounds of the structure using scenes or props that you have selected. That way, the sense of "all eyes on me" isn't so profound. Then, you can have volunteers do a few rounds for the class on the "fun" topics, followed by the "real" concepts you want to them to understand. What naturally occurs is that those observing soon turn their thinking towards the prompt as opposed to just "watching". That is, they begin to make the choices they would use IF they were performing.  What I would inevitably hear from those observing to those performing was "Why didn't you___?" The ability to think quickly, coupled with the kinesthetics of this approach, will most certainly have all students authentically engaged, and if you develop your topics well, also conveying a depth of understanding. "Scenes From a Hat" is only one of many structures. Taking a few moments out of your day to watch a few videos from this show will no doubt give you some more ideas!  Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.   Mindy Keller-Kyriakides is the author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents: Defining the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers.  Become part of the conversation! Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     nonadult false How Improv can Help Students Transfer Understanding text blog 584 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 0 6470193 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Leggo-My-Ego/blog/6463341/127586.html Do teachers carry some innate sense of ego or self importance?  Do we over-reach our authority, reflecting our own personal “agendas”? I’ve struggled with these questions for the past week or so from a recent Twitter conversation. First, because it connects to my thesis on teacher identity and secondly, because I then wondered to what extent I’d allowed my own self-importance to take precedence in my choices for curriculum or coursework. Was I a complete egomaniac?  It’s taken me a while to reply because I prefer to reflect on things before replying, so here goes! As a first year teacher, I know I did that. My choice to have students perform and produce The Tragedy of Macbeth was a rookie mistake and completely self-absorbed. I wanted to show off, basically. Annnnd I did. But not before most likely crushing a few students along the way by pushing them into something well beyond their abilities. Thankfully, it turned out beneficial (the students were proud of their work), but I hadn’t considered their input enough. At the end of my second year, I began to see that high school students, when given options, were so much more enjoyable to work with! So, we had a brainstorming session about the upcoming work and vision of the Theatre department. We worked together to determine the best way to change the course and curriculum to better reflect their abilities (going forward) and the abilities of their classmates coming into the department. Garnering student feedback was the single most humbling thing I ever did. Teenagers will tell you how it is. They won’t hold back. What they wanted, they said, was more responsibility and freedom.      “Okay…so, what do I do?” I asked them.      “Give us the general idea, and if we have questions, we’ll ask.” They said.     As a result of giving them a bit more responsibility and freedom, we learned together how to forge a classroom that understood the power of mistakes and used failures to move forward. Oh, they did do some silly things—such as painting purple designs on the walls of the school—but overall, it was a successful endeavor. We were a risky bunch!  Plus, when their teacher made mistakes, it was hysterically funny. One day, as we all stood around a mis-constructed set unit that was too high to be used, solely based on the teacher’s lousy (or lack of) measurements, we were silent for a moment, hands on our hips. Then, we burst into laughter borne of humility. Wiping away our tears, we moved forward as always. My answer then, to my former Twitter-follower, is “Yes, you’re right in that we generally push our methods. However, we also have the ability to learn to do otherwise! That’s why our book is not written solely by me, but along with my students.  They were truly the authors of their class experience, so they share in its royalties.  I may have been possessed of some sort of ego at first, but they sure fixed that!   It makes sense, then, not to ram an opinion down someone’s throat without taking the time to get to know them and how they tick and what they think. The irony of this conversation and its reliance upon hasty generalization is not lost on me. Where you wished to take me, sir, may not be where I would have gone. The Conversation: He:  Read this. Perhaps you wld intrupt them and give a blessed assignment? Blog Link Me (after reading article): Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience They did gr8t but how much more could've been accomplished w/ guidance? He:  Don't you see? The adults "guidance" has a goal. Where u wish to take them may not be         where they wld have gone      “Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience." this is the adult ego/self importance I speak of.  Do teachers carry some innate sense of ego or self importance?  Do we over-reach our authority, reflecting our own personal “agendas”? I’ve struggled with these questions for the past week or so from a recent Twitter conversation. First, because it connects to my thesis on teacher identity and secondly, because I then wondered to what extent I’d allowed my own self-importance to take precedence in my choices for curriculum or coursework. Was I a complete egomaniac?  It’s taken me a while to reply because I prefer to reflect on things before replying, so here goes! As a first year teacher, I know I did that. My choice to have students perform and produce The Tragedy of Macbeth was a rookie mistake and completely self-absorbed. I wanted to show off, basically. Annnnd I did. But not before most likely crushing a few students along the way by pushing them into something well beyond their abilities. Thankfully, it turned out beneficial (the students were proud of their work), but I hadn’t considered their input enough. At the end of my second year, I began to see that high school students, when given options, were so much more enjoyable to work with! So, we had a brainstorming session about the upcoming work and vision of the Theatre department. We worked together to determine the best way to change the course and curriculum to better reflect their abilities (going forward) and the abilities of their classmates coming into the department. Garnering student feedback was the single most humbling thing I ever did. Teenagers will tell you how it is. They won’t hold back. What they wanted, they said, was more responsibility and freedom.      “Okay…so, what do I do?” I asked them.      “Give us the general idea, and if we have questions, we’ll ask.” They said.     As a result of giving them a bit more responsibility and freedom, we learned together how to forge a classroom that understood the power of mistakes and used failures to move forward. Oh, they did do some silly things—such as painting purple designs on the walls of the school—but overall, it was a successful endeavor. We were a risky bunch!  Plus, when their teacher made mistakes, it was hysterically funny. One day, as we all stood around a mis-constructed set unit that was too high to be used, solely based on the teacher’s lousy (or lack of) measurements, we were silent for a moment, hands on our hips. Then, we burst into laughter borne of humility. Wiping away our tears, we moved forward as always. My answer then, to my former Twitter-follower, is “Yes, you’re right in that we generally push our methods. However, we also have the ability to learn to do otherwise! That’s why our book is not written solely by me, but along with my students.  They were truly the authors of their class experience, so they share in its royalties.  I may have been possessed of some sort of ego at first, but they sure fixed that!   It makes sense, then, not to ram an opinion down someone’s throat without taking the time to get to know them and how they tick and what they think. The irony of this conversation and its reliance upon hasty generalization is not lost on me. Where you wished to take me, sir, may not be where I would have gone. The Conversation: He:  Read this. Perhaps you wld intrupt them and give a blessed assignment? Blog Link Me (after reading article): Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience They did gr8t but how much more could've been accomplished w/ guidance? He:  Don't you see? The adults "guidance" has a goal. Where u wish to take them may not be         where they wld have gone      “Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience." this is the adult ego/self importance I speak of.  Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:41:09 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Leggo-My-Ego/blog/6463341/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-11-13T18:41:09Z ASCD EDge Do teachers carry some innate sense of ego or self importance?  Do we over-reach our authority, reflecting our own personal “agendas”? I’ve struggled with these questions for the past week or so from a recent Twitter conversation. First, because it connects to my thesis on teacher identity and secondly, because I then wondered to what extent I’d allowed my own self-importance to take precedence in my choices for curriculum or coursework. Was I a complete egomaniac?  It’s taken me a while to reply because I prefer to reflect on things before replying, so here goes! As a first year teacher, I know I did that. My choice to have students perform and produce The Tragedy of Macbeth was a rookie mistake and completely self-absorbed. I wanted to show off, basically. Annnnd I did. But not before most likely crushing a few students along the way by pushing them into something well beyond their abilities. Thankfully, it turned out beneficial (the students were proud of their work), but I hadn’t considered their input enough. At the end of my second year, I began to see that high school students, when given options, were so much more enjoyable to work with! So, we had a brainstorming session about the upcoming work and vision of the Theatre department. We worked together to determine the best way to change the course and curriculum to better reflect their abilities (going forward) and the abilities of their classmates coming into the department. Garnering student feedback was the single most humbling thing I ever did. Teenagers will tell you how it is. They won’t hold back. What they wanted, they said, was more responsibility and freedom.      “Okay…so, what do I do?” I asked them.      “Give us the general idea, and if we have questions, we’ll ask.” They said.     As a result of giving them a bit more responsibility and freedom, we learned together how to forge a classroom that understood the power of mistakes and used failures to move forward. Oh, they did do some silly things—such as painting purple designs on the walls of the school—but overall, it was a successful endeavor. We were a risky bunch!  Plus, when their teacher made mistakes, it was hysterically funny. One day, as we all stood around a mis-constructed set unit that was too high to be used, solely based on the teacher’s lousy (or lack of) measurements, we were silent for a moment, hands on our hips. Then, we burst into laughter borne of humility. Wiping away our tears, we moved forward as always. My answer then, to my former Twitter-follower, is “Yes, you’re right in that we generally push our methods. However, we also have the ability to learn to do otherwise! That’s why our book is not written solely by me, but along with my students.  They were truly the authors of their class experience, so they share in its royalties.  I may have been possessed of some sort of ego at first, but they sure fixed that!   It makes sense, then, not to ram an opinion down someone’s throat without taking the time to get to know them and how they tick and what they think. The irony of this conversation and its reliance upon hasty generalization is not lost on me. Where you wished to take me, sir, may not be where I would have gone. The Conversation: He:  Read this. Perhaps you wld intrupt them and give a blessed assignment? Blog Link Me (after reading article): Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience They did gr8t but how much more could've been accomplished w/ guidance? He:  Don't you see? The adults "guidance" has a goal. Where u wish to take them may not be         where they wld have gone      “Would endeav. to guide them into even richer experience." this is the adult ego/self importance I speak of.  nonadult false Leggo My Ego!! text blog 153 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 0 6463341 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Of-Chalkboards-and-Laptops-and-Visual-Literacy/blog/6437681/127586.html This week, AnnMarie (co-author, former student, fellow educator) and I will be presenting a webinar  via UNC at Chapel Hill's SCALE Read. Write. Act. National Conference. Our focus is on achieving greater Visual Literacy through rhetorical analysis. You’re all invited, of course! We're "on" at 2pm EDT, Friday.   Because of the webinar, perhaps, my visual literacy senses are tingling painfully. Every image or video I watch, I consider its potential merit for discussion in a classroom. The image below came through on an assignment in one of my grad classes. We were to assume the role of a school improvement committee and present our plans for a technology upgrade.  [image]   When I first looked at this image, I thought:             Graphically, this is a “clean” image. The colors stand out very well, and it’s easy to read.    All noteworthy points to consider for a PowerPoint presentation. However, something about it bothered me. It reflects an outdated mental model—that of chalkboards, chalk, and erasers. The word “technology” on a chalkboard doesn’t work. It’s contradictory. And the use of the image reflects the author’s mental model as holding desperately onto some Norman Rockwell idealistic image of teaching.    Yes, the font is neat. Too neat. I can’t remember the last time my handwriting was that neat on a chalkboard. Yes, the image is clean. Too clean. My chalkboards hardly had any green on them at all as the dust from multiple erasures and changes created a funky nimbus cloud--that of a chalkboard in use. What’s the reality? Why do we strive so hard to avoid it?   This image, presented to an intended audience of teachers, ineffectively illustrates the argument of the slideshow, which was to encourage teachers to use more technology in the classroom. It doesn't work.   How are we going to get teachers to use and authentically integrate technology, if we insist on holding these images up as the ideal?  It’s cute and quaint, I grant you. On a subconscious level, which is where these visuals hit home, it says, "Not really. jk. Hold to tradition."    Until districts and administrators understand that teachers need specific (paid!) training in how to use the available technology, and until teachers admit that they are somewhat daunted by it and holding onto familiarity, we’ll get nowhere. And our students will continue to disconnect from what we do, noting the discrepancy between the “real” world—an ironically digital one—and our static educational world, leaving us behind in a cloud of chalk dust.   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse This week, AnnMarie (co-author, former student, fellow educator) and I will be presenting a webinar  via UNC at Chapel Hill's SCALE Read. Write. Act. National Conference. Our focus is on achieving greater Visual Literacy through rhetorical analysis. You’re all invited, of course! We're "on" at 2pm EDT, Friday.   Because of the webinar, perhaps, my visual literacy senses are tingling painfully. Every image or video I watch, I consider its potential merit for discussion in a classroom. The image below came through on an assignment in one of my grad classes. We were to assume the role of a school improvement committee and present our plans for a technology upgrade.  [image]   When I first looked at this image, I thought:             Graphically, this is a “clean” image. The colors stand out very well, and it’s easy to read.    All noteworthy points to consider for a PowerPoint presentation. However, something about it bothered me. It reflects an outdated mental model—that of chalkboards, chalk, and erasers. The word “technology” on a chalkboard doesn’t work. It’s contradictory. And the use of the image reflects the author’s mental model as holding desperately onto some Norman Rockwell idealistic image of teaching.    Yes, the font is neat. Too neat. I can’t remember the last time my handwriting was that neat on a chalkboard. Yes, the image is clean. Too clean. My chalkboards hardly had any green on them at all as the dust from multiple erasures and changes created a funky nimbus cloud--that of a chalkboard in use. What’s the reality? Why do we strive so hard to avoid it?   This image, presented to an intended audience of teachers, ineffectively illustrates the argument of the slideshow, which was to encourage teachers to use more technology in the classroom. It doesn't work.   How are we going to get teachers to use and authentically integrate technology, if we insist on holding these images up as the ideal?  It’s cute and quaint, I grant you. On a subconscious level, which is where these visuals hit home, it says, "Not really. jk. Hold to tradition."    Until districts and administrators understand that teachers need specific (paid!) training in how to use the available technology, and until teachers admit that they are somewhat daunted by it and holding onto familiarity, we’ll get nowhere. And our students will continue to disconnect from what we do, noting the discrepancy between the “real” world—an ironically digital one—and our static educational world, leaving us behind in a cloud of chalk dust.   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:41:05 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Of-Chalkboards-and-Laptops-and-Visual-Literacy/blog/6437681/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-10-31T11:41:05Z ASCD EDge This week, AnnMarie (co-author, former student, fellow educator) and I will be presenting a webinar  via UNC at Chapel Hill's SCALE Read. Write. Act. National Conference. Our focus is on achieving greater Visual Literacy through rhetorical analysis. You’re all invited, of course! We're "on" at 2pm EDT, Friday.   Because of the webinar, perhaps, my visual literacy senses are tingling painfully. Every image or video I watch, I consider its potential merit for discussion in a classroom. The image below came through on an assignment in one of my grad classes. We were to assume the role of a school improvement committee and present our plans for a technology upgrade.  [image]   When I first looked at this image, I thought:             Graphically, this is a “clean” image. The colors stand out very well, and it’s easy to read.    All noteworthy points to consider for a PowerPoint presentation. However, something about it bothered me. It reflects an outdated mental model—that of chalkboards, chalk, and erasers. The word “technology” on a chalkboard doesn’t work. It’s contradictory. And the use of the image reflects the author’s mental model as holding desperately onto some Norman Rockwell idealistic image of teaching.    Yes, the font is neat. Too neat. I can’t remember the last time my handwriting was that neat on a chalkboard. Yes, the image is clean. Too clean. My chalkboards hardly had any green on them at all as the dust from multiple erasures and changes created a funky nimbus cloud--that of a chalkboard in use. What’s the reality? Why do we strive so hard to avoid it?   This image, presented to an intended audience of teachers, ineffectively illustrates the argument of the slideshow, which was to encourage teachers to use more technology in the classroom. It doesn't work.   How are we going to get teachers to use and authentically integrate technology, if we insist on holding these images up as the ideal?  It’s cute and quaint, I grant you. On a subconscious level, which is where these visuals hit home, it says, "Not really. jk. Hold to tradition."    Until districts and administrators understand that teachers need specific (paid!) training in how to use the available technology, and until teachers admit that they are somewhat daunted by it and holding onto familiarity, we’ll get nowhere. And our students will continue to disconnect from what we do, noting the discrepancy between the “real” world—an ironically digital one—and our static educational world, leaving us behind in a cloud of chalk dust.   Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse nonadult false Of Chalkboards and Laptops and Visual Literacy text blog 560 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 1 0 6437681 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_In-which-I-argue-with-a-Tim-Tebow/blog/6419433/127586.html In a recent tweet, The Timmy Tebow brings up a valid point on the issue of priorities: Almost a billion dollars has been spent on campaign ads so far. It's a good thing schools & the economy are in great shape or I'd be mad. He implies that the spending on campaign ads demonstrates a mis-step in priority and values, but he doesn’t articulate WHO makes the mis-step. In other words, who has spent the money on the ads? Who has provided the funding for the money to be spent? I know that at least some of the money comes from voters. As of August 2012, Obama raised $348m  to Romney’s $193m so far. However, this doesn’t take into account fundraising from their parties – the Republicans have raised $239m  to the Democrats’ $210m – or the money generated by the campaigns’ political action committees (PACs) or nonprofits. (McGuiness). So, we’ve got these categories of organizations that sound so vague and general, we sometimes forget that these organizations are comprised of people. Individual people. Primary voters. When we give donations, we give an organization the right to use it however that organization sees fit to do so.  Whether we donate $3 or $3 million, our priority is made clear in the giving. Every time we choose to spend aka donate a dollar, we’re making an argument of our priority.  We do love to say that we prioritize education.  (Focusing on education as this is an education blog.) We want our students to be on “top”, but we don’t want to pay a penny more in taxes. We cannot have the educational system of Finland, for example, which provides for truly equal opportunities for students. Why? Consider these points from Kaiser’s article: Finns live in smaller homes than Americans and consume a lot less. They spend relatively little on national defense…Their per-capita national income is about 30 percent lower. Private consumption of goods and services represents about 52 % of Finland's economy, and 71 % in the US. Finns pay considerably higher taxes -- nearly half their income -- while Americans pay about 30% on average to federal, state and local governments.   Willing to live in a smaller home so that our children can have a better education? Ready to spend less on national defense? Ready to pay half of your income to the government?  No? Sorry, Mr. Tebow. Until we’re ready to demonstrate, through our choices of donation and spending, what our priorities are, then you will see millions of dollars spent on these and similar endeavors. It's far more accurate to tweet:               American voters have spent almost a billion dollars on ad campaigns so far.    Mirror site: Joyful Collapse.       In a recent tweet, The Timmy Tebow brings up a valid point on the issue of priorities: Almost a billion dollars has been spent on campaign ads so far. It's a good thing schools & the economy are in great shape or I'd be mad. He implies that the spending on campaign ads demonstrates a mis-step in priority and values, but he doesn’t articulate WHO makes the mis-step. In other words, who has spent the money on the ads? Who has provided the funding for the money to be spent? I know that at least some of the money comes from voters. As of August 2012, Obama raised $348m  to Romney’s $193m so far. However, this doesn’t take into account fundraising from their parties – the Republicans have raised $239m  to the Democrats’ $210m – or the money generated by the campaigns’ political action committees (PACs) or nonprofits. (McGuiness). So, we’ve got these categories of organizations that sound so vague and general, we sometimes forget that these organizations are comprised of people. Individual people. Primary voters. When we give donations, we give an organization the right to use it however that organization sees fit to do so.  Whether we donate $3 or $3 million, our priority is made clear in the giving. Every time we choose to spend aka donate a dollar, we’re making an argument of our priority.  We do love to say that we prioritize education.  (Focusing on education as this is an education blog.) We want our students to be on “top”, but we don’t want to pay a penny more in taxes. We cannot have the educational system of Finland, for example, which provides for truly equal opportunities for students. Why? Consider these points from Kaiser’s article: Finns live in smaller homes than Americans and consume a lot less. They spend relatively little on national defense…Their per-capita national income is about 30 percent lower. Private consumption of goods and services represents about 52 % of Finland's economy, and 71 % in the US. Finns pay considerably higher taxes -- nearly half their income -- while Americans pay about 30% on average to federal, state and local governments.   Willing to live in a smaller home so that our children can have a better education? Ready to spend less on national defense? Ready to pay half of your income to the government?  No? Sorry, Mr. Tebow. Until we’re ready to demonstrate, through our choices of donation and spending, what our priorities are, then you will see millions of dollars spent on these and similar endeavors. It's far more accurate to tweet:               American voters have spent almost a billion dollars on ad campaigns so far.    Mirror site: Joyful Collapse.       Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:25:45 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_In-which-I-argue-with-a-Tim-Tebow/blog/6419433/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-10-23T09:25:45Z Blogs ASCD EDge In a recent tweet, The Timmy Tebow brings up a valid point on the issue of priorities: Almost a billion dollars has been spent on campaign ads so far. It's a good thing schools & the economy are in great shape or I'd be mad. He implies that the spending on campaign ads demonstrates a mis-step in priority and values, but he doesn’t articulate WHO makes the mis-step. In other words, who has spent the money on the ads? Who has provided the funding for the money to be spent? I know that at least some of the money comes from voters. As of August 2012, Obama raised $348m  to Romney’s $193m so far. However, this doesn’t take into account fundraising from their parties – the Republicans have raised $239m  to the Democrats’ $210m – or the money generated by the campaigns’ political action committees (PACs) or nonprofits. (McGuiness). So, we’ve got these categories of organizations that sound so vague and general, we sometimes forget that these organizations are comprised of people. Individual people. Primary voters. When we give donations, we give an organization the right to use it however that organization sees fit to do so.  Whether we donate $3 or $3 million, our priority is made clear in the giving. Every time we choose to spend aka donate a dollar, we’re making an argument of our priority.  We do love to say that we prioritize education.  (Focusing on education as this is an education blog.) We want our students to be on “top”, but we don’t want to pay a penny more in taxes. We cannot have the educational system of Finland, for example, which provides for truly equal opportunities for students. Why? Consider these points from Kaiser’s article: Finns live in smaller homes than Americans and consume a lot less. They spend relatively little on national defense…Their per-capita national income is about 30 percent lower. Private consumption of goods and services represents about 52 % of Finland's economy, and 71 % in the US. Finns pay considerably higher taxes -- nearly half their income -- while Americans pay about 30% on average to federal, state and local governments.   Willing to live in a smaller home so that our children can have a better education? Ready to spend less on national defense? Ready to pay half of your income to the government?  No? Sorry, Mr. Tebow. Until we’re ready to demonstrate, through our choices of donation and spending, what our priorities are, then you will see millions of dollars spent on these and similar endeavors. It's far more accurate to tweet:               American voters have spent almost a billion dollars on ad campaigns so far.    Mirror site: Joyful Collapse.       blogs nonadult false In which I argue with a Tim Tebow text blog blogs 260 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6419433 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Did-Brown-end-segregation/blog/6401009/127586.html The short answer to the question posed in NBC’s Chicago Town Hall is:  No. The Brown decision did not truly end segregation. It did, however, certainly make some strides in state mandates. And as of today, at the bare minimum, all students, no matter their particular niche of diversity, have access to an education. A huge disparity still exists in the quality of the education to which they have access, however. One need only visit the public schools of Detroit and the public schools of Hartford, Connecticut to see that disparity. Despite the data on the matter, a persistent mental model exists:   Well, if an African-American child lived in Hartford, he or she would not be denied access to its public schools. Therefore, Brown has done its work.We can’t help where people choose to live. Besides, we have magnet schools that are open to everyone.  Thus, the issue of school segregation through this discipline is a mental shrug of “Oh, well…” followed by a presupposition of a “choice” and a cursory Band-Aid of “We’re trying”. The segregation today is much more sordid than in the past because it is a silent belief and noiseless assent.   Hutchens (1999) asserts that “mental models determine how we think and act” (p.65).  Unfortunately, the mental model of segregation persists in the minds of the very ones who can make a change as they fall back on the comfort of mandated legislation, arms open wide in supplication.                                   What else can we do? Dr. Chandra Gill, educator, founder and CEO of Blackademically Speaking, put it best in the town hall discussion:  “You know what's striking to me is the fact that Doctor King suggested you can legislate policy but you can’t legislate attitudes…why was Brown v. Board even necessary?”   Why did we have to be mandated to be fair? Why did we need a government entity to require us to allow all children a quality education? Brown has not ended and will not end--not until mental models that require an authority that tells us what to do and what is right shift and the attitudes make a huge adjustment.  This authority should already be IN us, not an external mandate OF us. And it isn't necessarily the loud, obnoxious, outspoken attitudes that cause the most problems. It can also be the quiet unintentional ones.  My former school, a Title urban school, was primarily composed of minority students. However, segregation did exist in the form of “academies”. There was an “Agricultural Academy” and a “Vet Academy”, for example. African-American students did not join these programs, and the smaller percentage of white students gravitated to these academies.   However, the Chorus program was predominantly African-American as their musical selections and style was (still is) religious. To what degree does a teacher overseeing a program segregate students? Did I unintentionally segregate students from the Theatre program, based on my curriculum and program choices? I can only hope that I didn’t, and at the time, I really didn’t pay attention. But the numbers of White students did exceed those of minority students.Thus, I can only conclude that I'm part of the problem and that I must, if I were to return, consciously make a change in my mental model: simply because someone is permitted to do something then everything's alright.  What Brown does remind me every time I’m asked to comment or reflect upon it is that every child deserves to go to a school that will provide them with the best opportunities in education. Every child, every school, every program.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse   The short answer to the question posed in NBC’s Chicago Town Hall is:  No. The Brown decision did not truly end segregation. It did, however, certainly make some strides in state mandates. And as of today, at the bare minimum, all students, no matter their particular niche of diversity, have access to an education. A huge disparity still exists in the quality of the education to which they have access, however. One need only visit the public schools of Detroit and the public schools of Hartford, Connecticut to see that disparity. Despite the data on the matter, a persistent mental model exists:   Well, if an African-American child lived in Hartford, he or she would not be denied access to its public schools. Therefore, Brown has done its work.We can’t help where people choose to live. Besides, we have magnet schools that are open to everyone.  Thus, the issue of school segregation through this discipline is a mental shrug of “Oh, well…” followed by a presupposition of a “choice” and a cursory Band-Aid of “We’re trying”. The segregation today is much more sordid than in the past because it is a silent belief and noiseless assent.   Hutchens (1999) asserts that “mental models determine how we think and act” (p.65).  Unfortunately, the mental model of segregation persists in the minds of the very ones who can make a change as they fall back on the comfort of mandated legislation, arms open wide in supplication.                                   What else can we do? Dr. Chandra Gill, educator, founder and CEO of Blackademically Speaking, put it best in the town hall discussion:  “You know what's striking to me is the fact that Doctor King suggested you can legislate policy but you can’t legislate attitudes…why was Brown v. Board even necessary?”   Why did we have to be mandated to be fair? Why did we need a government entity to require us to allow all children a quality education? Brown has not ended and will not end--not until mental models that require an authority that tells us what to do and what is right shift and the attitudes make a huge adjustment.  This authority should already be IN us, not an external mandate OF us. And it isn't necessarily the loud, obnoxious, outspoken attitudes that cause the most problems. It can also be the quiet unintentional ones.  My former school, a Title urban school, was primarily composed of minority students. However, segregation did exist in the form of “academies”. There was an “Agricultural Academy” and a “Vet Academy”, for example. African-American students did not join these programs, and the smaller percentage of white students gravitated to these academies.   However, the Chorus program was predominantly African-American as their musical selections and style was (still is) religious. To what degree does a teacher overseeing a program segregate students? Did I unintentionally segregate students from the Theatre program, based on my curriculum and program choices? I can only hope that I didn’t, and at the time, I really didn’t pay attention. But the numbers of White students did exceed those of minority students.Thus, I can only conclude that I'm part of the problem and that I must, if I were to return, consciously make a change in my mental model: simply because someone is permitted to do something then everything's alright.  What Brown does remind me every time I’m asked to comment or reflect upon it is that every child deserves to go to a school that will provide them with the best opportunities in education. Every child, every school, every program.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse   Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:14:11 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Did-Brown-end-segregation/blog/6401009/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-10-15T17:14:11Z Blogs ASCD EDge The short answer to the question posed in NBC’s Chicago Town Hall is:  No. The Brown decision did not truly end segregation. It did, however, certainly make some strides in state mandates. And as of today, at the bare minimum, all students, no matter their particular niche of diversity, have access to an education. A huge disparity still exists in the quality of the education to which they have access, however. One need only visit the public schools of Detroit and the public schools of Hartford, Connecticut to see that disparity. Despite the data on the matter, a persistent mental model exists:   Well, if an African-American child lived in Hartford, he or she would not be denied access to its public schools. Therefore, Brown has done its work.We can’t help where people choose to live. Besides, we have magnet schools that are open to everyone.  Thus, the issue of school segregation through this discipline is a mental shrug of “Oh, well…” followed by a presupposition of a “choice” and a cursory Band-Aid of “We’re trying”. The segregation today is much more sordid than in the past because it is a silent belief and noiseless assent.   Hutchens (1999) asserts that “mental models determine how we think and act” (p.65).  Unfortunately, the mental model of segregation persists in the minds of the very ones who can make a change as they fall back on the comfort of mandated legislation, arms open wide in supplication.                                   What else can we do? Dr. Chandra Gill, educator, founder and CEO of Blackademically Speaking, put it best in the town hall discussion:  “You know what's striking to me is the fact that Doctor King suggested you can legislate policy but you can’t legislate attitudes…why was Brown v. Board even necessary?”   Why did we have to be mandated to be fair? Why did we need a government entity to require us to allow all children a quality education? Brown has not ended and will not end--not until mental models that require an authority that tells us what to do and what is right shift and the attitudes make a huge adjustment.  This authority should already be IN us, not an external mandate OF us. And it isn't necessarily the loud, obnoxious, outspoken attitudes that cause the most problems. It can also be the quiet unintentional ones.  My former school, a Title urban school, was primarily composed of minority students. However, segregation did exist in the form of “academies”. There was an “Agricultural Academy” and a “Vet Academy”, for example. African-American students did not join these programs, and the smaller percentage of white students gravitated to these academies.   However, the Chorus program was predominantly African-American as their musical selections and style was (still is) religious. To what degree does a teacher overseeing a program segregate students? Did I unintentionally segregate students from the Theatre program, based on my curriculum and program choices? I can only hope that I didn’t, and at the time, I really didn’t pay attention. But the numbers of White students did exceed those of minority students.Thus, I can only conclude that I'm part of the problem and that I must, if I were to return, consciously make a change in my mental model: simply because someone is permitted to do something then everything's alright.  What Brown does remind me every time I’m asked to comment or reflect upon it is that every child deserves to go to a school that will provide them with the best opportunities in education. Every child, every school, every program.  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse   blogs nonadult false Did Brown end segregation? text blog blogs 297 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6401009 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_And-now-for-something-completelycreative/blog/6368987/127586.html In a conversation on Twitter, a school administrator poses these questions:                    How do we grade creativity? How do we measure the imagination? He follows up with the idea that We can "attempt to evaluate [creativity], but we can't. Imagination is immeasurable, and we are fools for trying to quantify it."In the recent push to incorporate creativity in the curriculum, we do run into trouble if we try to "grade" creativity if we define it as a product or an "end" or as a quality of being.  In that sense, he's absolutely right!My guess is that some educators may think that by adding an artsy sort of something to a unit, then, they have successfully integrated a creative component in the curriculum. I'm not saying everyone is doing that, but unless everyone understands that creativity is not a what or a thing or a project or a product, then we do run that risk. Thus, I disagree with his points, only because the working definition is flawed. Creativity is a process. It is the "how". It is the decision-making process we undergo, from start to finish. It is not the "thing" itself. With that in mind, can we authentically grade a process? Yes. If we get past the idea of evaluation as the means by which we grade this process or perhaps more specifically:  this way of doing something. Rather, if the process of the class is one of considering aloud, postulating openly, pondering, making mistakes without fear, making decisions based on mistakes, trying something out, giving it a go, attempting, and seeking, followed by another series of attempts and decisions, then as an educator, you CAN see that happening or not happening in your class.  Of far greater value is the student's ability to "see" how to work through mistakes, changes, decisions, than the arbitrary evaluation of how "good" his or her final artifact is..We CAN grade students' decision-making process. We CAN have them walk us through that process for the grade. Perhaps that's the crucial point:  we need to see them moving through the process, and if we see them moving through it, they should be rewarded points.              Teacher! I made a mistake!             Awesome, Juanita! How do you want to handle that?           You offered up a solid idea, Mark! By thinking out loud, you help all of us learn!          I saw how you worked through that problem in at least four   different ways, Xeng.  Way to go! When a student walks into a creative classroom, he or she should feel immediately ready to play with ideas and thoughts and things without fear. Only then, can we honestly say that we've integrated creativity into our curriculum.But, don't take my word for it! I base my definition of creativity on an individual who far exceeds my abilities:  Mr. John Cleese of Monty Python fame and Fawlty Towers.  Here is his video, in which he provides not only a definition for creativity but also some solid strategies for educators to think about. It's well worth your time!   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.       In a conversation on Twitter, a school administrator poses these questions:                    How do we grade creativity? How do we measure the imagination? He follows up with the idea that We can "attempt to evaluate [creativity], but we can't. Imagination is immeasurable, and we are fools for trying to quantify it."In the recent push to incorporate creativity in the curriculum, we do run into trouble if we try to "grade" creativity if we define it as a product or an "end" or as a quality of being.  In that sense, he's absolutely right!My guess is that some educators may think that by adding an artsy sort of something to a unit, then, they have successfully integrated a creative component in the curriculum. I'm not saying everyone is doing that, but unless everyone understands that creativity is not a what or a thing or a project or a product, then we do run that risk. Thus, I disagree with his points, only because the working definition is flawed. Creativity is a process. It is the "how". It is the decision-making process we undergo, from start to finish. It is not the "thing" itself. With that in mind, can we authentically grade a process? Yes. If we get past the idea of evaluation as the means by which we grade this process or perhaps more specifically:  this way of doing something. Rather, if the process of the class is one of considering aloud, postulating openly, pondering, making mistakes without fear, making decisions based on mistakes, trying something out, giving it a go, attempting, and seeking, followed by another series of attempts and decisions, then as an educator, you CAN see that happening or not happening in your class.  Of far greater value is the student's ability to "see" how to work through mistakes, changes, decisions, than the arbitrary evaluation of how "good" his or her final artifact is..We CAN grade students' decision-making process. We CAN have them walk us through that process for the grade. Perhaps that's the crucial point:  we need to see them moving through the process, and if we see them moving through it, they should be rewarded points.              Teacher! I made a mistake!             Awesome, Juanita! How do you want to handle that?           You offered up a solid idea, Mark! By thinking out loud, you help all of us learn!          I saw how you worked through that problem in at least four   different ways, Xeng.  Way to go! When a student walks into a creative classroom, he or she should feel immediately ready to play with ideas and thoughts and things without fear. Only then, can we honestly say that we've integrated creativity into our curriculum.But, don't take my word for it! I base my definition of creativity on an individual who far exceeds my abilities:  Mr. John Cleese of Monty Python fame and Fawlty Towers.  Here is his video, in which he provides not only a definition for creativity but also some solid strategies for educators to think about. It's well worth your time!   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.       Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:00:31 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_And-now-for-something-completelycreative/blog/6368987/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-09-26T16:00:31Z Blogs ASCD EDge In a conversation on Twitter, a school administrator poses these questions:                    How do we grade creativity? How do we measure the imagination? He follows up with the idea that We can "attempt to evaluate [creativity], but we can't. Imagination is immeasurable, and we are fools for trying to quantify it."In the recent push to incorporate creativity in the curriculum, we do run into trouble if we try to "grade" creativity if we define it as a product or an "end" or as a quality of being.  In that sense, he's absolutely right!My guess is that some educators may think that by adding an artsy sort of something to a unit, then, they have successfully integrated a creative component in the curriculum. I'm not saying everyone is doing that, but unless everyone understands that creativity is not a what or a thing or a project or a product, then we do run that risk. Thus, I disagree with his points, only because the working definition is flawed. Creativity is a process. It is the "how". It is the decision-making process we undergo, from start to finish. It is not the "thing" itself. With that in mind, can we authentically grade a process? Yes. If we get past the idea of evaluation as the means by which we grade this process or perhaps more specifically:  this way of doing something. Rather, if the process of the class is one of considering aloud, postulating openly, pondering, making mistakes without fear, making decisions based on mistakes, trying something out, giving it a go, attempting, and seeking, followed by another series of attempts and decisions, then as an educator, you CAN see that happening or not happening in your class.  Of far greater value is the student's ability to "see" how to work through mistakes, changes, decisions, than the arbitrary evaluation of how "good" his or her final artifact is..We CAN grade students' decision-making process. We CAN have them walk us through that process for the grade. Perhaps that's the crucial point:  we need to see them moving through the process, and if we see them moving through it, they should be rewarded points.              Teacher! I made a mistake!             Awesome, Juanita! How do you want to handle that?           You offered up a solid idea, Mark! By thinking out loud, you help all of us learn!          I saw how you worked through that problem in at least four   different ways, Xeng.  Way to go! When a student walks into a creative classroom, he or she should feel immediately ready to play with ideas and thoughts and things without fear. Only then, can we honestly say that we've integrated creativity into our curriculum.But, don't take my word for it! I base my definition of creativity on an individual who far exceeds my abilities:  Mr. John Cleese of Monty Python fame and Fawlty Towers.  Here is his video, in which he provides not only a definition for creativity but also some solid strategies for educators to think about. It's well worth your time!   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.       blogs, creativity, curriculum, integrating, into, the nonadult false And now for something completely...creative. text blog blogs,creativity,curriculum,integrating,into,the 359 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6368987 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Discussion-Forums-in-Online-Classes-Worthless-or-Worthwhile/blog/6351695/127586.html I've got a bone to pick with higher ed online education courses. Maybe it's just me, but is something amiss with how the discussion forums work?  [image] Problem: The Sunday Influx Sunday is the deadline for posting 1) an original post, and 2) two replies to two other posts.  Most of the students in the class are teachers or at least working all week, so a good number don't post until the weekend. However, we're locked out of the discussion after the deadline. Those who desire to post early have to wait; those who post late run the risk of few or no replies. The conversation stops.   Solution: Make deadline for initial post on Sunday, but make deadlines for replies the following Wednesday. Why have them all on the same day? Is that for the instructor's sake or ours? I realize having everything in a categorized little "Unit" box is all neat and nifty, but that isn't how learning works.  I want to be able to go back into a discussion later to add or retract or clarify after an arbitrary due date. My learning in Unit Four will impact my learning in Unit One.  Let us make the conversation meaningful and seamlessly integrated! Problem: Mediocre Dialogue The posts are lukewarm, with most people agreeing with each other. While it's nice to know that we all agree that parental involvement and teacher-leadership is important, where is the exigence, here? What am I supposed to learn from agreement other than, "Yay"? If I have to read another post about how someone agrees with someone else, and that's all they have to say, I'll spew. Seriously. On the keyboard. Solution: Require that replies to initial posts are three-pronged.  The poster should 1) indicate one point with which he/she agrees in either the post or article, 2) indicate something with which he/she disagrees in the post or article and why, and 3) ask the author of the post to clarify one point that is confusing or vague. That way, we avoid the "hey, aren't we all great" pablum. We're going nowhere fast. Maybe I'll find something to respond to, but I've got to wait....until Sunday, then, I'm locked out of something that's not graded anyway, which brings me to-- Problem: Discussion Assessment (or lack thereof) We aren't graded for this component of the course, but it's considered to be of vital importance. If it's so crucial, then why isn't it graded? Many of the students posting do not follow the assignment description, which leaves the rest of us in a quandary. We can't follow our reply rubric because the initial posts are not substantive. Why have a rubric at all if we're not being assessed? Solution: Stop presuming that adult learners really want to learn. What they really want is the credit, and they're going to blast through just to get it. If this part of the course is as vital as purported, then make it so. Make it a worthwhile learning experience. I'd really like to hear from some of you higher ed folks about this. I am, after all, but a post-grad wannabe.    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse I've got a bone to pick with higher ed online education courses. Maybe it's just me, but is something amiss with how the discussion forums work?  [image] Problem: The Sunday Influx Sunday is the deadline for posting 1) an original post, and 2) two replies to two other posts.  Most of the students in the class are teachers or at least working all week, so a good number don't post until the weekend. However, we're locked out of the discussion after the deadline. Those who desire to post early have to wait; those who post late run the risk of few or no replies. The conversation stops.   Solution: Make deadline for initial post on Sunday, but make deadlines for replies the following Wednesday. Why have them all on the same day? Is that for the instructor's sake or ours? I realize having everything in a categorized little "Unit" box is all neat and nifty, but that isn't how learning works.  I want to be able to go back into a discussion later to add or retract or clarify after an arbitrary due date. My learning in Unit Four will impact my learning in Unit One.  Let us make the conversation meaningful and seamlessly integrated! Problem: Mediocre Dialogue The posts are lukewarm, with most people agreeing with each other. While it's nice to know that we all agree that parental involvement and teacher-leadership is important, where is the exigence, here? What am I supposed to learn from agreement other than, "Yay"? If I have to read another post about how someone agrees with someone else, and that's all they have to say, I'll spew. Seriously. On the keyboard. Solution: Require that replies to initial posts are three-pronged.  The poster should 1) indicate one point with which he/she agrees in either the post or article, 2) indicate something with which he/she disagrees in the post or article and why, and 3) ask the author of the post to clarify one point that is confusing or vague. That way, we avoid the "hey, aren't we all great" pablum. We're going nowhere fast. Maybe I'll find something to respond to, but I've got to wait....until Sunday, then, I'm locked out of something that's not graded anyway, which brings me to-- Problem: Discussion Assessment (or lack thereof) We aren't graded for this component of the course, but it's considered to be of vital importance. If it's so crucial, then why isn't it graded? Many of the students posting do not follow the assignment description, which leaves the rest of us in a quandary. We can't follow our reply rubric because the initial posts are not substantive. Why have a rubric at all if we're not being assessed? Solution: Stop presuming that adult learners really want to learn. What they really want is the credit, and they're going to blast through just to get it. If this part of the course is as vital as purported, then make it so. Make it a worthwhile learning experience. I'd really like to hear from some of you higher ed folks about this. I am, after all, but a post-grad wannabe.    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:54:14 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Discussion-Forums-in-Online-Classes-Worthless-or-Worthwhile/blog/6351695/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-09-19T19:54:14Z Blogs ASCD EDge I've got a bone to pick with higher ed online education courses. Maybe it's just me, but is something amiss with how the discussion forums work?  [image] Problem: The Sunday Influx Sunday is the deadline for posting 1) an original post, and 2) two replies to two other posts.  Most of the students in the class are teachers or at least working all week, so a good number don't post until the weekend. However, we're locked out of the discussion after the deadline. Those who desire to post early have to wait; those who post late run the risk of few or no replies. The conversation stops.   Solution: Make deadline for initial post on Sunday, but make deadlines for replies the following Wednesday. Why have them all on the same day? Is that for the instructor's sake or ours? I realize having everything in a categorized little "Unit" box is all neat and nifty, but that isn't how learning works.  I want to be able to go back into a discussion later to add or retract or clarify after an arbitrary due date. My learning in Unit Four will impact my learning in Unit One.  Let us make the conversation meaningful and seamlessly integrated! Problem: Mediocre Dialogue The posts are lukewarm, with most people agreeing with each other. While it's nice to know that we all agree that parental involvement and teacher-leadership is important, where is the exigence, here? What am I supposed to learn from agreement other than, "Yay"? If I have to read another post about how someone agrees with someone else, and that's all they have to say, I'll spew. Seriously. On the keyboard. Solution: Require that replies to initial posts are three-pronged.  The poster should 1) indicate one point with which he/she agrees in either the post or article, 2) indicate something with which he/she disagrees in the post or article and why, and 3) ask the author of the post to clarify one point that is confusing or vague. That way, we avoid the "hey, aren't we all great" pablum. We're going nowhere fast. Maybe I'll find something to respond to, but I've got to wait....until Sunday, then, I'm locked out of something that's not graded anyway, which brings me to-- Problem: Discussion Assessment (or lack thereof) We aren't graded for this component of the course, but it's considered to be of vital importance. If it's so crucial, then why isn't it graded? Many of the students posting do not follow the assignment description, which leaves the rest of us in a quandary. We can't follow our reply rubric because the initial posts are not substantive. Why have a rubric at all if we're not being assessed? Solution: Stop presuming that adult learners really want to learn. What they really want is the credit, and they're going to blast through just to get it. If this part of the course is as vital as purported, then make it so. Make it a worthwhile learning experience. I'd really like to hear from some of you higher ed folks about this. I am, after all, but a post-grad wannabe.    Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse blogs, college, courses, education, of, online nonadult false Discussion Forums in Online Classes: Worthless or Worthwhile? text blog blogs,college,courses,education,of,online 738 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6351695 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Goldilocks-and-The-Three-Peers/blog/6336863/127586.html As we move into the school year, with all the whoopdeedo of improving professional practice, we often hear about peer review or peer evaluation.  Sometimes, this is a preset program, such as PAR. But I'm guessing that most of the time, due to lack of funding or time or energy or any combination of the three,having a peer review completed is much more informal. We're told "Do a peer review" or "Get a peer review".  However, do we take the time to determine the best representatives to call our peers, or do we just automatically figure that our friends in the faculty lounge will do just fine? It's tough to find good peers, actually. It's a lot easier to find friends. We can shoot the breeze with friends, but if the same person we see shloshed at Friday Night Happy Hour is the one who's going to observe us Monday..ermm...awkward. I also don't want my best friend (who happens to be a teacher) to evaluate my work. She's seen me through the depths of despair, emotionally and financially. She would take all of that into consideration when providing me with feedback. Not because she can't be objective, but because it's simply in our nature to be increasingly subjective with those whom we are increasingly familiar. She would either be too kind or too harsh. Choose wisely. You need peers that are...                                   wait for it... just right. For a teacher, having a peer who shares the same educational setting as you do is probably preferable. He or she knows the foundational issues that exist. That's fair. However, you may find it more conducive to have a peer review from someone outside of your department (for secondary), or from a different grade (for elementary). An English teacher might provide the most objective, productive review of a Math teacher's class, for example, and vice-versa. Math isn't my thing, so if someone explains it in a way that even I can understand, he/she is on the right track. I also like the idea of an Art teacher reviewing a Science teacher. Can you see where some potential for STEAM collaboration may lie if only for that moment, they decided to take a risk with their peer-reviewer selections? Likewise, having a first-grade teacher evaluate a second-grade teacher can work towards more authentic vertical alignment ( we see what's going on where). Would it also not be of some value for the second-grade teacher to see where her students were last year as a means to create more powerful transitions in curriculum? Thus, the observations may prove more fruitful. Another point to consider when selecting a peer is his/her contribution and participation in required Professional Development seminars. Who does the complaining? Skip them. Who sits in the back? Skip. Who talks the whole time, whether to others or to the presenter, just to hear themselves talk? Skip. You know that teacher who says maybe one thing in a meeting, but when he/she does it's a moving point or powerful suggestion? There's a peer who can provide you with an objective, thoughtful look into your practice. We had an educator who spoke out maybe three times a year in meetings, but when he did, huge things changed. He just had that knack of moving right to the core of an issue. That's a critic worth listening to. We also had a teacher who would make extremely valid points, but she would do so with such snarkiness and nastiness, no one listened to her. Don't be a masochist. Find the person who can say what needs to be said professionally and clearly and without malice.  Ask him/her to review you. Explain that you selected them specifically, and for them to do it would mean a great deal to you. I doubt you'd find anyone that, when presented with the thought that they were chosen for something, would feel anything other than flattered and pleased to do it. By using purposefully-chosen peers to review us, we will naturally improve our practice. Because we may, for the first time, be given a truly critical look at our practice.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse As we move into the school year, with all the whoopdeedo of improving professional practice, we often hear about peer review or peer evaluation.  Sometimes, this is a preset program, such as PAR. But I'm guessing that most of the time, due to lack of funding or time or energy or any combination of the three,having a peer review completed is much more informal. We're told "Do a peer review" or "Get a peer review".  However, do we take the time to determine the best representatives to call our peers, or do we just automatically figure that our friends in the faculty lounge will do just fine? It's tough to find good peers, actually. It's a lot easier to find friends. We can shoot the breeze with friends, but if the same person we see shloshed at Friday Night Happy Hour is the one who's going to observe us Monday..ermm...awkward. I also don't want my best friend (who happens to be a teacher) to evaluate my work. She's seen me through the depths of despair, emotionally and financially. She would take all of that into consideration when providing me with feedback. Not because she can't be objective, but because it's simply in our nature to be increasingly subjective with those whom we are increasingly familiar. She would either be too kind or too harsh. Choose wisely. You need peers that are...                                   wait for it... just right. For a teacher, having a peer who shares the same educational setting as you do is probably preferable. He or she knows the foundational issues that exist. That's fair. However, you may find it more conducive to have a peer review from someone outside of your department (for secondary), or from a different grade (for elementary). An English teacher might provide the most objective, productive review of a Math teacher's class, for example, and vice-versa. Math isn't my thing, so if someone explains it in a way that even I can understand, he/she is on the right track. I also like the idea of an Art teacher reviewing a Science teacher. Can you see where some potential for STEAM collaboration may lie if only for that moment, they decided to take a risk with their peer-reviewer selections? Likewise, having a first-grade teacher evaluate a second-grade teacher can work towards more authentic vertical alignment ( we see what's going on where). Would it also not be of some value for the second-grade teacher to see where her students were last year as a means to create more powerful transitions in curriculum? Thus, the observations may prove more fruitful. Another point to consider when selecting a peer is his/her contribution and participation in required Professional Development seminars. Who does the complaining? Skip them. Who sits in the back? Skip. Who talks the whole time, whether to others or to the presenter, just to hear themselves talk? Skip. You know that teacher who says maybe one thing in a meeting, but when he/she does it's a moving point or powerful suggestion? There's a peer who can provide you with an objective, thoughtful look into your practice. We had an educator who spoke out maybe three times a year in meetings, but when he did, huge things changed. He just had that knack of moving right to the core of an issue. That's a critic worth listening to. We also had a teacher who would make extremely valid points, but she would do so with such snarkiness and nastiness, no one listened to her. Don't be a masochist. Find the person who can say what needs to be said professionally and clearly and without malice.  Ask him/her to review you. Explain that you selected them specifically, and for them to do it would mean a great deal to you. I doubt you'd find anyone that, when presented with the thought that they were chosen for something, would feel anything other than flattered and pleased to do it. By using purposefully-chosen peers to review us, we will naturally improve our practice. Because we may, for the first time, be given a truly critical look at our practice.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:29:20 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Goldilocks-and-The-Three-Peers/blog/6336863/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-09-12T16:29:20Z ASCD EDge As we move into the school year, with all the whoopdeedo of improving professional practice, we often hear about peer review or peer evaluation.  Sometimes, this is a preset program, such as PAR. But I'm guessing that most of the time, due to lack of funding or time or energy or any combination of the three,having a peer review completed is much more informal. We're told "Do a peer review" or "Get a peer review".  However, do we take the time to determine the best representatives to call our peers, or do we just automatically figure that our friends in the faculty lounge will do just fine? It's tough to find good peers, actually. It's a lot easier to find friends. We can shoot the breeze with friends, but if the same person we see shloshed at Friday Night Happy Hour is the one who's going to observe us Monday..ermm...awkward. I also don't want my best friend (who happens to be a teacher) to evaluate my work. She's seen me through the depths of despair, emotionally and financially. She would take all of that into consideration when providing me with feedback. Not because she can't be objective, but because it's simply in our nature to be increasingly subjective with those whom we are increasingly familiar. She would either be too kind or too harsh. Choose wisely. You need peers that are...                                   wait for it... just right. For a teacher, having a peer who shares the same educational setting as you do is probably preferable. He or she knows the foundational issues that exist. That's fair. However, you may find it more conducive to have a peer review from someone outside of your department (for secondary), or from a different grade (for elementary). An English teacher might provide the most objective, productive review of a Math teacher's class, for example, and vice-versa. Math isn't my thing, so if someone explains it in a way that even I can understand, he/she is on the right track. I also like the idea of an Art teacher reviewing a Science teacher. Can you see where some potential for STEAM collaboration may lie if only for that moment, they decided to take a risk with their peer-reviewer selections? Likewise, having a first-grade teacher evaluate a second-grade teacher can work towards more authentic vertical alignment ( we see what's going on where). Would it also not be of some value for the second-grade teacher to see where her students were last year as a means to create more powerful transitions in curriculum? Thus, the observations may prove more fruitful. Another point to consider when selecting a peer is his/her contribution and participation in required Professional Development seminars. Who does the complaining? Skip them. Who sits in the back? Skip. Who talks the whole time, whether to others or to the presenter, just to hear themselves talk? Skip. You know that teacher who says maybe one thing in a meeting, but when he/she does it's a moving point or powerful suggestion? There's a peer who can provide you with an objective, thoughtful look into your practice. We had an educator who spoke out maybe three times a year in meetings, but when he did, huge things changed. He just had that knack of moving right to the core of an issue. That's a critic worth listening to. We also had a teacher who would make extremely valid points, but she would do so with such snarkiness and nastiness, no one listened to her. Don't be a masochist. Find the person who can say what needs to be said professionally and clearly and without malice.  Ask him/her to review you. Explain that you selected them specifically, and for them to do it would mean a great deal to you. I doubt you'd find anyone that, when presented with the thought that they were chosen for something, would feel anything other than flattered and pleased to do it. By using purposefully-chosen peers to review us, we will naturally improve our practice. Because we may, for the first time, be given a truly critical look at our practice.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse evaluation, peer, practice, professional, review, teacher nonadult false Goldilocks and The Three Peers text blog evaluation,peer,practice,professional,review,teacher 568 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 0 6336863 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Cynical-Teens-and-the-Literature-we-Feed-Them/blog/6323819/127586.html I suppose I have to preface this whole thing by saying I don't want to eliminate the use of powerful literature. I do support the teaching of works from Faulkner, Cisneros, Orwell, Walker,and many others. I'm not talking about historical selections either, by the way. We have to teach history and all the ickiness that comes with it. However, I'm sure you'll agree that most literature selections for high-schoolers (9-12th grade) are profoundly negative. They deal with negative themes, such as revenge, racism, anger, war, genocide, injustice, abandonment. Most include murders, suicides, abuse of authority/power.  Our non-fiction selections center around individuals usually in dire circumstances, who overcome those circumstances (maybe). Those circumstances generally being war, poverty, abuse, illness, and more. Even poetry selections tend to be negative. Consider these lines from Jarrell's "Death of a Ball Turret Gunner":                When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Our lesson for the day? Imagery. Apparently, as our teacher said, we were not "getting it". So, she assigned this one from our textbook. For the student to get the imagery, here, he/she has to visualize someone shot to death in WWII ball turret to the extent that the body is a mash of bloody pulp. (I mention this particular poem because it traumatized me for months after reading it.) I have to think that today's battle-weary gamer would shrug this off with ease.   Callousness is another potential issue with the negative themes and story-lines. The impact is minimal.  Murder? Pshaw, just another news story, game, movie. Somewhere after middle school, the literary tide turns to the darker side human life. One of the arguments for the selections promoted in a recent discussion I encountered was that students need to see the non-examples in an effort to get them to understand negative consequences or to create "What if" scenarios.  For example, what if so and so character had chosen to do something else (as opposed to murdering, bullying, abusing, etc.). What might be a better way to handle this situation? Of course, literature can be used this way, but I have to wonder why we can't provide them with an example of someone doing the right thing or a positive example. I have to presume this has to do with the cynicism of teens. They simply don't see people doing the right thing very often, do they?  They see adults in their lives self-medicating with alcohol, drugs. They see abuse, whether physical or verbal. They see authority figures doing the wrong thing.  They see the core of the darkness all the time. They live it.   Is the emphasis on negative themes truly helping them consider potentially negative outcomes? Or would they be better served by our providing them (at least once in a unit) with a positive text? Granted, we can only teach To Kill a Mockingbird (effectively) one time, and it is a middle-school selection. But surely, there is another Atticus Finch for high schoolers? Would they accept him/her, though, or would they sneer with derisive cynicism because nobody "really" acts this way? Does the positive message of a text get lost when a good person makes the right choices, but the problem--racism or corruption, for example--remains? What does that say about our ability to tackle the social ills that plague our cultures? If our students feel that the problems are insurmountable, and don't see the impact of small changes or ideas, then they may be less apt to even consider the "What if" scenarios. Because they might feel that doing the right thing doesn't matter anyway.  If we can, we need to help them see a much larger picture. And we're going to have to have some evidence for it. Literature may be one way to do that. I'd love for you all to share some of your literary selections that emphasize a positive example or a character making positive choices! Maybe we just need to have a few to consider, specifically for high school.      Mirror site:  Joyful Collapse I suppose I have to preface this whole thing by saying I don't want to eliminate the use of powerful literature. I do support the teaching of works from Faulkner, Cisneros, Orwell, Walker,and many others. I'm not talking about historical selections either, by the way. We have to teach history and all the ickiness that comes with it. However, I'm sure you'll agree that most literature selections for high-schoolers (9-12th grade) are profoundly negative. They deal with negative themes, such as revenge, racism, anger, war, genocide, injustice, abandonment. Most include murders, suicides, abuse of authority/power.  Our non-fiction selections center around individuals usually in dire circumstances, who overcome those circumstances (maybe). Those circumstances generally being war, poverty, abuse, illness, and more. Even poetry selections tend to be negative. Consider these lines from Jarrell's "Death of a Ball Turret Gunner":                When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Our lesson for the day? Imagery. Apparently, as our teacher said, we were not "getting it". So, she assigned this one from our textbook. For the student to get the imagery, here, he/she has to visualize someone shot to death in WWII ball turret to the extent that the body is a mash of bloody pulp. (I mention this particular poem because it traumatized me for months after reading it.) I have to think that today's battle-weary gamer would shrug this off with ease.   Callousness is another potential issue with the negative themes and story-lines. The impact is minimal.  Murder? Pshaw, just another news story, game, movie. Somewhere after middle school, the literary tide turns to the darker side human life. One of the arguments for the selections promoted in a recent discussion I encountered was that students need to see the non-examples in an effort to get them to understand negative consequences or to create "What if" scenarios.  For example, what if so and so character had chosen to do something else (as opposed to murdering, bullying, abusing, etc.). What might be a better way to handle this situation? Of course, literature can be used this way, but I have to wonder why we can't provide them with an example of someone doing the right thing or a positive example. I have to presume this has to do with the cynicism of teens. They simply don't see people doing the right thing very often, do they?  They see adults in their lives self-medicating with alcohol, drugs. They see abuse, whether physical or verbal. They see authority figures doing the wrong thing.  They see the core of the darkness all the time. They live it.   Is the emphasis on negative themes truly helping them consider potentially negative outcomes? Or would they be better served by our providing them (at least once in a unit) with a positive text? Granted, we can only teach To Kill a Mockingbird (effectively) one time, and it is a middle-school selection. But surely, there is another Atticus Finch for high schoolers? Would they accept him/her, though, or would they sneer with derisive cynicism because nobody "really" acts this way? Does the positive message of a text get lost when a good person makes the right choices, but the problem--racism or corruption, for example--remains? What does that say about our ability to tackle the social ills that plague our cultures? If our students feel that the problems are insurmountable, and don't see the impact of small changes or ideas, then they may be less apt to even consider the "What if" scenarios. Because they might feel that doing the right thing doesn't matter anyway.  If we can, we need to help them see a much larger picture. And we're going to have to have some evidence for it. Literature may be one way to do that. I'd love for you all to share some of your literary selections that emphasize a positive example or a character making positive choices! Maybe we just need to have a few to consider, specifically for high school.      Mirror site:  Joyful Collapse Thu, 06 Sep 2012 06:11:35 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Cynical-Teens-and-the-Literature-we-Feed-Them/blog/6323819/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-09-06T06:11:35Z Blogs ASCD EDge I suppose I have to preface this whole thing by saying I don't want to eliminate the use of powerful literature. I do support the teaching of works from Faulkner, Cisneros, Orwell, Walker,and many others. I'm not talking about historical selections either, by the way. We have to teach history and all the ickiness that comes with it. However, I'm sure you'll agree that most literature selections for high-schoolers (9-12th grade) are profoundly negative. They deal with negative themes, such as revenge, racism, anger, war, genocide, injustice, abandonment. Most include murders, suicides, abuse of authority/power.  Our non-fiction selections center around individuals usually in dire circumstances, who overcome those circumstances (maybe). Those circumstances generally being war, poverty, abuse, illness, and more. Even poetry selections tend to be negative. Consider these lines from Jarrell's "Death of a Ball Turret Gunner":                When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Our lesson for the day? Imagery. Apparently, as our teacher said, we were not "getting it". So, she assigned this one from our textbook. For the student to get the imagery, here, he/she has to visualize someone shot to death in WWII ball turret to the extent that the body is a mash of bloody pulp. (I mention this particular poem because it traumatized me for months after reading it.) I have to think that today's battle-weary gamer would shrug this off with ease.   Callousness is another potential issue with the negative themes and story-lines. The impact is minimal.  Murder? Pshaw, just another news story, game, movie. Somewhere after middle school, the literary tide turns to the darker side human life. One of the arguments for the selections promoted in a recent discussion I encountered was that students need to see the non-examples in an effort to get them to understand negative consequences or to create "What if" scenarios.  For example, what if so and so character had chosen to do something else (as opposed to murdering, bullying, abusing, etc.). What might be a better way to handle this situation? Of course, literature can be used this way, but I have to wonder why we can't provide them with an example of someone doing the right thing or a positive example. I have to presume this has to do with the cynicism of teens. They simply don't see people doing the right thing very often, do they?  They see adults in their lives self-medicating with alcohol, drugs. They see abuse, whether physical or verbal. They see authority figures doing the wrong thing.  They see the core of the darkness all the time. They live it.   Is the emphasis on negative themes truly helping them consider potentially negative outcomes? Or would they be better served by our providing them (at least once in a unit) with a positive text? Granted, we can only teach To Kill a Mockingbird (effectively) one time, and it is a middle-school selection. But surely, there is another Atticus Finch for high schoolers? Would they accept him/her, though, or would they sneer with derisive cynicism because nobody "really" acts this way? Does the positive message of a text get lost when a good person makes the right choices, but the problem--racism or corruption, for example--remains? What does that say about our ability to tackle the social ills that plague our cultures? If our students feel that the problems are insurmountable, and don't see the impact of small changes or ideas, then they may be less apt to even consider the "What if" scenarios. Because they might feel that doing the right thing doesn't matter anyway.  If we can, we need to help them see a much larger picture. And we're going to have to have some evidence for it. Literature may be one way to do that. I'd love for you all to share some of your literary selections that emphasize a positive example or a character making positive choices! Maybe we just need to have a few to consider, specifically for high school.      Mirror site:  Joyful Collapse blogs, high, literature, school nonadult false Cynical Teens and the Literature we Feed Them text blog blogs,high,literature,school 566 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 2 Blogs 0 6323819 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Respecting-Neanderthals/blog/6302269/127586.html First, I need to state that David Hutchens' Shadows of a Neanderthal is a lively, humorous adaptation that I do appreciate. Additionally, Gombert's illustrations are appropriately quirky and fun. I have no issue with this short text as a reader. For anyone seeking a quick grasp of the need to be flexible and open-minded, it's a wonderful choice. In fact, it would probably work nicely as a choice for high-school students, given its ease of accessibility to the morals. My issue is that it is required reading for a graduate level Education course. (Spoiler Alert) [image] It's Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". Why not just have us read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", perhaps followed by Hutchen's analysis of the principles within the text? Maybe I'm over-thinking this and shouldn't feel that my intelligence has been insulted. Really, it's as though I've been told that I'm incapable of grasping the point from The Republic. Maybe an undergrad course,sure. Maybe an organizational/leadershippy sort of course, sure. By all means, everyone should read and understand these principles. Teachers, however, particularly those working at the graduate level and no matter their content area, need to be able and expected to grapple with a seminal text. Project RESPECT, initiated by Secretary Duncan,calls for a rebuilding of the profession of teaching. I humbly suggest that one building block be avoiding the quick and easy way to one of the most powerful messages ever written.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   First, I need to state that David Hutchens' Shadows of a Neanderthal is a lively, humorous adaptation that I do appreciate. Additionally, Gombert's illustrations are appropriately quirky and fun. I have no issue with this short text as a reader. For anyone seeking a quick grasp of the need to be flexible and open-minded, it's a wonderful choice. In fact, it would probably work nicely as a choice for high-school students, given its ease of accessibility to the morals. My issue is that it is required reading for a graduate level Education course. (Spoiler Alert) [image] It's Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". Why not just have us read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", perhaps followed by Hutchen's analysis of the principles within the text? Maybe I'm over-thinking this and shouldn't feel that my intelligence has been insulted. Really, it's as though I've been told that I'm incapable of grasping the point from The Republic. Maybe an undergrad course,sure. Maybe an organizational/leadershippy sort of course, sure. By all means, everyone should read and understand these principles. Teachers, however, particularly those working at the graduate level and no matter their content area, need to be able and expected to grapple with a seminal text. Project RESPECT, initiated by Secretary Duncan,calls for a rebuilding of the profession of teaching. I humbly suggest that one building block be avoiding the quick and easy way to one of the most powerful messages ever written.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:50:33 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Respecting-Neanderthals/blog/6302269/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-08-27T11:50:33Z Blogs ASCD EDge First, I need to state that David Hutchens' Shadows of a Neanderthal is a lively, humorous adaptation that I do appreciate. Additionally, Gombert's illustrations are appropriately quirky and fun. I have no issue with this short text as a reader. For anyone seeking a quick grasp of the need to be flexible and open-minded, it's a wonderful choice. In fact, it would probably work nicely as a choice for high-school students, given its ease of accessibility to the morals. My issue is that it is required reading for a graduate level Education course. (Spoiler Alert) [image] It's Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". Why not just have us read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", perhaps followed by Hutchen's analysis of the principles within the text? Maybe I'm over-thinking this and shouldn't feel that my intelligence has been insulted. Really, it's as though I've been told that I'm incapable of grasping the point from The Republic. Maybe an undergrad course,sure. Maybe an organizational/leadershippy sort of course, sure. By all means, everyone should read and understand these principles. Teachers, however, particularly those working at the graduate level and no matter their content area, need to be able and expected to grapple with a seminal text. Project RESPECT, initiated by Secretary Duncan,calls for a rebuilding of the profession of teaching. I humbly suggest that one building block be avoiding the quick and easy way to one of the most powerful messages ever written.   Mirror Site:  Joyful Collapse.   blogs, for, profession, respect, teaching nonadult false Respecting Neanderthals text blog blogs,for,profession,respect,teaching 355 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6302269 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Do-high-school-students-possess-the-ability-to-evaluate-teacher-performance/blog/6298455/127586.html Last week, I had the joy of meeting up with students I hadn't seen in over ten years. It was a powerfully emotional moment for me as I remembered just how much I loved and liked these people. They are just...wonderful.   [image]Because our book, Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, just came out, we took some time to meet and catch up on our lives and celebrate what we had created together: our classroom experiences in English courses and Theatre courses.   From a classroom management perspective, the class functioned as a dialogue, a constant flow of What are we learning? How are we learning it? and, more to the point, How well is the teacher teaching it to me? It was constant evaluation.   Talking with students who themselves had become teachers was very cool (one is teaching in China). But what was exceptionally intriguing was seeing that our classroom dialogue had never really ended; it had just seamlessly morphed into a book.   This text is our conversation of what I did as a high school educator that worked well or epically failed.  It models our approach to projects and assignments and the dialogue.   Not everyone approves of this method, though. Stanley Fish,  professor of humanities and law at Florida International University in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, former instructor at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke University and author of 11 books--in other words, much more of an expert than me--asserts that there is danger in relying on student evaluations.   In his article, "Student Evaluations, Part Two", he assures us that college students have no business evaluating their instructors because the students really don't have the necessary skills or appropriate motivation to do so for any effective purpose.  Thus, it doesn't take a huge leap of logic to figure that he would say the same (and more vehemently, no doubt!) of high-school students.   I guess it wasn't so much that I catered to my students' feedback; rather, I listened to it. I took what was pedagogically sound and kept it. Fluffy stuff, such as "We don't want any homework" was dismissed. However, as Aristotle gently reminds us: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without [necessarily] accepting it." Isn't that what evaluation is all about, anyway?   Much like our classroom experiences together, without student input, this book wouldn’t have happened. Through Facebook, Skype, and Skydrive, we were able to collaborate virtually from across the US and internationally. We have a beautifully eclectic group in this discussion, including students who dealt with me as student-teacher, first-year teacher, and veteran teacher.  Thus, the overview readers receive spans several phases of a teacher-in-the-making.   By the time they reach high school, teenagers know the teaching business.  They know what works and what doesn’t, how to get under a teacher's skin and how to avoid doing anything. Seriously capitalizing on their input is at the heart of our conversation.   By creating a transparent atmosphere that encourages student feedback, teachers not only tap into the students’ critical thinking skills, they also strengthen rapport—a crucial component of an effective high-school classroom management plan.   Transparent Teaching of Adolescents takes the reader on a journey and time-line from before the school year begins until it ends. With so many new teachers leaving the profession in less than three years, one of our goals is to re-ignite the passion of those who find the task of teaching high-schoolers increasingly overwhelming.  Our other objective is to provide new secondary teachers with a sense of the whole of teaching before they take on class loads.   So, it's not a book about just me, the teacher, chirping out strategies for you to consider, and it's not just the good stuff. Students also examine my mistakes as both a new and veteran teacher. After all, we learn more from our mistakes, don't we?   We invite you to join our conversation and let us know what you think!    Last week, I had the joy of meeting up with students I hadn't seen in over ten years. It was a powerfully emotional moment for me as I remembered just how much I loved and liked these people. They are just...wonderful.   [image]Because our book, Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, just came out, we took some time to meet and catch up on our lives and celebrate what we had created together: our classroom experiences in English courses and Theatre courses.   From a classroom management perspective, the class functioned as a dialogue, a constant flow of What are we learning? How are we learning it? and, more to the point, How well is the teacher teaching it to me? It was constant evaluation.   Talking with students who themselves had become teachers was very cool (one is teaching in China). But what was exceptionally intriguing was seeing that our classroom dialogue had never really ended; it had just seamlessly morphed into a book.   This text is our conversation of what I did as a high school educator that worked well or epically failed.  It models our approach to projects and assignments and the dialogue.   Not everyone approves of this method, though. Stanley Fish,  professor of humanities and law at Florida International University in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, former instructor at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke University and author of 11 books--in other words, much more of an expert than me--asserts that there is danger in relying on student evaluations.   In his article, "Student Evaluations, Part Two", he assures us that college students have no business evaluating their instructors because the students really don't have the necessary skills or appropriate motivation to do so for any effective purpose.  Thus, it doesn't take a huge leap of logic to figure that he would say the same (and more vehemently, no doubt!) of high-school students.   I guess it wasn't so much that I catered to my students' feedback; rather, I listened to it. I took what was pedagogically sound and kept it. Fluffy stuff, such as "We don't want any homework" was dismissed. However, as Aristotle gently reminds us: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without [necessarily] accepting it." Isn't that what evaluation is all about, anyway?   Much like our classroom experiences together, without student input, this book wouldn’t have happened. Through Facebook, Skype, and Skydrive, we were able to collaborate virtually from across the US and internationally. We have a beautifully eclectic group in this discussion, including students who dealt with me as student-teacher, first-year teacher, and veteran teacher.  Thus, the overview readers receive spans several phases of a teacher-in-the-making.   By the time they reach high school, teenagers know the teaching business.  They know what works and what doesn’t, how to get under a teacher's skin and how to avoid doing anything. Seriously capitalizing on their input is at the heart of our conversation.   By creating a transparent atmosphere that encourages student feedback, teachers not only tap into the students’ critical thinking skills, they also strengthen rapport—a crucial component of an effective high-school classroom management plan.   Transparent Teaching of Adolescents takes the reader on a journey and time-line from before the school year begins until it ends. With so many new teachers leaving the profession in less than three years, one of our goals is to re-ignite the passion of those who find the task of teaching high-schoolers increasingly overwhelming.  Our other objective is to provide new secondary teachers with a sense of the whole of teaching before they take on class loads.   So, it's not a book about just me, the teacher, chirping out strategies for you to consider, and it's not just the good stuff. Students also examine my mistakes as both a new and veteran teacher. After all, we learn more from our mistakes, don't we?   We invite you to join our conversation and let us know what you think!    Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:38:38 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Do-high-school-students-possess-the-ability-to-evaluate-teacher-performance/blog/6298455/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-08-24T16:38:38Z Blogs ASCD EDge Last week, I had the joy of meeting up with students I hadn't seen in over ten years. It was a powerfully emotional moment for me as I remembered just how much I loved and liked these people. They are just...wonderful.   [image]Because our book, Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, just came out, we took some time to meet and catch up on our lives and celebrate what we had created together: our classroom experiences in English courses and Theatre courses.   From a classroom management perspective, the class functioned as a dialogue, a constant flow of What are we learning? How are we learning it? and, more to the point, How well is the teacher teaching it to me? It was constant evaluation.   Talking with students who themselves had become teachers was very cool (one is teaching in China). But what was exceptionally intriguing was seeing that our classroom dialogue had never really ended; it had just seamlessly morphed into a book.   This text is our conversation of what I did as a high school educator that worked well or epically failed.  It models our approach to projects and assignments and the dialogue.   Not everyone approves of this method, though. Stanley Fish,  professor of humanities and law at Florida International University in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, former instructor at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke University and author of 11 books--in other words, much more of an expert than me--asserts that there is danger in relying on student evaluations.   In his article, "Student Evaluations, Part Two", he assures us that college students have no business evaluating their instructors because the students really don't have the necessary skills or appropriate motivation to do so for any effective purpose.  Thus, it doesn't take a huge leap of logic to figure that he would say the same (and more vehemently, no doubt!) of high-school students.   I guess it wasn't so much that I catered to my students' feedback; rather, I listened to it. I took what was pedagogically sound and kept it. Fluffy stuff, such as "We don't want any homework" was dismissed. However, as Aristotle gently reminds us: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without [necessarily] accepting it." Isn't that what evaluation is all about, anyway?   Much like our classroom experiences together, without student input, this book wouldn’t have happened. Through Facebook, Skype, and Skydrive, we were able to collaborate virtually from across the US and internationally. We have a beautifully eclectic group in this discussion, including students who dealt with me as student-teacher, first-year teacher, and veteran teacher.  Thus, the overview readers receive spans several phases of a teacher-in-the-making.   By the time they reach high school, teenagers know the teaching business.  They know what works and what doesn’t, how to get under a teacher's skin and how to avoid doing anything. Seriously capitalizing on their input is at the heart of our conversation.   By creating a transparent atmosphere that encourages student feedback, teachers not only tap into the students’ critical thinking skills, they also strengthen rapport—a crucial component of an effective high-school classroom management plan.   Transparent Teaching of Adolescents takes the reader on a journey and time-line from before the school year begins until it ends. With so many new teachers leaving the profession in less than three years, one of our goals is to re-ignite the passion of those who find the task of teaching high-schoolers increasingly overwhelming.  Our other objective is to provide new secondary teachers with a sense of the whole of teaching before they take on class loads.   So, it's not a book about just me, the teacher, chirping out strategies for you to consider, and it's not just the good stuff. Students also examine my mistakes as both a new and veteran teacher. After all, we learn more from our mistakes, don't we?   We invite you to join our conversation and let us know what you think!    blogs, classroom, evaluation, high, management, school, strategies, teacher, teaching nonadult false Do high school students possess the ability to evaluate teacher performance? text blog blogs,classroom,evaluation,high,management,school,strategies,teacher,teaching 883 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6298455 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Get-Rid-of-Romeo-and-Whatsinhername-What-do-our-students-need-from-Shakespeare/blog/6216545/127586.html By the time students graduate from high school all they can tell you about Shakespeare is that they had to read Romeo and Juliet and either the "Scottish Tragedy" or Othello, generally accompanied with a rolling of eyes. Why are we so quick to load already arguably-depressed teens down with tragic Shakespeare? The recommended texts per CCSS are Macbeth and Hamlet, if you’re wondering.   If we are truly concerned with suicide ideation, bullying, and domestic abuse, then shouldn’t we move away from these darker sides of humanity in our literature choices?   The beauty of Shakespeare, we English-teacher types argue, lies in his understanding of human nature and motivation, use of poetry and dramatic structure. mmkay. Then, I humbly suggest that we use some of his comedies to share these same elements with students.  Consider A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which pulls on teen heartstrings just as much, if not more, than R and J. Imagine their reactions to Helena and her machinations, Hermia’s rebellion against an arranged marriage, the outrageously funny Pyramus and Thisby, and the perfect tying up of every plot point—all worlds, the natural, the supernatural, and the created are one.   It’s beautiful, fun, and provides students with an answer to why Shakespeare is timeless.  It answers, “Why do we have to read this?” with a chuckle and perhaps a stronger lean towards understanding his creative choices as a playwright.    That’s what we want them to understand about him… isn’t it?   Further, what does our audience of students need to read, today? What might effectively transport them to another time, place, and situation, where they might just want to stay for a while?   Some years ago, when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne plowed through Florida, we decided to cancel our theatre department’s production of Gibson’s The Miracle Worker. After six weeks of no school, we could have pulled it together with a bit less flair, but we took a moment to think about our audience.   Our intended audience was trying to get back on its feet after losing homes, loved ones, and jobs. We all had firsthand knowledge of MREs and generators, and what it was like to go without water and electricity for weeks. People fought each other over bags of ice. Bare signposts and fallen trees, blue FEMA tarps on roofs, and devastated businesses—these were the sights that greeted us on the way into school in the aftermath. That and our gym roof that had been peeled away from the building like a sheet of aluminum foil.   While Miracle Worker is a profound and wonderful play, it just wasn’t what our audience needed.  So, instead, we wrote a play: a comedy that pulled in laughter to help overcome the dark moments. A comedy that spoke to their spirits at that moment.   Comedy, and an analysis of this art form, may be what our audience of students needs. Enough what with the death and the dying and the killing and the feuding families. They’ve got that covered, I think.   Do we dare go against the tide and take a creative risk with students, or do we rest on our tried-and-true already-printed out lesson plans, literary guides, and tests for Romeo and Juliet?  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     By the time students graduate from high school all they can tell you about Shakespeare is that they had to read Romeo and Juliet and either the "Scottish Tragedy" or Othello, generally accompanied with a rolling of eyes. Why are we so quick to load already arguably-depressed teens down with tragic Shakespeare? The recommended texts per CCSS are Macbeth and Hamlet, if you’re wondering.   If we are truly concerned with suicide ideation, bullying, and domestic abuse, then shouldn’t we move away from these darker sides of humanity in our literature choices?   The beauty of Shakespeare, we English-teacher types argue, lies in his understanding of human nature and motivation, use of poetry and dramatic structure. mmkay. Then, I humbly suggest that we use some of his comedies to share these same elements with students.  Consider A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which pulls on teen heartstrings just as much, if not more, than R and J. Imagine their reactions to Helena and her machinations, Hermia’s rebellion against an arranged marriage, the outrageously funny Pyramus and Thisby, and the perfect tying up of every plot point—all worlds, the natural, the supernatural, and the created are one.   It’s beautiful, fun, and provides students with an answer to why Shakespeare is timeless.  It answers, “Why do we have to read this?” with a chuckle and perhaps a stronger lean towards understanding his creative choices as a playwright.    That’s what we want them to understand about him… isn’t it?   Further, what does our audience of students need to read, today? What might effectively transport them to another time, place, and situation, where they might just want to stay for a while?   Some years ago, when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne plowed through Florida, we decided to cancel our theatre department’s production of Gibson’s The Miracle Worker. After six weeks of no school, we could have pulled it together with a bit less flair, but we took a moment to think about our audience.   Our intended audience was trying to get back on its feet after losing homes, loved ones, and jobs. We all had firsthand knowledge of MREs and generators, and what it was like to go without water and electricity for weeks. People fought each other over bags of ice. Bare signposts and fallen trees, blue FEMA tarps on roofs, and devastated businesses—these were the sights that greeted us on the way into school in the aftermath. That and our gym roof that had been peeled away from the building like a sheet of aluminum foil.   While Miracle Worker is a profound and wonderful play, it just wasn’t what our audience needed.  So, instead, we wrote a play: a comedy that pulled in laughter to help overcome the dark moments. A comedy that spoke to their spirits at that moment.   Comedy, and an analysis of this art form, may be what our audience of students needs. Enough what with the death and the dying and the killing and the feuding families. They’ve got that covered, I think.   Do we dare go against the tide and take a creative risk with students, or do we rest on our tried-and-true already-printed out lesson plans, literary guides, and tests for Romeo and Juliet?  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:04:42 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Get-Rid-of-Romeo-and-Whatsinhername-What-do-our-students-need-from-Shakespeare/blog/6216545/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-07-09T16:04:42Z Blogs ASCD EDge By the time students graduate from high school all they can tell you about Shakespeare is that they had to read Romeo and Juliet and either the "Scottish Tragedy" or Othello, generally accompanied with a rolling of eyes. Why are we so quick to load already arguably-depressed teens down with tragic Shakespeare? The recommended texts per CCSS are Macbeth and Hamlet, if you’re wondering.   If we are truly concerned with suicide ideation, bullying, and domestic abuse, then shouldn’t we move away from these darker sides of humanity in our literature choices?   The beauty of Shakespeare, we English-teacher types argue, lies in his understanding of human nature and motivation, use of poetry and dramatic structure. mmkay. Then, I humbly suggest that we use some of his comedies to share these same elements with students.  Consider A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which pulls on teen heartstrings just as much, if not more, than R and J. Imagine their reactions to Helena and her machinations, Hermia’s rebellion against an arranged marriage, the outrageously funny Pyramus and Thisby, and the perfect tying up of every plot point—all worlds, the natural, the supernatural, and the created are one.   It’s beautiful, fun, and provides students with an answer to why Shakespeare is timeless.  It answers, “Why do we have to read this?” with a chuckle and perhaps a stronger lean towards understanding his creative choices as a playwright.    That’s what we want them to understand about him… isn’t it?   Further, what does our audience of students need to read, today? What might effectively transport them to another time, place, and situation, where they might just want to stay for a while?   Some years ago, when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne plowed through Florida, we decided to cancel our theatre department’s production of Gibson’s The Miracle Worker. After six weeks of no school, we could have pulled it together with a bit less flair, but we took a moment to think about our audience.   Our intended audience was trying to get back on its feet after losing homes, loved ones, and jobs. We all had firsthand knowledge of MREs and generators, and what it was like to go without water and electricity for weeks. People fought each other over bags of ice. Bare signposts and fallen trees, blue FEMA tarps on roofs, and devastated businesses—these were the sights that greeted us on the way into school in the aftermath. That and our gym roof that had been peeled away from the building like a sheet of aluminum foil.   While Miracle Worker is a profound and wonderful play, it just wasn’t what our audience needed.  So, instead, we wrote a play: a comedy that pulled in laughter to help overcome the dark moments. A comedy that spoke to their spirits at that moment.   Comedy, and an analysis of this art form, may be what our audience of students needs. Enough what with the death and the dying and the killing and the feuding families. They’ve got that covered, I think.   Do we dare go against the tide and take a creative risk with students, or do we rest on our tried-and-true already-printed out lesson plans, literary guides, and tests for Romeo and Juliet?  Mirror Site: Joyful Collapse     blogs, ccss, creativity, literature, shakespeare, teaching, texts nonadult false Get Rid of Romeo and Whatsinhername: What do our students need from Shakespeare? text blog blogs,ccss,creativity,literature,shakespeare,teaching,texts 1586 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6216545 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Creatively-Teaching-Creativity/blog/6199929/127586.html I decided to take a creativity quiz, today. After all, if I'm expected to teach creativity and creativeness creatively, it stands to reason that I should be creative myself. Further, I should know and understand how I function as a creative person.   After taking several quizzes (no Cosmo, though) I found The Art Institute of Vancouver's test to be the most intriguing.     [image]     Come to find out I'm whole-brained creative! I can go either way: rightie or leftie, 52%-48% respectively. Whoo-hoo!   And then, there's the possibility that the idea of R and L whatever is total snoosh. Nonetheless, I wondered if and to what degree my creativity type impacted my perceptions of students and my choice for curriculum.   I taught Beginning and Advanced Theatre, AP Language, AP Lit, and Remedial Reading. (You could say I had my hands full at the time, and I wouldn't disagree.)   Some of the questions were of things that would drive teachers crazy, such as absent-mindedness and joking around, both of which fall on the Right side. Other things we'd probably hold out as exemplary, such as students who are well-organized and predictable--Left side.   Then, I got a little cheeky and went in to see how Right-sided I could get and how Left-sided by responding in like manner. I guessed pretty well, reaching a maximum of 80% Right and 77% Left. However, that right-brained student--the spontaneous, absentminded, non-schedule following one--most teachers will have issues with.   This, Sir Ken Robinson eloquently addresses in his TED talk. If you've never seen it, do have a look. It's wonderful, and a balanced overview with Susan Cain, who presents a powerful TED Talk on the issues we have with the introverted loners--it's an eye-opener for educators.   So, pretty much, we want whole-brainers, don't we?      We want quiet, creative, critical thinkers who actually listen to what we have to say, who master mathematical and literacy skills, who perform well in groups, but who also perform equally well, if not better, when working alone.   We want it all.   But to teach that, do we have to be whole-brainers ourselves, in the classroom? We see the "negatives" of the Right and Left students, but what about our R/L teaching creativity scale? How can we better help students enhance strengths and work on weaknesses by understanding our own?   I've changed up a few of the questions from the quiz, that might help us better understand our "Teaching Brains". Do we use our brains differently when we're teaching? For example, I have a friend who enjoys teaching to groups of students, but prefers to deal with adults one-on-one. Likewise, another friend truly enjoys joking around, but never in the classroom. Doesn't that change his/her creativity approach?   We could consider the responses using the same Likert scale as the Vancouver quiz. Have fun either way!      Use these questions to determine your Creative Teaching Brain:   1) I prefer to teach students one-on-one.   2) I need complete quietness in order to teach.   3) I usually plan lessons systematically.   4)  I prefer to teach to a group.   5) I have the ability to teach and listen to music at the same time.   6) I enjoy teaching math.   7) I am absent-minded.   8) I prefer to teach with visuals.   9) I prefer rock music.   10) When I have to teach something, I read about how to do it, first.   11) I can easily remember what students tell me.   12) I enjoy interacting with other educators.   13) I become uneasy during long verbal explanations.   14) I enjoy joking around when I teach.   15) When I set goals for my classes, it helps keep me from procrastinating.   16) I enjoy teaching algebra.   17) I am an organized teacher.   18) I like to write or read fiction.   19) I organize curriculum to show relation between things.   20) I like to read.   21) I would choose to have students complete a paragraph summary over doing an outline.   22) I do well at geometry.   23) When I experience confusion, I go with my "gut" instinct.   24) If I were a detective, I would do well.   25) I like things, such as instructions, to be done verbally.   26) When I am giving directions to someone, I prefer to draw them a map than to explain verbally how to get somewhere.   27) It is easy for me to lose track of time when teaching.   28) I do well at things involving music such as playing an instrument or singing.   29) I do not like to joke around in my classes.   30) I like "well-structured" assignments for students more than I like "open-ended" assignments.   31) My students or co-workers consider me absent-minded.   32) The things that I have specifically studied or taught are the only things that I will usually remember.   33) I am spontaneous and unpredictable in class.   34) I enjoy drawing.   35) I can solve problems immediately and not know why my answer is correct.   36) I like to listen to classical music.   37) When I'm teaching, I use a lot of gestures.   38) I enjoy creating my own drawings and images for my classes.   39) When I have to make tough decisions, I write down the pros and cons.   40) Hypnotism does affect me, or I think it would.   41) Before going into teaching, I'd thought of becoming a poet, politician, architect, or dancer.    42) I think that adhering to a schedule is boring.   43) I like getting all of the facts before I make any decisions.   44) I do well at expressing myself using words.   45) I enjoy writing or reading non-fiction.   46) When I am trying to go somewhere, I am usually late.   47) I do not like to follow directions.   48) When I lose something, I retrace my steps and try to remember where I saw it last.   49) I create and keep "to-do" lists for my classes.   50) When I forget a student's name, I go through the alphabet until I remember it.   51) Before teaching, I'd thought about becoming a lawyer, librarian, mathematician, lab scientist, or doctor.   52) When I look at a student, I am able to tell if he/she is guilty or not.   53) I like my students to learn through the method of free exploration.   54) I do well at spelling.   Disclaimer: this is most un-scientific. Mirror Blog Site:  Joyful Collapse I decided to take a creativity quiz, today. After all, if I'm expected to teach creativity and creativeness creatively, it stands to reason that I should be creative myself. Further, I should know and understand how I function as a creative person.   After taking several quizzes (no Cosmo, though) I found The Art Institute of Vancouver's test to be the most intriguing.     [image]     Come to find out I'm whole-brained creative! I can go either way: rightie or leftie, 52%-48% respectively. Whoo-hoo!   And then, there's the possibility that the idea of R and L whatever is total snoosh. Nonetheless, I wondered if and to what degree my creativity type impacted my perceptions of students and my choice for curriculum.   I taught Beginning and Advanced Theatre, AP Language, AP Lit, and Remedial Reading. (You could say I had my hands full at the time, and I wouldn't disagree.)   Some of the questions were of things that would drive teachers crazy, such as absent-mindedness and joking around, both of which fall on the Right side. Other things we'd probably hold out as exemplary, such as students who are well-organized and predictable--Left side.   Then, I got a little cheeky and went in to see how Right-sided I could get and how Left-sided by responding in like manner. I guessed pretty well, reaching a maximum of 80% Right and 77% Left. However, that right-brained student--the spontaneous, absentminded, non-schedule following one--most teachers will have issues with.   This, Sir Ken Robinson eloquently addresses in his TED talk. If you've never seen it, do have a look. It's wonderful, and a balanced overview with Susan Cain, who presents a powerful TED Talk on the issues we have with the introverted loners--it's an eye-opener for educators.   So, pretty much, we want whole-brainers, don't we?      We want quiet, creative, critical thinkers who actually listen to what we have to say, who master mathematical and literacy skills, who perform well in groups, but who also perform equally well, if not better, when working alone.   We want it all.   But to teach that, do we have to be whole-brainers ourselves, in the classroom? We see the "negatives" of the Right and Left students, but what about our R/L teaching creativity scale? How can we better help students enhance strengths and work on weaknesses by understanding our own?   I've changed up a few of the questions from the quiz, that might help us better understand our "Teaching Brains". Do we use our brains differently when we're teaching? For example, I have a friend who enjoys teaching to groups of students, but prefers to deal with adults one-on-one. Likewise, another friend truly enjoys joking around, but never in the classroom. Doesn't that change his/her creativity approach?   We could consider the responses using the same Likert scale as the Vancouver quiz. Have fun either way!      Use these questions to determine your Creative Teaching Brain:   1) I prefer to teach students one-on-one.   2) I need complete quietness in order to teach.   3) I usually plan lessons systematically.   4)  I prefer to teach to a group.   5) I have the ability to teach and listen to music at the same time.   6) I enjoy teaching math.   7) I am absent-minded.   8) I prefer to teach with visuals.   9) I prefer rock music.   10) When I have to teach something, I read about how to do it, first.   11) I can easily remember what students tell me.   12) I enjoy interacting with other educators.   13) I become uneasy during long verbal explanations.   14) I enjoy joking around when I teach.   15) When I set goals for my classes, it helps keep me from procrastinating.   16) I enjoy teaching algebra.   17) I am an organized teacher.   18) I like to write or read fiction.   19) I organize curriculum to show relation between things.   20) I like to read.   21) I would choose to have students complete a paragraph summary over doing an outline.   22) I do well at geometry.   23) When I experience confusion, I go with my "gut" instinct.   24) If I were a detective, I would do well.   25) I like things, such as instructions, to be done verbally.   26) When I am giving directions to someone, I prefer to draw them a map than to explain verbally how to get somewhere.   27) It is easy for me to lose track of time when teaching.   28) I do well at things involving music such as playing an instrument or singing.   29) I do not like to joke around in my classes.   30) I like "well-structured" assignments for students more than I like "open-ended" assignments.   31) My students or co-workers consider me absent-minded.   32) The things that I have specifically studied or taught are the only things that I will usually remember.   33) I am spontaneous and unpredictable in class.   34) I enjoy drawing.   35) I can solve problems immediately and not know why my answer is correct.   36) I like to listen to classical music.   37) When I'm teaching, I use a lot of gestures.   38) I enjoy creating my own drawings and images for my classes.   39) When I have to make tough decisions, I write down the pros and cons.   40) Hypnotism does affect me, or I think it would.   41) Before going into teaching, I'd thought of becoming a poet, politician, architect, or dancer.    42) I think that adhering to a schedule is boring.   43) I like getting all of the facts before I make any decisions.   44) I do well at expressing myself using words.   45) I enjoy writing or reading non-fiction.   46) When I am trying to go somewhere, I am usually late.   47) I do not like to follow directions.   48) When I lose something, I retrace my steps and try to remember where I saw it last.   49) I create and keep "to-do" lists for my classes.   50) When I forget a student's name, I go through the alphabet until I remember it.   51) Before teaching, I'd thought about becoming a lawyer, librarian, mathematician, lab scientist, or doctor.   52) When I look at a student, I am able to tell if he/she is guilty or not.   53) I like my students to learn through the method of free exploration.   54) I do well at spelling.   Disclaimer: this is most un-scientific. Mirror Blog Site:  Joyful Collapse Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:47:17 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Creatively-Teaching-Creativity/blog/6199929/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-06-29T16:47:17Z Blogs ASCD EDge I decided to take a creativity quiz, today. After all, if I'm expected to teach creativity and creativeness creatively, it stands to reason that I should be creative myself. Further, I should know and understand how I function as a creative person.   After taking several quizzes (no Cosmo, though) I found The Art Institute of Vancouver's test to be the most intriguing.     [image]     Come to find out I'm whole-brained creative! I can go either way: rightie or leftie, 52%-48% respectively. Whoo-hoo!   And then, there's the possibility that the idea of R and L whatever is total snoosh. Nonetheless, I wondered if and to what degree my creativity type impacted my perceptions of students and my choice for curriculum.   I taught Beginning and Advanced Theatre, AP Language, AP Lit, and Remedial Reading. (You could say I had my hands full at the time, and I wouldn't disagree.)   Some of the questions were of things that would drive teachers crazy, such as absent-mindedness and joking around, both of which fall on the Right side. Other things we'd probably hold out as exemplary, such as students who are well-organized and predictable--Left side.   Then, I got a little cheeky and went in to see how Right-sided I could get and how Left-sided by responding in like manner. I guessed pretty well, reaching a maximum of 80% Right and 77% Left. However, that right-brained student--the spontaneous, absentminded, non-schedule following one--most teachers will have issues with.   This, Sir Ken Robinson eloquently addresses in his TED talk. If you've never seen it, do have a look. It's wonderful, and a balanced overview with Susan Cain, who presents a powerful TED Talk on the issues we have with the introverted loners--it's an eye-opener for educators.   So, pretty much, we want whole-brainers, don't we?      We want quiet, creative, critical thinkers who actually listen to what we have to say, who master mathematical and literacy skills, who perform well in groups, but who also perform equally well, if not better, when working alone.   We want it all.   But to teach that, do we have to be whole-brainers ourselves, in the classroom? We see the "negatives" of the Right and Left students, but what about our R/L teaching creativity scale? How can we better help students enhance strengths and work on weaknesses by understanding our own?   I've changed up a few of the questions from the quiz, that might help us better understand our "Teaching Brains". Do we use our brains differently when we're teaching? For example, I have a friend who enjoys teaching to groups of students, but prefers to deal with adults one-on-one. Likewise, another friend truly enjoys joking around, but never in the classroom. Doesn't that change his/her creativity approach?   We could consider the responses using the same Likert scale as the Vancouver quiz. Have fun either way!      Use these questions to determine your Creative Teaching Brain:   1) I prefer to teach students one-on-one.   2) I need complete quietness in order to teach.   3) I usually plan lessons systematically.   4)  I prefer to teach to a group.   5) I have the ability to teach and listen to music at the same time.   6) I enjoy teaching math.   7) I am absent-minded.   8) I prefer to teach with visuals.   9) I prefer rock music.   10) When I have to teach something, I read about how to do it, first.   11) I can easily remember what students tell me.   12) I enjoy interacting with other educators.   13) I become uneasy during long verbal explanations.   14) I enjoy joking around when I teach.   15) When I set goals for my classes, it helps keep me from procrastinating.   16) I enjoy teaching algebra.   17) I am an organized teacher.   18) I like to write or read fiction.   19) I organize curriculum to show relation between things.   20) I like to read.   21) I would choose to have students complete a paragraph summary over doing an outline.   22) I do well at geometry.   23) When I experience confusion, I go with my "gut" instinct.   24) If I were a detective, I would do well.   25) I like things, such as instructions, to be done verbally.   26) When I am giving directions to someone, I prefer to draw them a map than to explain verbally how to get somewhere.   27) It is easy for me to lose track of time when teaching.   28) I do well at things involving music such as playing an instrument or singing.   29) I do not like to joke around in my classes.   30) I like "well-structured" assignments for students more than I like "open-ended" assignments.   31) My students or co-workers consider me absent-minded.   32) The things that I have specifically studied or taught are the only things that I will usually remember.   33) I am spontaneous and unpredictable in class.   34) I enjoy drawing.   35) I can solve problems immediately and not know why my answer is correct.   36) I like to listen to classical music.   37) When I'm teaching, I use a lot of gestures.   38) I enjoy creating my own drawings and images for my classes.   39) When I have to make tough decisions, I write down the pros and cons.   40) Hypnotism does affect me, or I think it would.   41) Before going into teaching, I'd thought of becoming a poet, politician, architect, or dancer.    42) I think that adhering to a schedule is boring.   43) I like getting all of the facts before I make any decisions.   44) I do well at expressing myself using words.   45) I enjoy writing or reading non-fiction.   46) When I am trying to go somewhere, I am usually late.   47) I do not like to follow directions.   48) When I lose something, I retrace my steps and try to remember where I saw it last.   49) I create and keep "to-do" lists for my classes.   50) When I forget a student's name, I go through the alphabet until I remember it.   51) Before teaching, I'd thought about becoming a lawyer, librarian, mathematician, lab scientist, or doctor.   52) When I look at a student, I am able to tell if he/she is guilty or not.   53) I like my students to learn through the method of free exploration.   54) I do well at spelling.   Disclaimer: this is most un-scientific. Mirror Blog Site:  Joyful Collapse blogs, creativity, teaching nonadult false Creatively Teaching Creativity text blog blogs,creativity,teaching 448 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6199929 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_Guest-Blogger-Emerson/blog/6188081/127586.html It started with a pin on pinterest. Just a nifty little image with a quotation attributed to Emerson.   [image]   A lovely message, and before I pinned it to my “Teacher Stuff” board, I wanted to make sure that, indeed, Mr. Emerson was the author.  Based on numerous quotation pages, it looked like he was; however, the wording was a bit different. Nevertheless, knowing that surely, surely, Emerson would have something even more powerful to say on the topic of effective teaching, I decided to read his blog post…oops…essay on “Education” from Lectures and Biographical Sketches. One of my English classes creatively theorized that his writing was not unlike the construction of a brick wall—layer by layer.  Thus, I’ve taken some artistic advantage with his visual presentation because our tired old 21st century eyes—bless them—can’t take the depth of paragraph that Emerson so artistically lays out for us. Additionally, any emphases/underlining and [clarifications] are mine.  I’m both pleased (and somewhat embarrassed) that some of the teaching methodologies in our upcoming book, Transparent Teaching, are present here. However, there’s no way that I could have said it like this.    From "Education":  I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil.  It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature. Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions. Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.  But I hear the outcry which replies to this suggestion: —Would you verily throw up the reins of discipline; would you leave the young child to the mad career of his own passions and whimsies, and call this anarchy a respect for the child's nature?  I answer, Respect the child, respect him to the end, but also respect yourself. Be the companion of his thought, the friend of his friendship, the lover of his virtue, – but no kinsman of his sin. Let him find you so true to yourself that you are the irreconcilable hater of his vice and imperturbable slighter of his trifling. Have the self-command you wish to inspire. Teach them to hold their tongues by holding your own. Say little; do not snarl; do not chide; but govern by the eye. See what they need, and that the right thing is done. I confess myself utterly at a loss in suggesting particular reforms in our ways of teaching. No discretion that can be lodged with a school-committee, with the overseers or visitors of an academy, of a college, can at all avail to reach these difficulties and perplexities, but they [those difficulties and perplexities] solve themselves when we leave institutions and address individuals. I advise teachers to cherish mother-wit. I assume that you will keep the grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic in order; ‘t is easy and of course you will.  But smuggle in a little contraband wit, fancy, imagination, thought.  If you have a taste which you have suppressed because it is not shared by those about you, tell them that. Set this law up, whatever becomes of the rules of the school: they must not whisper, much less talk; but if one of the young people says a wise thing, greet it, and let all the children clap their hands.  They shall have no book but school-books in the room; but if one has brought in a Plutarch or Shakespeare or Don Quixote or Goldsmith or any other good book, and understands what he reads, put him at once at the head of the class.  Nobody shall be disorderly, or leave his desk without permission, but if a boy runs from his bench, or a girl, because the fire falls, or to check some injury that a little dastard is inflicting behind his desk on some helpless sufferer, take away the medal from the head of the class and give it on the instant to the brave rescuer.  If a child happens to show that he knows any fact about astronomy, or plants, or birds, or rocks, or history, that interests him and you, hush all the classes and encourage him to tell it so that all may hear.  Then you have made your school-room like the world.  Of course you will insist on modesty in the children, and respect to their teachers, but if the boy stops you in your speech, cries out that you are wrong and sets you right, hug him! To whatsoever upright mind, to whatsoever beating heart I speak, to you it is committed to educate men.   Emerson would have soooooo been a blogger.  [image]   It started with a pin on pinterest. Just a nifty little image with a quotation attributed to Emerson.   [image]   A lovely message, and before I pinned it to my “Teacher Stuff” board, I wanted to make sure that, indeed, Mr. Emerson was the author.  Based on numerous quotation pages, it looked like he was; however, the wording was a bit different. Nevertheless, knowing that surely, surely, Emerson would have something even more powerful to say on the topic of effective teaching, I decided to read his blog post…oops…essay on “Education” from Lectures and Biographical Sketches. One of my English classes creatively theorized that his writing was not unlike the construction of a brick wall—layer by layer.  Thus, I’ve taken some artistic advantage with his visual presentation because our tired old 21st century eyes—bless them—can’t take the depth of paragraph that Emerson so artistically lays out for us. Additionally, any emphases/underlining and [clarifications] are mine.  I’m both pleased (and somewhat embarrassed) that some of the teaching methodologies in our upcoming book, Transparent Teaching, are present here. However, there’s no way that I could have said it like this.    From "Education":  I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil.  It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature. Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions. Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.  But I hear the outcry which replies to this suggestion: —Would you verily throw up the reins of discipline; would you leave the young child to the mad career of his own passions and whimsies, and call this anarchy a respect for the child's nature?  I answer, Respect the child, respect him to the end, but also respect yourself. Be the companion of his thought, the friend of his friendship, the lover of his virtue, – but no kinsman of his sin. Let him find you so true to yourself that you are the irreconcilable hater of his vice and imperturbable slighter of his trifling. Have the self-command you wish to inspire. Teach them to hold their tongues by holding your own. Say little; do not snarl; do not chide; but govern by the eye. See what they need, and that the right thing is done. I confess myself utterly at a loss in suggesting particular reforms in our ways of teaching. No discretion that can be lodged with a school-committee, with the overseers or visitors of an academy, of a college, can at all avail to reach these difficulties and perplexities, but they [those difficulties and perplexities] solve themselves when we leave institutions and address individuals. I advise teachers to cherish mother-wit. I assume that you will keep the grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic in order; ‘t is easy and of course you will.  But smuggle in a little contraband wit, fancy, imagination, thought.  If you have a taste which you have suppressed because it is not shared by those about you, tell them that. Set this law up, whatever becomes of the rules of the school: they must not whisper, much less talk; but if one of the young people says a wise thing, greet it, and let all the children clap their hands.  They shall have no book but school-books in the room; but if one has brought in a Plutarch or Shakespeare or Don Quixote or Goldsmith or any other good book, and understands what he reads, put him at once at the head of the class.  Nobody shall be disorderly, or leave his desk without permission, but if a boy runs from his bench, or a girl, because the fire falls, or to check some injury that a little dastard is inflicting behind his desk on some helpless sufferer, take away the medal from the head of the class and give it on the instant to the brave rescuer.  If a child happens to show that he knows any fact about astronomy, or plants, or birds, or rocks, or history, that interests him and you, hush all the classes and encourage him to tell it so that all may hear.  Then you have made your school-room like the world.  Of course you will insist on modesty in the children, and respect to their teachers, but if the boy stops you in your speech, cries out that you are wrong and sets you right, hug him! To whatsoever upright mind, to whatsoever beating heart I speak, to you it is committed to educate men.   Emerson would have soooooo been a blogger.  [image]   Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:15:57 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Guest-Blogger-Emerson/blog/6188081/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-06-22T11:15:57Z Blogs ASCD EDge It started with a pin on pinterest. Just a nifty little image with a quotation attributed to Emerson.   [image]   A lovely message, and before I pinned it to my “Teacher Stuff” board, I wanted to make sure that, indeed, Mr. Emerson was the author.  Based on numerous quotation pages, it looked like he was; however, the wording was a bit different. Nevertheless, knowing that surely, surely, Emerson would have something even more powerful to say on the topic of effective teaching, I decided to read his blog post…oops…essay on “Education” from Lectures and Biographical Sketches. One of my English classes creatively theorized that his writing was not unlike the construction of a brick wall—layer by layer.  Thus, I’ve taken some artistic advantage with his visual presentation because our tired old 21st century eyes—bless them—can’t take the depth of paragraph that Emerson so artistically lays out for us. Additionally, any emphases/underlining and [clarifications] are mine.  I’m both pleased (and somewhat embarrassed) that some of the teaching methodologies in our upcoming book, Transparent Teaching, are present here. However, there’s no way that I could have said it like this.    From "Education":  I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil.  It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature. Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions. Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.  But I hear the outcry which replies to this suggestion: —Would you verily throw up the reins of discipline; would you leave the young child to the mad career of his own passions and whimsies, and call this anarchy a respect for the child's nature?  I answer, Respect the child, respect him to the end, but also respect yourself. Be the companion of his thought, the friend of his friendship, the lover of his virtue, – but no kinsman of his sin. Let him find you so true to yourself that you are the irreconcilable hater of his vice and imperturbable slighter of his trifling. Have the self-command you wish to inspire. Teach them to hold their tongues by holding your own. Say little; do not snarl; do not chide; but govern by the eye. See what they need, and that the right thing is done. I confess myself utterly at a loss in suggesting particular reforms in our ways of teaching. No discretion that can be lodged with a school-committee, with the overseers or visitors of an academy, of a college, can at all avail to reach these difficulties and perplexities, but they [those difficulties and perplexities] solve themselves when we leave institutions and address individuals. I advise teachers to cherish mother-wit. I assume that you will keep the grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic in order; ‘t is easy and of course you will.  But smuggle in a little contraband wit, fancy, imagination, thought.  If you have a taste which you have suppressed because it is not shared by those about you, tell them that. Set this law up, whatever becomes of the rules of the school: they must not whisper, much less talk; but if one of the young people says a wise thing, greet it, and let all the children clap their hands.  They shall have no book but school-books in the room; but if one has brought in a Plutarch or Shakespeare or Don Quixote or Goldsmith or any other good book, and understands what he reads, put him at once at the head of the class.  Nobody shall be disorderly, or leave his desk without permission, but if a boy runs from his bench, or a girl, because the fire falls, or to check some injury that a little dastard is inflicting behind his desk on some helpless sufferer, take away the medal from the head of the class and give it on the instant to the brave rescuer.  If a child happens to show that he knows any fact about astronomy, or plants, or birds, or rocks, or history, that interests him and you, hush all the classes and encourage him to tell it so that all may hear.  Then you have made your school-room like the world.  Of course you will insist on modesty in the children, and respect to their teachers, but if the boy stops you in your speech, cries out that you are wrong and sets you right, hug him! To whatsoever upright mind, to whatsoever beating heart I speak, to you it is committed to educate men.   Emerson would have soooooo been a blogger.  [image]   blogs, education, effective, emerson, respect, students, teaching nonadult false Guest Blogger! Emerson text blog blogs,education,effective,emerson,respect,students,teaching 597 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6188081 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_I-Destiny-Fate-or-Freewill-Oedipus/blog/6168427/127586.html  In keeping with CCSS, this Destiny Unit may prove helpful. Special emphasis for Oedipus should be on argument, reason, and structure. I taught this play successfully with 9th graders from a Perrine lit book (it’s all we had), so it can be done! First have students consider this overarching question:  Are our lives predestined, or do we have freewill?I. As a hook, consider asking students to write their responses in a quick-write. From there, delve into the two sides of the discussion, asking students to make notes of any reasons or examples that they find convincing (as support or refutation of their own). The use of a question ultimately provides a stronger connection and purpose for reading the text.For homework, consider asking students to formalize their answer in an essay response of two paragraphs:  one paragraph of a reasoned argument (why their view is valid), and one paragraph of a reasoned counter-argument refutation (why the opposing side’s view is invalid). Their goal is to convince the opposition to move to “their” side of the debate. Make sure students stick to one, specific focus per paragraph! Rather than my eking this out blip by blip, if you're interested in following the rest of the unit, please visit my blog: Joyful Collapse.          In keeping with CCSS, this Destiny Unit may prove helpful. Special emphasis for Oedipus should be on argument, reason, and structure. I taught this play successfully with 9th graders from a Perrine lit book (it’s all we had), so it can be done! First have students consider this overarching question:  Are our lives predestined, or do we have freewill?I. As a hook, consider asking students to write their responses in a quick-write. From there, delve into the two sides of the discussion, asking students to make notes of any reasons or examples that they find convincing (as support or refutation of their own). The use of a question ultimately provides a stronger connection and purpose for reading the text.For homework, consider asking students to formalize their answer in an essay response of two paragraphs:  one paragraph of a reasoned argument (why their view is valid), and one paragraph of a reasoned counter-argument refutation (why the opposing side’s view is invalid). Their goal is to convince the opposition to move to “their” side of the debate. Make sure students stick to one, specific focus per paragraph! Rather than my eking this out blip by blip, if you're interested in following the rest of the unit, please visit my blog: Joyful Collapse.         Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:46:36 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_I-Destiny-Fate-or-Freewill-Oedipus/blog/6168427/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-06-13T20:46:36Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge  In keeping with CCSS, this Destiny Unit may prove helpful. Special emphasis for Oedipus should be on argument, reason, and structure. I taught this play successfully with 9th graders from a Perrine lit book (it’s all we had), so it can be done! First have students consider this overarching question:  Are our lives predestined, or do we have freewill?I. As a hook, consider asking students to write their responses in a quick-write. From there, delve into the two sides of the discussion, asking students to make notes of any reasons or examples that they find convincing (as support or refutation of their own). The use of a question ultimately provides a stronger connection and purpose for reading the text.For homework, consider asking students to formalize their answer in an essay response of two paragraphs:  one paragraph of a reasoned argument (why their view is valid), and one paragraph of a reasoned counter-argument refutation (why the opposing side’s view is invalid). Their goal is to convince the opposition to move to “their” side of the debate. Make sure students stick to one, specific focus per paragraph! Rather than my eking this out blip by blip, if you're interested in following the rest of the unit, please visit my blog: Joyful Collapse.         ccss, lesson plan, literature, oedipus, reading, unit, writing nonadult false I. Destiny, Fate, or Freewill: Oedipus text blog ccss,lesson plan,literature,oedipus,reading,unit,writing 574 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Lesson Plan 0 6168427 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250 http://edge.ascd.org/_While-ye-may/blog/6151659/127586.html I’m often befuddled by some of my peers’ comments. Recently, one of them said, “Teaching is such a thankless job.” Okay.  Not sure what I’m supposed to do with that. Should I argue that it isn’t, based on my experiences? Should I console this individual by saying that, surely, s/he is experiencing a momentary negativity and “it will get better”? I don’t know what to do with dead-end negativity. There’s just no appropriate response for it. This teacher may have meant that students are unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Possibly, the meaning was that administration is unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Unfortunately, I can’t support this person because I disagree. Teaching isn’t thankless unless you perceive it that way. I mean saying that students are unappreciative, Mehhh….some of them, sure. Not all. It’s all in where you look.  We may have to start looking in weird places. Much like the Five Love Languages, perhaps, students are appreciating us in ways we don't recognize. In the five love languages, we all have demonstrable methods of giving and receiving love: gifts, acts of service, quality time, verbal affirmation, and physical touch. However, there may be a disconnect between how we give and how we receive appreciation, much like couples experience a disconnect in love languages. One spouse receives love through verbal affirmation, but the other gives love with acts of service, for example. We may give appreciation in one way, but the students give it back to us in another way.    Did the teacher above simply not receive in the manner that was recognized as appreciation? Some possible appreciation languages (with apologies to Mr. Chapman for the shameless steal) might be: Verbal appreciation (expressed orally) Written appreciation (expressed on paper or digitally, including text shorthand and emoticons) Artistic appreciation (expressed through an artistic effort) Countenance appreciation (expressed in the face) Non-verbal appreciation (expressed through physical gesture, act, or control)   If a child has drawn you a picture or even folded a little paper football and given it to you, that’s artistic appreciation. If a child has smiled at you, that’s countenance appreciation. Probably easily missed is the non-verbal, and I’m thinking high-schoolers lean towards this one. If an adolescent physically acknowledges and/or tolerates your existence on the planet, that’s a form of appreciation. That’s a big deal. Maybe I’m pitiful because I gather appreciation like I gather oxygen. No. Erase that. Actually, I GRAB onto it. I fiercely embrace every expression of appreciation, holding onto the little red paper dog face that a middle school student drew for me—she wasn’t even my student—holding onto the handmade Christmas ornaments, pencil sketches on lined notebook paper, the notes, the sticky notes, the chalkboard notes, and essays such as “Why Ms. Keller Would Like the Film: Poultrygiest: Night of the Chicken Dead”. Those are tangible expressions, but I also carry the simple “Thanks”, the smiles, the shared laughter, and the many nicknames (Darth Keller, Coach, Sensai, Dawg). I carry the sight of the school’s football player lifting his chin to me as if to say, “I see you, hey” even though he is standing in a crowd of friends and could lose his “cool” status if anyone sees him. I carry moments in time. I simply don’t let them go. I rest on them when I’m otherwise weary of apathy or non-response. I smile at THEM while looking at and interacting with the perhaps not-so-appreciative one. Thus, this student reaps the benefit of a positive experience from ten years ago that he’s not even aware of. Administrative appreciation is no different, really. They come and go. I think as teachers we crave individual appreciation, and that isn’t often forthcoming from a supervisory group.  Rather, administrators think organizationally, providing explicit appreciation on an organizational-level: treats (loved it when administration brought in breakfasts or lunches!), little surprises (nifty organizers), guest speakers, global thank-yous in their speeches. For that matter, fighting for funding for copy paper and new software (whether we actually get it or not), allowing me to vent without fear and with sympathy, and being honest with me when things suck. If my principal or team-leader said thank you to the whole group, I owned that. Others may consider it “cheap” to own what they consider to be perfunctory or required praise, but because I knew I’d done a good job, I took it for my own. Of course, at evaluation conferences, we get verbal and written appreciation. However, we don’t hear or see it through the criticism, probably. Maybe in this venue, we have to become expert distillers, separating the positive and the negative edification. Holding things up for the sake of understanding what we do well and why as well as what we need to do to improve. Maybe I do have something to offer this person who feels the job is thankless. Seek, gather, and hoard each and every vestige of appreciation from each and every person, and at the same time, scatter, bestow, and abandon every positive notion you have.  I’m often befuddled by some of my peers’ comments. Recently, one of them said, “Teaching is such a thankless job.” Okay.  Not sure what I’m supposed to do with that. Should I argue that it isn’t, based on my experiences? Should I console this individual by saying that, surely, s/he is experiencing a momentary negativity and “it will get better”? I don’t know what to do with dead-end negativity. There’s just no appropriate response for it. This teacher may have meant that students are unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Possibly, the meaning was that administration is unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Unfortunately, I can’t support this person because I disagree. Teaching isn’t thankless unless you perceive it that way. I mean saying that students are unappreciative, Mehhh….some of them, sure. Not all. It’s all in where you look.  We may have to start looking in weird places. Much like the Five Love Languages, perhaps, students are appreciating us in ways we don't recognize. In the five love languages, we all have demonstrable methods of giving and receiving love: gifts, acts of service, quality time, verbal affirmation, and physical touch. However, there may be a disconnect between how we give and how we receive appreciation, much like couples experience a disconnect in love languages. One spouse receives love through verbal affirmation, but the other gives love with acts of service, for example. We may give appreciation in one way, but the students give it back to us in another way.    Did the teacher above simply not receive in the manner that was recognized as appreciation? Some possible appreciation languages (with apologies to Mr. Chapman for the shameless steal) might be: Verbal appreciation (expressed orally) Written appreciation (expressed on paper or digitally, including text shorthand and emoticons) Artistic appreciation (expressed through an artistic effort) Countenance appreciation (expressed in the face) Non-verbal appreciation (expressed through physical gesture, act, or control)   If a child has drawn you a picture or even folded a little paper football and given it to you, that’s artistic appreciation. If a child has smiled at you, that’s countenance appreciation. Probably easily missed is the non-verbal, and I’m thinking high-schoolers lean towards this one. If an adolescent physically acknowledges and/or tolerates your existence on the planet, that’s a form of appreciation. That’s a big deal. Maybe I’m pitiful because I gather appreciation like I gather oxygen. No. Erase that. Actually, I GRAB onto it. I fiercely embrace every expression of appreciation, holding onto the little red paper dog face that a middle school student drew for me—she wasn’t even my student—holding onto the handmade Christmas ornaments, pencil sketches on lined notebook paper, the notes, the sticky notes, the chalkboard notes, and essays such as “Why Ms. Keller Would Like the Film: Poultrygiest: Night of the Chicken Dead”. Those are tangible expressions, but I also carry the simple “Thanks”, the smiles, the shared laughter, and the many nicknames (Darth Keller, Coach, Sensai, Dawg). I carry the sight of the school’s football player lifting his chin to me as if to say, “I see you, hey” even though he is standing in a crowd of friends and could lose his “cool” status if anyone sees him. I carry moments in time. I simply don’t let them go. I rest on them when I’m otherwise weary of apathy or non-response. I smile at THEM while looking at and interacting with the perhaps not-so-appreciative one. Thus, this student reaps the benefit of a positive experience from ten years ago that he’s not even aware of. Administrative appreciation is no different, really. They come and go. I think as teachers we crave individual appreciation, and that isn’t often forthcoming from a supervisory group.  Rather, administrators think organizationally, providing explicit appreciation on an organizational-level: treats (loved it when administration brought in breakfasts or lunches!), little surprises (nifty organizers), guest speakers, global thank-yous in their speeches. For that matter, fighting for funding for copy paper and new software (whether we actually get it or not), allowing me to vent without fear and with sympathy, and being honest with me when things suck. If my principal or team-leader said thank you to the whole group, I owned that. Others may consider it “cheap” to own what they consider to be perfunctory or required praise, but because I knew I’d done a good job, I took it for my own. Of course, at evaluation conferences, we get verbal and written appreciation. However, we don’t hear or see it through the criticism, probably. Maybe in this venue, we have to become expert distillers, separating the positive and the negative edification. Holding things up for the sake of understanding what we do well and why as well as what we need to do to improve. Maybe I do have something to offer this person who feels the job is thankless. Seek, gather, and hoard each and every vestige of appreciation from each and every person, and at the same time, scatter, bestow, and abandon every positive notion you have.  Thu, 07 Jun 2012 08:34:59 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_While-ye-may/blog/6151659/127586.html Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides 2012-06-07T08:34:59Z Blogs ASCD EDge I’m often befuddled by some of my peers’ comments. Recently, one of them said, “Teaching is such a thankless job.” Okay.  Not sure what I’m supposed to do with that. Should I argue that it isn’t, based on my experiences? Should I console this individual by saying that, surely, s/he is experiencing a momentary negativity and “it will get better”? I don’t know what to do with dead-end negativity. There’s just no appropriate response for it. This teacher may have meant that students are unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Possibly, the meaning was that administration is unappreciative, but that isn’t what was said. Unfortunately, I can’t support this person because I disagree. Teaching isn’t thankless unless you perceive it that way. I mean saying that students are unappreciative, Mehhh….some of them, sure. Not all. It’s all in where you look.  We may have to start looking in weird places. Much like the Five Love Languages, perhaps, students are appreciating us in ways we don't recognize. In the five love languages, we all have demonstrable methods of giving and receiving love: gifts, acts of service, quality time, verbal affirmation, and physical touch. However, there may be a disconnect between how we give and how we receive appreciation, much like couples experience a disconnect in love languages. One spouse receives love through verbal affirmation, but the other gives love with acts of service, for example. We may give appreciation in one way, but the students give it back to us in another way.    Did the teacher above simply not receive in the manner that was recognized as appreciation? Some possible appreciation languages (with apologies to Mr. Chapman for the shameless steal) might be: Verbal appreciation (expressed orally) Written appreciation (expressed on paper or digitally, including text shorthand and emoticons) Artistic appreciation (expressed through an artistic effort) Countenance appreciation (expressed in the face) Non-verbal appreciation (expressed through physical gesture, act, or control)   If a child has drawn you a picture or even folded a little paper football and given it to you, that’s artistic appreciation. If a child has smiled at you, that’s countenance appreciation. Probably easily missed is the non-verbal, and I’m thinking high-schoolers lean towards this one. If an adolescent physically acknowledges and/or tolerates your existence on the planet, that’s a form of appreciation. That’s a big deal. Maybe I’m pitiful because I gather appreciation like I gather oxygen. No. Erase that. Actually, I GRAB onto it. I fiercely embrace every expression of appreciation, holding onto the little red paper dog face that a middle school student drew for me—she wasn’t even my student—holding onto the handmade Christmas ornaments, pencil sketches on lined notebook paper, the notes, the sticky notes, the chalkboard notes, and essays such as “Why Ms. Keller Would Like the Film: Poultrygiest: Night of the Chicken Dead”. Those are tangible expressions, but I also carry the simple “Thanks”, the smiles, the shared laughter, and the many nicknames (Darth Keller, Coach, Sensai, Dawg). I carry the sight of the school’s football player lifting his chin to me as if to say, “I see you, hey” even though he is standing in a crowd of friends and could lose his “cool” status if anyone sees him. I carry moments in time. I simply don’t let them go. I rest on them when I’m otherwise weary of apathy or non-response. I smile at THEM while looking at and interacting with the perhaps not-so-appreciative one. Thus, this student reaps the benefit of a positive experience from ten years ago that he’s not even aware of. Administrative appreciation is no different, really. They come and go. I think as teachers we crave individual appreciation, and that isn’t often forthcoming from a supervisory group.  Rather, administrators think organizationally, providing explicit appreciation on an organizational-level: treats (loved it when administration brought in breakfasts or lunches!), little surprises (nifty organizers), guest speakers, global thank-yous in their speeches. For that matter, fighting for funding for copy paper and new software (whether we actually get it or not), allowing me to vent without fear and with sympathy, and being honest with me when things suck. If my principal or team-leader said thank you to the whole group, I owned that. Others may consider it “cheap” to own what they consider to be perfunctory or required praise, but because I knew I’d done a good job, I took it for my own. Of course, at evaluation conferences, we get verbal and written appreciation. However, we don’t hear or see it through the criticism, probably. Maybe in this venue, we have to become expert distillers, separating the positive and the negative edification. Holding things up for the sake of understanding what we do well and why as well as what we need to do to improve. Maybe I do have something to offer this person who feels the job is thankless. Seek, gather, and hoard each and every vestige of appreciation from each and every person, and at the same time, scatter, bestow, and abandon every positive notion you have.  a, administration, blogs, ingratitude, is, job, of, students, teaching, thankless, ungrateful nonadult false While ye may... text blog a,administration,blogs,ingratitude,is,job,of,students,teaching,thankless,ungrateful 346 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=39823091&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_16468267_127586_39823091_ap_160X120.jpg false United States FL Fort Pierce 0 Blogs 0 6151659 39823091 ASCD EDge Member 250