59 Search Results for "consequences"

• Complexity: Sociocultural Capi Complexity: Sociocultural Capital

  • From: Kevin_Goddard
  • Description:

    Attention to sociocultural capital in High-Performing High-Poverty Schools (HP2S) helps teachers understand where marginalized students are coming from. Teachers who share a sociocultural identity with students in the school may increase achievement in marginalized students (Chu Clewell & Campbell, 2007). Regardless of the focus on AYP in reading and math, ultimately, education is “the process of cultural transmission” (Rury, 2005, p. 10). The cultural resources imparted to students become capital “when they function as a ‘social relation of power’ by becoming objects of struggle as valued resources” (Swartz, 1997, p. 43). Cultural capital has a positive effect on all educational outcomes (Dumais, 2005). Acting as a resource for social power is why sociocultural capital is hoarded from marginalized groups by the dominant class. The power connected to cultural capital is a valuable resource “intersect[ing] with all aspects of cultural life” (p. 286). Bourdieu’s studies into capital have led him to believe that schools act as the main gatekeepers to capital giving the dominant class access to status, privilege, and symbolic power. “Schools offer the primary institutional setting for the production, transmission, and accumulation of various forms of cultural capital” (Swartz, 1997, p. 189) making restriction to capital through education a likely abuse by the privileged who already control education policy and practice (Nesbit, 2006). Even some reformers intent on social justice follow the dominant class way of thinking, valuing the expertise of professionals and managers over the working class, which presumes that “knowledge deficits” in the working class may be overcome through greater effort to move closer to dominant ideology (Livingstone & Sawchuk, 2005).

    A long-term view of student success by educators recognizes that students are not blank slates waiting to be filled, but “are the products of many years of complex interactions with their family of origin and cultural, social, political, and educational environments” (Kuh et al., 2007, p. 5). The combined SES of students in the school along with differences in sociocultural capital is an important factor in student performance. The resulting push for accountability has narrowed education’s view of what schools should be doing down to reading, math, and science (Henig et al., 1999; Kuh et al., 2007; Rury, 2005).

    Schools are middle class institutions where teachers have high levels of middle class sociocultural capital and reward students who have it, but may consciously or subconsciously discriminate against students who do not. When teacher and student capital is congruent, the performance of marginalized students is more likely to benefit. Popular society and specialists transmit values about the best way to raise children which is generally followed by middle class society aligning them with the beliefs of educational institutions. Working class parents are slower to change child-rearing practices to dominant practice keeping them out of sync with the school’s perception of the ideal home environment influencing teacher perception of the child and the child’s home life (Dumais, 2005; Lareau, 2003; Nesbit, 2006; Chu Clewell & Campbell, 2007).

    The test scores of marginalized students would currently be lower if schools had not already been making progress at reducing the disadvantages of family educational background and SES previous to the passage of NCLB (Henig et al., 1999). Educational leaders, principals in particular, use an understanding of “cultural, social, and the promise of economic capital” to bring competing groups and individuals together to find common goals and shift marginalized interests to the center by “mutual choice” (Watkins & Tisdell, 2006, p. 156). Schools tap into a sense of agency in communities to bring about mutual choice to move toward federal goals, otherwise mandates like NCLB will ultimately get nowhere (Cohen & Ball, 1999, p. 23). Different forms of capital, but sociocultural capital in particular, can operate as lenses principals use to view particular educational contexts. A lens of the middle-class, white norm limits a school’s responsiveness to cultural capital possessed by students (Machtinger, 2007; Swartz, 1997).

    Learning capacity is equivalent to intellectual capital (Livingstone & Sawchuk, 2005). All forms of capital are resources “that can be drawn on for social advancement” (Rury, 2005, p. 13). Bourdieu, one of the world experts on capital, believes there are four basic types of capital: economic, cultural, social, and symbolic with economic capital being the most important form in the United States followed by cultural (Swartz, 1997). While school cannot provide students with economic capital, schools can help students develop the other types of capital. Incongruence between the amount and type of capital students possess and the forms of capital valued in the school community can cause problems for the student (Kennedy et al., 2006).

    Cultural capital has been defined in numerous ways. Church (2005) quotes Nieto’s definition of culture as

    the ever-changing values, traditions, social and political relationships, and worldview created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a combination of factors that include a common history, geographic location, language, social class, and religion…Culture is dynamic; multi-faceted; embedded in context, influenced by social, economic, and political factors; created and socially constructed; learned; and dialectical (p. 48).

    Or in other words: highly complex. Cultural capital comes in an objectified form such as works of art, an embodied form based in an appreciation and understanding of objectified cultural capital, and institutionalized form found in educational credits and degrees. Cultural capital is a resource used to gain or maintain power and privilege. Based on the assumption that certain attitudes, behaviors, and values are more admired and rewarded in society than others, dominant forms of cultural capital give students who possess them an advantage over marginalized students (Dumais, 2005; Rury, 2005).

    Cultural capital, within the school setting, is the embodiment of the previous experience and learning of a community of people and influences how students accumulate, exchange, and utilize resources they gain from the school. Culture can be verbal facility, general cultural awareness, aesthetic preferences, scientific knowledge, and educational credentials and becomes a power source. Objectified cultural capital such as books, art, scientific instruments, and other tools require cultural abilities to use which can impact student engagement and parent involvement (Cohen & Ball, 1999; Stacey, 1996; Swartz, 1997). Parent access to the educational setting is also mediated by their personal experiences with school and other education-related institutions. In theU.S., where the dominant culture is not as strong as in other countries, cultural capital benefits both students from privileged backgrounds and all students who possess it allowing for “cultural mobility”. As cultural capital is distributed unevenly by society, schools make important decisions based on capital they have or capital they are trying to get which can be attributed to school failure as opposed to the limitations of individuals (Dumais, 2005; Lee & Bowen, 2006; Nasir & Hand, 2006; Schaughency & Ervin, 2006).

    Coleman expands cultural and human capital theories into social capital which is a “community-based support-system network” that is context specific and has the two common elements of social structures and facilitation of individual and group actions within those structures. Social capital is a network of individual human capital. This view seems too limiting to the richness of cultural capital as described by Bourdieu (Musial, 1999). Social capital is the benefit derived from social networks and organizations including relationships within family and community that generates trust and schema to increase the capacity for collaboration (Dumais, 2005; Farmer-Hinton & Adams, 2006; Lee & Bowen, 2006; Rury, 2005; Zacharakis & Flora, 2005).  Agents in the form of individuals and class will “struggle for social distinction” in a form of self-organization (Swartz, 1997). In this light, capital seems destined to be reproduced as “the quality of education children receive is directly related in part to the ability of parents to generate social capital” (Noguera, 2004, p. 2155).

    Obviously, the forms of cultural, social, human, and economic capital are often interrelated. Cultural capital intersects with social capital to give agents more influence. This intersection means agency cannot be separated from the social and cultural contexts within the global environment in which it occurs. While social capital can be a means to a desirable end, the dominant class will most often prevail as they possess more capital (Lattuca, 2002; Lee & Bowen, 2006; Watkins & Tisdell, 2006).

    More simply, “culture can be thought of as a set of behavioral characteristics or traits that are typical of a social group” (Rury, 2005, p. 9). The social setting is an organization of networks between social positions where dominant and marginalized groups compete for control of resources. Capital is specific to setting and does not exist without it. The education system reproduces social inequity where the possession of cultural capital leads to academic success. The most valuable form of capital in school is cultural capital congruent with capital valued within that particular school’s social setting (Dumais, 2005).

    Whereas the social-constructivist perspective makes a distinction between the individual cognitive activities and the environment in which the individual is present, the socio-cultural perspective regards the individual as being part of that environment. Accordingly, learning cannot be understood as a process that is solely in the mind of the learner…Knowledge, according to this perspective, is constructed in settings of joint activity…Learning is a process of participating in cultural practices, a process that structures and shapes cognitive activity (De Laat & Lally, 2003, p. 14).

    Nasir and Hand (2006) explain this complex interaction of social and cultural capital within specific environments as proof that educators need to attend to fostering agency in students’ focus on local problems. The number of students bringing middle class capital with them to school is decreasing and the number of students bringing sociocultural capital from the lower classes is increasing. “As in any demographic switch, the prevailing rules and policies eventually give way to the group with the largest numbers” (Payne, 2001, p. 79).

    Engrained dispositions from previous experience can sub- or un-consciously limit student success. Called “habitus”, these dispositions provide the opportunity to mitigate cultural predispositions by structuring school situations and interactions with positive models and diversity-oriented experiences (Kuh et al., 2007). However, the concept of habitus does not account for the complexity and variety of hopes and dreams of different groups. Humanity is too varied and complex to be perfectly categorized into any model, but habitus does give a vocabulary to talk about how dominant and marginalized groups may be socialized starting at a young age. “Habitus…privileges the basic idea that action is governed by a ‘practical sense’ of how to move in the social world. Culture is a practical tool used for getting along in the social world” (Swartz, 1997, p. 115). Habitus is a collection of cultural habits.

    Field is the social setting organized around types and combinations of capital which habitus operates. Schools act as a field for the competitive investment, exchange, and accumulation of various forms of capital (Swartz, 1997). Struggling within a local environment, schools should reflect the shifting community field. “Education clearly affects the course of social development, and schools reflect the influence of their immediate social context” (Rury, 2005, p. 1).

    Schools are viewed as vehicles for individual social and economic mobility. The education field itself provides mobility of cultural capital for low SES/marginalized groups and is often one of few examples children and community members have of mobility and opportunity. This perception itself may create the reproduction of limited mobility in marginalized groups. In truth, some schools value cultural knowledge while others are more forgiving (Dumais, 2005; Henig et al., 1999; Johnson et al., 2000).

    Empowerment of marginalized communities is collective, not individual. In order to realize change in the face of limited resources, communities rely on social capital for strength and agency. For school communities, this means that improved engagement can have profound consequences in improving achievement, agency, and equality (Schutz, 2006). Communalism helps build and accrue capital, generates “positive emotional energy”, and “may enhance motivation and engagement” (Seiler & Elmesky, 2007, p. 393). The social capital web is comprised of household, neighborhood, and school (Musial, 1999). But “working class peoples’ indigenous learning capacities…have been denied, suppressed, degraded or diverted within most capitalist schooling” (Livingstone & Sawchuk, 2005, p. 111). Overcoming cultural and historical differences “concerns activity and access to tools and mediated learning” (Portes, 2005, p. 176). Literacy, numeracy, and student well-being are practiced fluidly and dynamically across boundaries in social contexts. These pathways between family and community “need to be understood in out-of-home learning communities so that pedagogies, including assessment practices and the pedagogy of relationships can address the complexities related to children’s different life chances and ways of learning” (Kennedy et al., 2006, p. 16).

    “Biological models of deficiency [such as the Bell curve have been] replaced by cultural deficit models” (Nasir & Hand, 2006, p. 451). Private and charter schools can stick to a particular ideology that does not have to concern itself with discipline, ideology, and related social problems. These schools are successful because the students who attend them possess congruent sociocultural capital. The success of private and parochial schools suggests these schools acting as self-organizing units self-organize around the sociocultural capital available within and surround them as opposed to the capital they possess being superior (Bower, 2006; Portes, 2005; Walk, 1998). Capacity becomes a non-issue in middle class schools because the ingredients for success already reside in the boundaries and pathways established within the school community.

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  • 1 month ago
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• The Business of Education The Business of Education

  • From: Tom_Whitby
  • Description:

    As I have traveled around this country participating in education conferences I have made several observations in regard to the effects of the Internet and social media on various levels of education as a profession, as an industry, and as an institution. These are often the topics of sessions at education conferences that draw thousands of educators in to look at, examine, talk over, consider, and move on. This all takes time and has been going on since tech was first introduced to education in various forms as tools for learning. It may be time to step back and look at the bigger picture.

     

    As technology advances there are consequences for many industries that either fail to adapt, or whose product is replaced by what technology offers. Horse drawn carriages were replaced by horseless carriages. Typewriters were replaced by word processors. Instamatic cameras were replaced by digital cameras, which are now being replaced by cell phones. Photographic film is not found in any of the millions of stores from which it was previously sold in mass quantities. The news cycle no longer faces deadlines because of 24-hour news cycles. Newspaper and magazine stands have only a fraction of the offerings they had even five years ago. There is no longer a Kodak, Polaroid, Underwood Typewriter, or Newsweek magazine. They were all giants taken out by technology.

    With all that, we as educators should have learned from all the examples of those industries that preceded us as victims in the advancement of technology. Why is education so slow in making decisions that would employ tech rather than resist it. Kodak was huge. It was in the “too big to fail” category. Its products included cameras, but its main product was film. Once digital photography moved into the industry it was a very short run to ruin.

    The product of education is content. My path of reasoning must be getting clear about now. The key to content was always held by the academics to be shared by those who attended and prevailed in the education system. Teachers were the content experts. The Internet has now strained the value of content experts. Few content experts will ever be able to retain and command the content held by the power of the Internet. The shift that should take place in education is to teach students the skills to responsibly and critically access that content in order to create additional content.

    We shouldn’t be guided by the demands of industry to teach skills that may not be in existence over the course of a student’s academic career. The idea that business can best direct the needs of learners is surpassed by the fact that business will only direct education to meet the present needs of business.

    If education is to direct its own path and avoid becoming as irrelevant as a film company in a digital world, as educators we need to change. We can’t continue contemplating the use of technology for the sake of protecting our comfort zones. We need to update and restructure the way we administer Professional Development. We need to employ strategies to incorporate social media for collaboration. We need to better understand how to use technology to help us do what we do best even better. Our professional organizations need to move from the models of the past and lead teachers through professional development, discussion, and collaboration to a deeper understanding of their profession in a modern world. We are not a profession of the 1800’s, yet in many ways we carry ourselves and approach it that way. This to must change.

    Professional development is a necessary component of the teaching profession. It must be part of every teacher’s workweek. It needs to be prioritized, funded and supported with time. Too many educators have no idea how much they do not know about their own profession. This will require a good amount of directed professional development, which is never popular with educators. Technology has changed things and continues to do so at an incredible rate of speed. If educators are to be effective they must be relevant. If harnessed, technology can be used to our advantage with proper training. If ignored, or not taken seriously by the entire profession, it could very well make educators irrelevant. Our education system is not too big to fail.

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  • 2 months ago
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• Give Those Bullies a Bath! Give Those Bullies a Bath!

  • From: Doug_Elmendorf
  • Description:

    “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it” (Albert Einstein).

    Friday, March 1^st is Anti-Bullying Day in Baltimore County Public Schools.  It was coordinated by BCPS students.  While many schools, including the one at which I am a principal, do not have a pervasive bullying problem, it is still an issue of which we need to be aware and take action to prevent.  Perhaps the most disturbing thing about bullying behavior is the long-term effects it can have both on the bully and the victim of bullying.  Students who are bullied are much more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.   This is certainly scary considering that about 30% of our students are reported to be bullies or are victims of bullying (www.bullyingstatistics.org). 

    My vision for the school I am fortunate enough to work in every day is that the climate, especially among our children, is so disgustingly positive that bullying behavior sticks out like a disappointed student on a snow day!  I encourage teachers to exalt the positive in their classrooms, and to find the good in every student with whom they have contact.  One of our recent professional development sessions facilitated by the Kennedy Krieger Institute revealed that negative stress causes the hippocampus to get smaller, which makes learning less likely.  The presenter also showed us that serotonin, which is produced by positive experiences, gets the hippocampus back to normal size and opens the door for extensive new learning.  While giving consequences will necessarily be a part of any effective behavior management program, let’s give the brains of our potential bullies a serotonin bath!

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  • 3 months ago
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• Getting the Kids Involved in B Getting the Kids Involved in Budgeting will Help them in the Long Run

  • From: Clay_Piggy
  • Description:

    It can be easy to leave the kids out of budgeting for the household. After all, paying bills, balancing money, and adding to savings seems to be grownup work. Of course, you cannot just hand the kids a checkbook and tell them to take care of the household budget, but that does not mean they should not be involved at all. In fact, leaving the kids out completely is doing them a great disservice. When you get them involved in the budget, you will be helping them in the long run. By showing kids how to budget now, you can ensure they know how to manage their money as they grow into adults.

    How can you get kids involved in the budget though? There are plenty of things you can do. Try the ideas below.

    Create a Visual Budget

    The first thing you should do is create a visual budget that your kids can understand. Of course, it will not have all the details that you need as the adult, but a pared down, simplified budget is a good teaching tool for kids. To do this, buy a dry erase board or chalkboard and put it up in the kitchen or other space that your kids can see. Then, show your children how you have income and expenses by creating two different columns.

    If you create the visual budget with enough space, your kids can even get involved in the bill paying. Have them be responsible for filling in numbers for income and expenses. If they are old enough, they can do the math to determine how much money is left. If they are too young, you can do the math and tell them the numbers to write in.

    Using colors and illustrations on a chart will make things much easier for your kids since they will actually be able to see the numbers. Make sure you teach them the consequences of running out of money and how that will affect the rest of the month or pay period.

    Have Your Kids Involved in the Grocery Budget

    Show your children how grocery bills will have an impact on your household budget overall, and have them get involved in the grocery budget. Make sure your kids know how much money is available to be spent and then take them shopping with you. Older kids can even use a calculator to add up how much is being spent. Younger kids can start to learn how to bargain shop to spend less money.

    Have Them Create Their Own Budget

    A great way to teach your kids about household budgeting is to make them budget their own money. Make up your mind to give them an allowance, but have them create their budget chart just like your household one. Help the kids decide how much money they need to put into savings and then how much they can spend each week. Make sure they are using the income and expenses column to keep up with their allowance. Of course, with younger kids, you will need to do the math for them.

    Make sure you do not help the kids if they run out of money in a week. Part of learning how to budget is learning how to not run out of money.

    If you do not teach your kids about budgeting now, they may not know how to budget when they become adults. Be sure to get your children involved in the household budget in any way you can. Then, have them create their own budget. The more they can understand money, the importance of budgeting, and the consequences of living outside their means, the better they will be prepared for life in the long run.

    About Clay Piggy:

    Clay Piggy is a virtual world gaming environment which teaches children basic money management skills and the concept of Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing and Giving in a fun and social way. Clay Piggy users choose their avatars by selecting and customizing their characters. Users earn virtual money by working at a job. Users also learn concept of credit score, different kinds of bank accounts, deposit money in bank, write checks and use debit / credit cards.

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  • 3 months ago
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• Culture of Spending Within Lim Culture of Spending Within Limits

  • From: Clay_Piggy
  • Description:

    For the most part, we live in a culture that does not spend within its limits.  Individuals and even the government carry a significant amount of debt, which has negative consequences for families and the nation.  Experts tell us that instead of living as affluent consumers, we should be doing our absolute best to live within our means. In doing so, it will save people a great deal of stress and anxiety.

    To be a culture that spends within its limits, the first thing that needs to be addressed is budgeting and financial literacy.  If you do not have a budget, it is time to create one and make a commitment to sticking to it.  Budgeting allows you to see all of your income and all of your expenses on paper.  It will tell you very quickly if you actually have enough monthly income to cover your monthly expenses.

    Once you’ve written down your income and expenses, evaluate how you are doing.  Are you spending within your limits and living within your means?  You can make changes to your budget, such as finding ways to add more income or cutting expenses in some areas.  The key is to make your budget work for your advantage.

    If you are heavily into debt, it is crucial that you come up with a plan to get out from under it.  Allot a certain amount each month specifically for debt and if you receive any extra money put it toward debt. The faster you pay it off, the better you will feel and your financial future will be much more secure.

    If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin, perhaps you should see a debt counselor or financial advisor.  Financial literacy experts are trained to help people understand personal finance and give advice as to how to get out from debt and save for the future.  They can help you with short and long term goals when it comes to your finances.

    The first step to living within your means is making a decision to do things different than the way you have been.  If you are not where you want to be financially or carry a lot of debt, it is because of poor choices over time, but the good news is that it is never too late to start learning about financial principles and begin your way to financial success.

    There are practical ways that you can join with others who are spending within their limits.  One big thing you can do is to avoid purchasing things that you really don’t need. Many people shop out of boredom or think that they have to keep up with the Joneses.  Only shop when you really need something and be on guard against the impulse to shop for unnecessary things.

    Look for deals on the purchases you do have to make.  If you take the time to shop around, you can save 10 to 20% on your purchases.  Some stores will even match the lowest price that you find elsewhere.  If you bargain shop, you could save thousands of dollars a year.

    If you begin paying cash for items that you purchase, chances are you won’t spend as much money.  It is much easier to hand over a debit or credit card to a cashier and not even think about what the total is than it is to hand over cash.  You can allot yourself a certain amount of cash each week to carry with you for purchases and once that cash is gone, you make yourself wait until the following week for more purchases.

    We can be a culture that spends within our limits if each person will make a commitment to be responsible for their personal finances.  It takes each person and each family taking responsibility for their financial future to create a culture that spends within its limits.

    About Clay Piggy:

    Clay Piggy (http://www.claypiggy.com) is a virtual world gaming environment which teaches children basic money management skills and the concept of Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing and Giving in a fun and social way. Clay Piggy users choose their avatars by selecting and customizing their characters. Users earn virtual money by working at a job. Users also learn concept of credit score, different kinds of bank accounts, deposit money in bank, write checks and use debit / credit cards.

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  • 5 months ago
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• L2L News: December 2012 L2L News: December 2012

  • From: Meg_Simpson
  • Description:

    ASCD Leader to Leader (L2L) News is a monthly e-mail newsletter for ASCD constituent group leaders that builds capacity to better serve members, provides opportunities to promote and advocate for ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative, and engages groups through sharing and learning about best practices. To submit a news item for the L2L newsletter, send an e-mail to constituentservices@ascd.org.

    Action Items for ASCD Leaders

    • Submit your Ignite Session Proposal by January 9. Embodied in the tagline, “enlighten us, but make it quick,” Ignite presenters have 5 minutes to present on any topic of interest using 20 PowerPoint slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. (Learn more about Ignite.) The theme of this Ignite session is “Your Whole Child Story.” We have found in general that the best presentations are on topics that personally inspire or motivate the presenter. We’re looking for fun, creative, out-of-the-box ideas, so please keep that in mind when completing your presentation proposal. Please note that the Ignite session proposals are only open to L2L ASCD leaders.
    • Save the date for the 2013 Leader to Leader Conference. The 2013 L2L Conference will take place July 18–20, 2013 at the Hyatt Dulles in Herndon, Va. Stay tuned for more details and information in the spring.
    • Register now for the Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy (LILA). This institute is an outstanding opportunity to network with fellow educators, share your expertise with your federal lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and hear from national education leaders about the latest education policy developments.
    • Speak out on sequestration. An education crisis is looming with the potential to disrupt services to 7.5 million U.S. students and threaten 90,000 U.S. educator jobs. Read more and take action on www.ascd.org.
    •  Register now for ASCD’s Annual Conference. ASCD President Debra Hill invites you to the 2013 Annual Conference & Exhibit Show in her hometown of Chicago, Ill., March 16–18.

     

    Why You Should Attend the Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy

    ASCD’s Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy (LILA), one of the association’s most unique experiences for educators, provides participants with the opportunity to learn from some of the nation’s leading education thinkers and policymakers in a much more personal setting than the usual conference. Register for LILA now to take advantage of the conference’s hands-on format so that you can gain the skills and knowledge to make a difference.

     

    LILA takes place January 27–29, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Read on for some of the features that set this conference apart.

     

     

    • Up Close and Personal: Ample opportunity to hear from and ask influential speakers like Diane Ravitch and National Teacher of the Year RebeccaMieliwocki about their unfiltered insights on the latest education developments.
    • Inside Scoop: Information from Capitol Hill and U.S. Department of Education influencers, including their firsthand perspectives on current education policy debates and priorities and what those mean for the status of No Child Left Behind and other federal education legislation.
    • Sneak Peek: A first look at ASCD’s 2013 Legislative Agenda, which is developed by educators for educators and drives the organization’s policy priorities for the coming year.
    • Advocate Extraordinaire: Tailored advocacy training and customizable resources to help you advocate for better education policy at the federal, state, and local levels now and throughout the year.
    • Make a Difference: Personal meetings with members of Congress and their education aides where you can share your expertise and discuss the education issues that matter the most to you.

     

     

    Space is limited and the registration deadline is fast approaching! Register for this premier legislative conference today and check out the conference agenda as well as the registration and travel information. Questions? Contact ASCD’s policy team at policy@ascd.org.

     

    New ASCD Policy Points on Sequestration and Education Now Available

    Learn all you need to know about sequestration and its consequences for educators and schools in the latest issue of Policy Points, ASCD’s newest policy publication.

    Sequestration, the 8.2 percent deep, across-the-board cuts to nearly all federal spending, will happen in January 2013 unless Congress acts to stop it. For education programs, this means a loss of more than $4 billion in federal funding. Unless lawmakers act soon, the potential loss of educator jobs, programs, transportation, and key school services could have a devastating effect in every state.

    Policy Points explains how we got to this point, outlines what sequestration means for education, and shares action steps that educators like you can take to help stop sequestration. Take one of these steps today, and urge your federal lawmakers to stop sequestration before time runs out and our nation’s students are forced to pay the price for Congress’s inaction.

    Check out the new Whole Child Tenets document

    The Whole Child Programs Unit within Constituent Services has released a new copy of the whole child tenets document (PDF).  In addition to having an updated design, the new layout allows users to see connections between the indicators that describe a tenet, and their correlating components, which were also identified for the ASCD School Improvement Tool. We hope users will find the new format more user-friendly as you work with schools, districts and states to support a whole child approach to education. We believe it to be the most comprehensive way to help educators in the field understand the real scope of a whole child approach.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Emerging Leaders Featured inASCD Inservice Blog Series

    In an effort to highlight more educator voices on the ASCD blog, we recently initiated a series of Q&A sessions featuring ASCD Emerging Leaders. Learn more about 2012 Emerging Leader Daina Lieberman and  2011 Emerging Leader Doug Paulson.

     

     

    Florida ASCD Leader Post Featured in ASCD Inserviceand Core Connection

    ASCD asked some of our affiliate leaders to tell us how the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has been going in their home states. In the first post of the series,Florida ASCD President and Emerging Leader alum Alina Davis writes about the challenges and successes that Florida has had with CCSS implementation. This post was also featured in the December 5 issue of ASCD’s Common Core e-newsletter, Core Connection.

    
    

     

    Please Welcome Montclair State University to the ASCD Student Chapter Program

    ASCD is pleased to announce that Montclair State University has been accepted into our ASCD Student Chapter Program. The student leaders are enthusiastically planning recruitment events and other activities for the coming semester. To learn more about ASCD Student Chapters, go to www.ascd.org/chapters.

     

     

    Congratulations!

    • New Mexico ASCD Secretary Toni Hull is a 2012 Teaching Ambassador Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education.
    • 2011 Emerging Leader Torian White was recently appointed as interim principal in his school district, and after this school year, the position will become permanent. White is also featured in the Annual Conference video series: listen to his story about an educator who made a difference in his life.
    • 2009 OYEA Winner Bijal Damani was recently selected to become a Google Certified Teacher, and last month she received the DerozioAward for Education and Human Enrichment from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE).

    Other News

    • 2012 Emerging Leader Erica Ringelspaugh is currently blogging for Wisconsin ASCD. Check out her blog, “What Erica Knows.”
    • Check out Iowa ASCD’s blog!

     

     

     

    ASCD Leaders on ASCD EDge

    Check out these great posts from ASCD leaders on the ASCD EDgecommunity site. Please read, comment, and share!

    • Solving the “Play” Problem, Disconnected Doesn’t Mean “Not Connected,” 2012 Emerging Leader Fred Ende
    •  Cogito Ergo Sum, Should Students Live Someone Else’s Education?, Comprehensive Planning, Improvise, 2012 Emerging Leader Jason Ellingson
    • We Need More Poetry in Social Studies, Build and Sustain a Successful AP Economics Program, SMART Goal for the Common Core, Tackling the Common Core, 2012 Emerging Leader Robert Zywicki
    • Supporting New Principals (survey link included), Professional Interest Community Facilitator Amelia Hicks
    •  Think Globally, Act Locally, 2012 Emerging Leader Steven Anderson
    • An Introduction to the Concept of Complexity, 2012 Emerging Leader Kevin Goddard 

     

    ASCD Can Help Support Your Common Core Efforts

    Are you interested in having a session presenter or keynote speaker on Common Core implementation at your next event? ASCD has resources and assistance available to state affiliates that will help to inform your members and educators  about implementing the Common Core standards. ASCD’s recent reportFulfilling the Promise of the Common Core State Standards: Moving from Adoption to Implementation to Sustainability illuminates activities educators at all levels can undertake to successfully implement the Common Core State Standards across the nation. The report and its implementation recommendations have already been successfully presented at events held by Utah ASCD, Ohio ASCD, and North Carolina ASCD. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, e-mail  Efrain Mercado, lead strategist for the Common Core State Standards, at both efrain.mercado@ascd.org andConstituentServices@ascd.org.

    
    

    A Progress Report on Teacher Evaluation

    Teacher quality is the most important in-school factor influencing student learning and achievement. Research shows that students with high-performing teachers can progress three times as fast as students with low-performing teachers and each student deserves access to highly effective teachers in every subject. In turn, all teachers deserve a fair and accurate assessment of their skills, how they perform in the classroom, and how they can improve. Teacher effectiveness is dependent on accurate and fair evaluations, based on multiple measures, including—but not solely based around—their students’ performance in the subjects they teach.

    If the ultimate goal of teacher evaluation is to improve student performance, what should evaluators look for? Read more on the Whole Child Blog.

    In November, we looked at the current teacher evaluation landscape. Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests Mike Blakeslee, deputy executive director and chief operating officer of the National Association for Music Education, a whole child partner organization and member of ASCD's College, Career, and Citizenship Readiness Coalition; Bryan Goodwin, vice president of communications at McREL, based in Denver, Colo.; and Cindy Weber, superintendent of Durand Area Schools in Durand, Mich. Have you signed up to receive the Whole Child Newsletter? Read this month's newsletter and visit the archive for more strategies, resources, and tools you can use to help ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

    ASCD’s Educational Leadership also focused on fair and effective teacher evaluation in its November issue, featuring articles by Robert J. Marzano, Charlotte Danielson, Tony Frontier, Thomas R. Hoerr, Carol Ann Tomlinson, and other experts and practitioners. Topics, research, and commentary include peer review, classroom observation, value-added measures, school district examples from across the United States, and lessons from South Korea.

     

    Something to Talk About

    ·         Most recent blog posts on ASCD EDge®

    ·         Most clicked stories from ASCD SmartBrief

     

    Association News

    ·         New Professional Development Resources from ASCD Support Problem-Based Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and Common Core Implementation—ASCD announces the release of a series of new PD In Focus^® videos, as well as two PD Online^® courses. These new resources focus on supporting educators in implementing problem-based learning, differentiated instruction, and the Common Core State Standards. Read the full press release.

    ·         Thomas Armstrong Presents Strength-Based Model for Teaching Learners with Special Needs in New Book—ASCD is pleased to announce the release ofNeurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life by seasoned educator and best-selling author Thomas Armstrong. This new professional development book is available in paperback and e-book formats. Read the full press release.

    ·         ASCD Authors Headline 2013 Annual Conference Pre-Conference Institutes— ASCD announced the pre-conference session lineup for the 2013 ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, being held at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. The three-, two-, and one-day Pre-Conference Institutes will be held March 13–15 and offer intensive learning experiences on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and more. Read the full press release.

    ·         Atlanta Public Schools Select Digital Solutions from ASCD to Support Professional Development Goals—Atlanta Public Schools (APS), serving more than 51,000 students in the greater Atlanta, Ga., metro area, has become the latest school system to select digital solutions from ASCD to meet theirdistrictwide professional development goals. Read the full press release.

     

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 240
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• Student-Teaching Reflection Student-Teaching Reflection

  • From: Stephanie_Yau
  • Description:

    I am well into my student teaching now and almost reaching the end of it. The lessons I have learned in the past few months have been numerous...I'm not sure where to begin! But, I'll give it a try...

    
    
    • CT Relationship--I was very lucky to have an amazing CT. Ms. Smith was encouraging, supportive, and provided excellent feedback for improvement. The fact that she trusted me with her classes is incredible in itself! I think it is important for student-teachers to be realistic about their role. We are, after all, only guests. We still have to abide by the CT's rules and we must respect their classroom environment. Most of the time, I found it very helpful to work within the parameters set by Ms. Smith because I didn't feel overwhelmed about having to think about too much at once. For example, I used her rules and her management strategies, which worked well. This freed up one aspect of my time so that I could spend it on planning lessons and grading assignments. My advice to others would be to respect your CT's space, time, and experience. Work within his/her guidelines and take the time to step back and really learn from him/her. Don't try to take full control of everything and implement all of your wacky ideas. There will be a time and place for that--namely when you have your own classroom!
    • Lesson Planning--This was, at once, the most thrilling part and most terrifying part of student-teaching. Thrilling because you get to use some of those strategies, techniques, and activities that you've learned so much about. And when the lesson goes well, it's exhilarating. Yet, it is also terrifying because sometimes your lessons fall to pieces and it really does break your heart. I had a few sleepless nights where I would re-play the lesson over and over in my head, trying to figure out why it went so badly. But, lesson planning is a skill that gets better with practice and over time. My advice here is to go simple. Do not try to overdo your lessons and cram as many "fun" activities into it as possible. Not every lesson has to be crazy and exotic! Sometimes, students just have to read silently or sometimes they have to sit there and write. Choose the most effective way to develop content knowledge and skill...not the most wackiest. 
    • Professionalism--As I said before, we are guests at the school. That means, we have to exert professionalism at all times. Make sure your dress is appropriate and not sloppy. Be cordial to all teachers, staff, and administrators. This doesn't mean you have to suck up to everyone, but it does mean you should say hello when you see them in the halls. Finally, do not participate in any negative conversations about other teachers and staff. I was lucky to be in a school environment that was generally positive and friendly. The teachers and staff at Amundsen High truly enjoyed working there and with each other. Still, I can see how, for the sake of trying to fit in, student-teachers might join in on negative conversations. Just don't do it. 
    • Classroom Management--This one was challenging for me. The bottom line was, students did not see me as a true authority figure. They knew I was still a student. Although I had a good relationship with all of my students, it did not mean that they would listen to me or follow my directions all the time. In fact, what I found to be my biggest challenge was the line between being their friends and being their teacher. I love talking to my students and I love talking about their lives and their future goals. So, in some cases, I think students saw me more as friend than a teacher. This doesn't seem like a big deal until you are trying to teach a lesson and your students think it's okay to have side conversations because they don't think you would ever discipline them. And they're right. Sometimes, I was too lenient on them and the result was that I got taken advantage of and walked on by some students. To be honest, I'm not sure how to handle this yet. I guess, just like with most things in the classroom, this takes time and practice. In addition, it was not my classroom...the rules were not mine and the consequences were not mine. Hopefully, when I have my own classroom, I will be able to implement more of the classroom management strategies that I learned about in my education classes. I am looking forward to seeing how well those techniques work!
    • Grading--Make a rubric for everything and keep on top of grading! 
    • Remember your philosophy--it is not easy to stick to your education philosophy at times. There was a period where I was completely down in the dumps about my students' abilities. It seemed as though they did not want to learn and could not rise up to the challenges I presented them. Thus, I found myself dumbing down the lessons and the content. It took a few weeks before I realized what I was doing and how far removed I was from my own education philosophy. I have always been against the self-fulfilling prophecy that some teachers exhibit and now, I had become one of those teachers. Luckily, when I realized this, I still had a full section on ancient Greece to teach so I had an opportunity to make amends. Instead of going section by section in the book, I used a model that resembled the "Big Ideas" concept. And instead of the usual multiple choice test, I opted for an engaging performance task assessment where students had to create their own civilization. When you are in the classroom, sometimes it's easy to forget your own set of beliefs about education and about students. Throughout your student-teaching, re-read your philosophy so you will remember the type of teacher you really want to be. 
    • Not Every Student Will Love You or Your Lessons--this was a big reality check for me. When I fantasize about teaching, I always imagine myself as Michelle Pfeiffer in "Dangerous Minds"  and all the kids are totally engrossed in trying to do the "Dylan-Dylan" challenge. And although some of your lessons will be a huge hit, there will be some that are boring to the students. In addition, while your mom, grandparents, teachers, and puppy might love you unconditionally, there will be students who just don't get the appeal. You know what? That is okay. One thing I have learned is not to take things personally. I will always try to win them over with awesome lessons and what I think are funny jokes, but you really can't win them all. 
  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 404

• Scaffolding Student Accountabi Scaffolding Student Accountability

  • From: Adrian_Bertolini
  • Description:

    A conversation I have been having with teachers I have been working with for the past 6 months revolves around creating structures of accountability for students. This stems from the analogy I use to contextualise the importance of scaffolding student centred learning.

    The essence of the argument is that you cannot learn how to drive UNLESS YOU DRIVE. If we are setting up students to develop the skills and understandings of experienced learners then we need to allow them to drive. If the teacher is driving the learning then the students may grasp something theoretically but they would not actually attain the deep learning. Just because you can drive a virtual car on a game machine does not give you the ability to drive a car in real life.

    Teachers driving the learning DOES occur. Whenever I see passive students I know that at least part of the teaching has been driven. It is important (I would actually say it is critical) to scaffold learning within classes, learning environments and school such that the students can be responsible for their own learning and drive their learning. The idea is that teachers set the destination of where they want the students to drive (like driving instructors do) and then coach, guide and develop the appropriate skills and understandings so that the students can actually drive there.

    This is important for more than just having performers within a school environment. If we, as educators, are interested in developing empathetic, thoughtful citizens and contributing members of society, it behoves us to have young people today develop the wherewithal to become adults with all the sundry obligations and responsibilities. Again they can only learn this by allowing them to deal with it - all of it - consequences and benefits.

    One of the reasons I share this today is that I received an email from one of the teachers I have had this conversation with. She shared with me that she and her colleagues teaching grades 2- 4 have set up a system of student goal setting and teacher conferencing to begin the students developing their own capacity to aim for and achieve personal goals. One of the aspects of system involves the students having learning goal tags which they hang around their necks.

    "They pick them up each morning and use them to remind them of where they are going and also of their learning goal. They get rewarded when they get 5 ticks in a week with raffle tickets or something else if it is written on their goal tag."

    "The goal tags were designed to be a little bit more tangible for the grade 2's and something they could look at regularly and have checked after each session  instead of at learning conferences. They appreciate the positive language used in the success criteria and regularly do look at it.  I've had students sit down at the back of the class, then look at their tag and see they were meant to be at the front and go "oooh" and quickly move.   I can also say things like are you remembering your learning goal and they move or et themselves organised which I find more positive too."

    You can find the tags she sent me here: Sample Grade 2 Goal Tags.

    What structures do you use to scaffold the students being accountable for their learning?

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 264

• Letter For A March Of Protest Letter For A March Of Protest

  • From: Robert_Thollander
  • Description:

    This is a letter I wrote on the morning that the Occupy Chicago movement joined with the Chicago Teachers Union for a march through downtown Chicago for better public schools.  The letter is my attempt to unite the missions of both groups.

     

    October 10, 2011

     

     

     

    Dear Chicago Public School Teachers, Protesters, the 99%, the 1 %, Politicians, and Allies on all Sides,  

     

     

    First, to Chicago Public School Teachers and Allies: 

     

    I know we have the day off.  I know I am in need of some rest and relaxation!  But today we are needed more than ever.  I’d like to do nothing more today than sit at home and play video games.  Of course, that would never happen.  I'd be spending my holiday grading the 120 lab reports that were turned in on Friday.  It has to be finished today because I want to be able to pass them back to my kids on Tuesday so they can learn from their mistakes, and improve for the next lab I have planned for them.

     

    J.C. Brizard and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are trying to belittle and degrade our noble professions by forcing us to work 29% more than we already do for 2% more money (only half of the annual raise that we already lost this year).

     

    I believe that a longer school year and school day would benefit our children.  I am in the business of doing what is best for our kids, their future, and ultimately the country’s future.  For my kids, the more time that they are in school, the less time they are out on the streets, which have become more dangerous as ever as the recession hammers a neighborhood of poverty-stricken U.S. citizens.  

     

    I'm not a teacher for the money, even though I do make a decent, middleclass salary.  I'm a highly qualified biological researcher and could be making significantly more money working in the research industry.  However, I go to work everyday as a Secondary Science Teacher to inspire, mold, shape, help, support, and teach the next generation of our country’s leaders.  I believe that I have one of the most important (and hardest jobs) that I could be doing at this point in my life.  That said, I also feel I should be equitably compensated and respected for the job that I do, just like any other profession.  

     

    I am often saddened by the conditions that some of my students face on a daily basis.  There are days that the shootings and violence surrounding my school overwhelm me, but it is always the resilience of my students, being stronger and more composed than I ever will be, who remind me with their hopeful eyes that education is their path to a better future.  I push my students to dream big, and there isn’t a second in my classroom that’s not used to create our future leaders and innovators.  However, I am aware that for many of my students, graduating from high school and going to college means being able to earn just enough money avoid public welfare.  For some of my students, being in school for an entire school day and away from the streets for a few hours is a matter of life and death. (There was a shooting at 7:21 am a few weeks ago just 2 blocks away from the school and violence is a regular occurrence in the surrounding neighborhood)

     

    Given the current political, economic, and environmental situation of our country, sometimes I feel like all of my efforts are in vain and I am giving a false sense of security to my 10th and 12th grade students.  We have the resources, the ingenuity, and strength to create a bright future.  Unfortunately, corruption, gluttony, and greed are currently controlling the path the world is on, and preventing that future.  I have not given up hope and never will.

     

    For the respect of our profession, the nobility of our daily task of preparing the next generation of leaders, and the lives of our students, please join parents, students, teachers and other community members for a march to tell big business: “Put kids first!”

     

    Next, to the Protesters and Allies in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and around the world: 

     

    How can I continue to push my students to graduate from high school and take out loans to go to college when there are no jobs waiting for them when they graduate that pay a living wage?  How can I continue to hold my students accountable for embodying the value of commitment when the leaders of our country continuously drop the ball on their water-downed promises?  How can I impress upon my students the ideals of compassion when the wealthiest minority is oppresses the vast majority of the people of our country?  How can I continue to imprint upon my students the value of integrity in one’s conduct, given the fact that after failing the economic system, the largest banks were bailed out and face little to no consequences for their immoral actions?  Finally, how can I continue to teach my students the value of reflection, leading to improvement and self control when, upon taking a reflective inventory of the economic and environmental status that the world is in, no substantial and sustainable changes occur? 

     

    I creatively continue to infuse my curriculum and teaching practices with these values because I of my hope for a better future.  I have not given up hope and never will.  Every child that leaves my Biology class at the end of every year has not only has a deep understanding of living things and how they interact with the world, but they also understand why it is so important that human beings consistently embody commitment, compassion, integrity, and reflection in every idea thought, every word spoken, and every action taken.  

     

    Everyday, 120 wonderful people sit in front of me with inquisitive teenage eyes that crave hope for the future.  I believe it is part of the responsibilities of my job to calm their fears, fuel their hope, and give them the tools to manifest their destinies.  I will be at Occupy Chicago as much as I can, as long as it doesn’t interfere my commitment to my students.   

     

    We will succeed in Chicago.  We will succeed in New York City.  We will succeed in Los Angeles.  We will succeed in D.C.  We will succeed everywhere that Americans are standing up for what is right, just, and humane.  We will succeed because failure is not an option.  We will succeed because this is the most important thing in the world right now.  We will succeed because we have the strength and endorsement of the majority of the people and living things that make up this planet. 

     

    It is up to us, the 99% to take back control of our world.  There are ways to sustainably rectify the dire situation that the majority of the people in the world and the planet itself are facing.

    What type of future are we going to give our children?  What is our legacy?  How will we fix environmental and economic collapse?  What will you do to make sure we succeed?  

     

    Finally, to Those in Power, Those in Charge, the 1%, and Their Allies:

     

    We will never give up.  This protest has no definitive beginning or end point, but don’t underestimate its power.  The American citizenry is not an entity that will fizzle out after a month, a year, or even a decade.  Politicians seeking endorsements and corporations hunting profits will not hijack us.  It is We, the People, United and Standing Strong.  This is about total systemic change.  I know you hear us and now it is impossible not to see us.  The status quo is no longer acceptable or even possible.  A peaceful and non-violence transition to a new way of life is the sane and sensible option.  It is to this future to which we, the 99%, have committed.  Will you fight us, or will you admit defeat and join us at the table?  

     

     

     

     

    Love, Hope, and Support for Humanity and the Living Planet,

     

     

     

    Robert Earl Thollander Jr

    Secondary Science Teacher

    Chicago Public Schools 

    rethollander@cps.edu

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    P.S.  If you like what you read in this letter, pass it on. Write you own letter and pass that on too.  Also, if you don't like what you read in this letter, respond!   What we need right now in this country is a civil and democratic dialogue.       

    

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 288

• Master Leadership Class: Build Master Leadership Class: Building Culture from Outside the Box

  • From: Sandi_Massey
  • Description:

    Part 4: 

    Master Leadership Class 
    Building a Culture from Outside the Box
    
    Review:
    
    Part 1: Taking on a “Red Alert” Climate from Scratch
    
    Part 2: Building Trust with Staff
    
    Part 3: Building Trust with Students
    
    
    Part 4: Building a Culture from Outside the Box
    
    How do I get these kids to want to come to school? How do I get them to want to tuck in their shirts?
    
    From these questions Master Leadership Class was developed. I must give some credit to Oprah Winfrey who came up with Oprah’s Master Class. The concept was to have a famous person share their story of overcoming obstacles; how they used the challenging moments in their lives to become someone who has impacted millions of people. After watching both Oprah’s personal story then Maya Angelou’s, I was inspired, motivated, and more determined than ever to show my amazing students another way to think about their future. 
    
    As the ideas rushed through my brain, my thinking was, “Yes, a class, a leadership class. Amaster leadership class! I’ll have kids take an hour out of their day each six weeks and listen to a teacher or administrator share their story and give leadership concepts along the way. Yes, this will work. But they will have to show restraint in their behavior, show up at school each day, and pass their classes.” 
    
    Then, “No…this will never work. Why would my kids care about walking into the auditorium and sitting for an hour in another class? Listen to someone they see every day? It’s not enough – they’ll never buy in. Especially if they have to follow rules they already hate just to attend.” 
    
    I needed to figure out how to get the students to WANT to do the right thing. I was on the right track, but not quite there. I also knew I needed a special type of speaker – an Oprah, a Maya. I needed a successful presenter to share their real life story – not the TV version – the real deal – the hard stuff. I had already decided my staff needed to be in the lineup during the MLC’s. When 95% of your staff is Caucasian and 98% of your students aren’t, you need to assist in making connections from their life to yours. I could imagine all they saw were a bunch of white teachers who never had a problem in their lives. Now they had a female white principal who came in guns blazing. I needed them to see a different side of the staff, including myself. I wanted to be able to use a different staff story at each MLC. At the end of Oprah’s personal story from Oprah’s Master Class she said these words, “Every person has a story, every story has a lesson.” That became the theme of our staff stories. We wouldn’t share them live. They would be shared as a video biography – a portion of the MLC format. Sharing the struggles our staff had gone through when they were young would build bonds with our students. This would be one of the most important elements to the success of MLC.
    
    To get you right to the meat of why MLC and how MLC was developed, I’m going to skip a thousand details. As the author Simon Sinek says, Start With Why.
    
    Why MLC?
    
    It comes down to the needs of the students. They needed to feel celebrated, believed in, loved, respected, honored. They needed to have a reason to come to school. A reason to look beyond rules and dress code. A reason to believe in a future that could take them anywhere. They needed to be inspired. As I wept through almost every minute of Oprah and Maya’s stories I knew this was the avenue to bring the best out in my students. I needed to find authentic, genuine stories -- stories my students couldn’t ignore.
    
    A very important piece, which must not be lost, is that MLC was developed out of need. The need of a specific group of kids, with a specific mind set. While I have no doubt this concept could be initiated anywhere and most likely be well received, it was born from the need of this campus. Whatever programs you create must be based on one premise – which program, like none other, will impact students in the most positive way? 
    
    How MLC was Developed 
    
    An idea, a concept, a vision is one thing, but something larger than you cannot be done without support. Support for the concept, the “why”, and of course, the cost. I started with my closest friend, and sister-principal, Ena Meyers. After sharing my vision she was on board. We talked through every process from what we needed to order during the summer to how we would manage the cost associated with the logistical concerns. We would travel on this journey together. That’s when “I” turned into “we”.
    
    We then brought in our assistant principals and counselors. Everyone had to buy into the idea. When you are passionate and visionary, it isn’t too hard to pull that off. Our leadership teams were all in from the first meeting. 
    
    I honestly don’t remember having a moment where I sat down and thought through every detail before moving forward. I think it’s a mistake to do so in most cases where a risk is being taken. Most risks immediately die when there are negative voices playing “devil's advocate”. One loses heart and motivation. Momentum comes to a halt and the drive is put into park. When taking a risk – one that is for the right reason – it pays off to move forward regardless of obstacles. Don’t ignore them. Write them down, address them later, but keep momentum.
    
    I could write a book on everything put into developing this concept, and I probably will one day, but for now I’ll give you the basics. There were a few MLC non-negotiables. First, staying on campus wouldn’t work for my kids. They could care less about hearing a teacher talk on a microphone in the auditorium when they hear them every day in class. In fact, these kids would not want to go to a Master Leadership Class at all; another class…on leadership? When I said it out loud, it even sounded like a joke to me. What our kids wanted was to be out of school. We knew if we could get them off campus, they wouldn’t care where they were going. They would just want to go to get out of going to class. 
    
    Our team planned five MLC’s over the year and tied them to the first five six week periods. The perfect location was a sister school auditorium. It was beautiful and free. The only cost would be travel (buses) to and from the school and a sound crew to run the systems in the auditorium. Paying the sound crew was a breeze. But we had really underestimated the cost of buses for up to 600 students. That’s another story. Bottom line, the superintendent and many other key central staff members attended the first MLC. Afterwards, they enthusiastically agreed to support our travel the rest of the year. We couldn’t have done it without them. 
    
    Secondly, teachers could not be used as the key speakers. We needed our teachers to play a significant role, and knew their stories were real, valid, and should be shared, but students would need to hear from others as well. We needed celebrity speakers. We needed Oprah (and believe me, we tried, but to no avail). We needed people our kids could relate to, would know by face, and could hear a story relative to their own. 
    
    With charm and the amazing new social networks like Facebook, MLC wound up with a top 20 contestant from that summer’s, "So You Think You Can Dance," a former NFL football player, a High School Coach of the Year four times over, Jim Morris, the inspiration behind the movie The Rookie, and The Biggest Loser’s Danny Cahill for our keynote speakers. In addition we pulled together a Master Leadership Conference for the spring that included thirty area speakers covering career, health, and leadership. It was truly amazing.
    
    Last, we needed to find a way to tie the concept of Master Leadership Class to the new structure of the school. How do we get students to look beyond the policies and procedures, beyond the dress code, beyond the idea that school didn’t matter? How could we get them to want to get on the bus to attend MLC? If we could just get them to the first one, I knew we would have them. 
    
    During the new school year orientation the guidelines and rewards of MLC was introduced. Students were intrigued. We consistently announced our first speaker would be a former NFL football player, but never said who it would be. Hopefully they would be curious enough to want to attend and see for themselves. 
    
    In order to get on the bus there were stipulations that must be followed. Every student received three wristbands that corresponded with our school colors. Navy represented behavior and read, “The Choice is Mine”. Gold represented attendance and read, “Priority One – Be Here!” White represented academics and read, “No Excuses, Just Results.” Students would have to make good choices. In order to keep their navy band, they couldn’t receive any consequences leading to a detention or worse. We had a very clear set of policies that defined how many written warnings were allowed before assigning a detention. The number was three. Anything beyond warranted a detention. We kept spreadsheets every day updating all written warnings. 
    
    Students would have to be in class every day, every period, on time. The only valid excuse would be a doctor’s note. A parent note would not cut it. This was the most challenging issue up front and remained so all year. Students were in the habit of showing up to school on their own time. It was a big change. 
    
    Finally, regardless of need, students would have to pass their classes. Any student who failed even one class would not be allowed to attend. MLC was meant to reward students who always did the right thing and also the ones who decided to do the right thing just to get off campus. The right thing is the right thing. It didn’t matter what the intent behind studying was, just that they did it. 
    
    The week before each MLC trip “golden tickets” with name labels attached to each one would be hand delivered. It was their ticket on the bus. The excitement from MLC to MLC grew and expanded as each one drew nearer. On the final MLC of the year several students told me they received a ticket for the first time all year. One ran in my office in tears because she was about to attend her first MLC. 
    
    It worked! Not for everyone, but for most students, it certainly did work. The day following the first MLC the tone and climate took a dramatic upturn. We had well over four hundred of the six hundred students attend every six weeks. Discipline was lower than it had been since before the high school existed. Those who did come in the office for behavior felt remorseful and devastated when their action led to missing that six weeks' MLC. Attendance was the most challenging of the three key areas of concern. We still struggled with it, but it did increase. 
    
    Master Leadership Class was the right program, at the right time, for the right school. But you must know our team did not throw all our “culture” eggs into the MLC basket alone. There were many other programs and significant moments that helped the atmosphere of our school continue to move uphill. One single concept did not change the school. MLC played a significant role, but it alone could never build what occurred that year. It was the whole process; one filled with risks and high end returns.   
    
    When it comes to changing the climate and culture of a school, there is no better place to invest your heart and resources than in programs that will meet the specific needs of the students you serve. Be willing to think outside the box and take a risk. To this day, the experience on that campus is my best so far. I’m so grateful I was trusted to serve that community – those amazing secondary students. I have no doubt it is a season they will also never forget. 

    Thank you to my wonderful leadership team and my best friend, Ena. You all made dreams come true. Thank you to the district that stood behind an innovative, very outside the box, risky program. Thank you to incredible speakers who donated time and energy to remind a hurting group of urban kids that all challenges can be overcome, despite the dream-killers around you. And thank you to a strong group of students who overcame their pride and stood up for the right thing. I love you all so much. Continue to be the success you already are and share your story! Like Oprah said, “Every person has a story, every story has a lesson.” What’s yours and who’s learning from it?

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 392

• Leadership Climate: Building T Leadership Climate: Building Trust with Students

  • From: Sandi_Massey
  • Description:

     

    

     

    You Control the Climate
    
    This is a series on the role the principal plays in school climate. If you aren’t planning to go back and read part 1 and 2, let me briefly catch you up. 
    
    Part 1
    In March the principal of the secondary (7-12) resigned. I, being the middle school assistant principal, was asked to immediately accept the vacant position – which I did. The morale on the campus from staff to students was very low. Few policies and procedures were in place. The policies in place were not being followed. Needless to say, frustration and confusion covered all areas of the campus community. 
    
    Part 2
    In the beginning, I made no new changes, but did follow through with policies the district had previously set up. After setting the new standard for behavior, I began to learn, from the staff, areas of concern and need. Once I made progress with them, I turned my focus to the students. The first item on the agenda was a student survey asking some pretty risky questions. 
    
    Part 3 
    Building Trust with the Students
    The survey was the first headway in building trust. Although skeptical - they had never been asked their opinion before, students felt they were having a voice for the first time. They weren’t sure any changes would actually come from the survey, but at least they had the chance to share their frustrations. I learned what I already suspected - the students felt they weren’t learning enough. They were bored in class and said the teachers disciplined unfairly and differently in every class. What concerned me the most were the comments from seniors. Most of them made a reference to not being prepared for college - not feeling they would be ready to learn at that level based on their high school experience. It broke my heart, but their year was all but gone. There was nothing I could change to benefit them this late in the game. I made it a point to learn their names and spend the final days of their high school experience in a positive manner.
    
    Summer Transition
    The survey was a huge first step, but the next piece needed to be more personal.  I started the process of learning the students' names – ALL of them. Why would this be a vital step? There is nothing more personal, more intimate than referring to a person by name. Even with no other relationship, speaking the name brings some level of automatic, authentic trust. 
    
    I found the “sticker” pictures that are usually sent with class pictures-the ones we used on the cum files. I attached a name with every sticker, divided the groups into grade level and clipped each grade level on the same notebook ring. I then hung them on a lanyard. I had four lanyards packed with picture cards, one for each grade level. 
    
    All summer (and even into the new school year) I carried those name cards. I took them everywhere with me - movies, dinner, walks, student games. I even remember sitting down with a sophomore at a volleyball game. He helped me find some of the students at the game that matched the card. I didn’t keep it a secret. I wore those lanyards around my neck. They knew what I was doing. I kept the cards with me until I had learned every high school students name, beginning with the upcoming senior class and working my way down. I did have one advantage; I already knew the freshmen coming in. They had been my eighth graders all year. That made the job a bit easier. 
    
    Learning the names of all students isn’t just a tactic to build a connection. It is a change agent when it comes to a campus culture. At that year’s high school graduation, the salutatorian’s mother shared an amazing compliment with me from her son. She explained Chris had come home earlier during the year and commented on how Mrs. Massey was learning everyone’s name, giving hugs, and saying she loves them. He told her many of the students have never been hugged or told they are loved. Here’s the best part…Chris told his mom that Mrs. Massey didn’t pick favorites. She knew everyone by name, hugged everyone, and loved everyone. I certainly want my students to achieve high marks academically, to be considered the top learners in the district, state, nation, but I’m not sure that comes close to knowing your students walk away from you feeling you truly cared about them and their future. 
    
    Dream Specific, Dream Big
    Let me go back a bit, to that first summer. Before beginning my new year as secondary principal, I had time to dream. I thought about these kids from morning to night every day. I couldn’t get enough. I was inspired and excited to put in place ideas I had been carrying long before the opportunity came my direction. 
    
    Like I communicated earlier, I had read Maxwell’s, The 360 Degree Leader leading up to this point.  In 17 years of working as an educator I only had the opportunity to lead from the middle. Meaning, you aren’t the boss, but you can have influence. It’s quite surprising how much impact you can have as a leader without having the title if you do it well. However, when you lead from the middle, you are still under someone else’s dreams, visions, and you must support those visions or walk away. That was me as an AP - lots of ideas and dreams, not many avenues to put them into action.
    
    I was finally in the position where I could dream with the very real hope of bringing it to pass. But my dreaming was very specific. Remember, the kids were on the edge of defeat. They had already experienced years of inconsistency and now a new principal had come in to “make their lives miserable” by handing down consequences to poor choices. I knew how I felt about them - why I needed to follow through – be the bad guy. I also knew they wouldn’t understand it. They were overwhelmed. They certainly had no love for me. Not yet. So as the summer break came up, I knew it was time to focus on the reason I’m an educator – the kids. 
    
    The survey proved our students were incredibly dissatisfied with their current education. The overwhelming number one concern in all grades was the need for better teachers. Seniors felt they weren’t challenged enough and were unprepared for college. Most had little self-esteem and thought a successful future could be out of their reach. Close behind, the number two and three concerns stated “administration was too strict with dress code and discipline”. The number one reason to come to school, for a student, was athletics. Not what I wanted to hear in an academic environment. 
    
    I knew I couldn’t change policies and procedures. I also knew I didn’t want to. Students were made to follow procedures during the last two months of school, which was difficult for them. But I needed to figure out how I could get them to see their number one reason was valid (questioning the learning environment is perfectly acceptable), but the two others shouldn’t be important to them. Wearing uniforms and following policies is common in almost any job. I started with two questions in mind, “How do I get them to want to come to school? And “How do I get them to want to tuck in their shirt?”
    
    Out of these questions was born Master Leadership Class (MLC). I’ll explain this concept next week – it’s a big one and will take some space. It’s what I call a “God Idea”- way bigger and better than I could’ve dreamed on my own. The concept came to me, but I began to share it immediately with my closest friend and fellow principal, as well as my leadership team. As our thoughts flowed toward the needs of the students, the concept was birthed. To be continued…
    
    Part 3 Overview:
    When trying to change a culture, you begin with the staff. They need to buy into you, feel safe, protected, cared for. Alongside, you must think about how you will build a relationship with your students.
    
    1. Build a genuine rapport with your students
    
    ·      Listen to what they have to say
    
    ·      Speak to them by name
    
    2. Dedicate time to thinking deeply, thoughtfully about THEM 
    
    ·      What are their specific needs?
    
    ·      How do I help THESE kids?
    
    3. Dream big and specifically
    
    ·      Dreams big – don’t shortchange your students by doing what  everyone else does 
    
    ·      Don’t dream alone – let your support system dream with you 
    
    Next Week:  Title:  Master Leadership Class 
  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 422

• Leadership: You Control the Cl Leadership: You Control the Climate Part 2: Where to Begin

  • From: Sandi_Massey
  • Description:

     

    

     
    
    
    Part 2 – Where to Begin
    
    As a reminder, this is part 2 of a series concerning the role a principal plays in taking responsibility for the climate and culture of the campus. Because I’m sharing my own story, it would pay off for you to read part 1 before diving into this article. 
    
    It was the end of the Friday before spring break when the announcement was shared I would be assuming the secondary principal position effective immediately. I had one week to go through files and figure out how I would complete the current year. Per directive from my assistant superintendent, I would make no new changes, but did want to begin correcting the many policy inconsistencies observed during the year.
    
    A.    Provide Structure
    
    Many students had no consequences for their actions, regardless of how “prohibited”. Don’t get me wrong, there was a specific section on consequences in the policy manual, just no follow-through. Almost every written referral had one of two statements written under the consequence section, “teacher and student resolved” or “student discussion.” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Regardless of the why (which I still needed to uncover), the final two and a half months of school couldn’t remain in the same cycle. It’s easy to lay down the law – especially when it already exists. The challenge was in dealing with the shock and awe from parents and students when the law began to be implemented. It was going to be rough. I knew it. However, the future of the school, the students, and the staff – my decision to make a culture shift now as opposed to August – I believed it was worth the risk. 
    
    At this point I had been given no time to build any type of “trusting relationships”. I hadn’t even held my first staff meeting. Other than the new assistant principal (who had been placed in the AP position I had just abandoned) I was on my own. It was time to be in the halls, address uniform concerns, tardiness, roamers, skippers, language.
    
    Discovering the overwhelming number of students who greatly exceeded the allotment for tardies in their transition periods, I began calling them in to implement the “suspension” which had been required many number of tardies before, but never given. Those first two weeks were filled with many suspensions, many parent meetings, and many tears. I really can’t tell you how many students I suspended trying to catch them all up to policy, but I do remember one particular day there were 26. I learned later students had tagged it “National Suspension Day.” 
    
    I don’t want to spend too much time on the part parents play in climate and culture, but I want to share just a small piece with you. Because of such a severe difference in leadership, so late in the year, parents were quite in shock. I met with each set, even grandparents, whether they called ahead or just showed up. The value I need to share with you is vision. Each one of those parents heard my passion for their students, my heart for where I saw our school headed, and the desire within me to help all students participate in the best possible learning environment for themselves and others. That’s all it took. Not one parent pulled their child from the school over any of those suspensions. Many of them thanked me. They understood I was in it for the kids – FOR THEM! It didn’t mean those type of meetings came to an end, but it sure made a difference in the value they began adding to their own child’s educational experience. Communication – quality communication – wow!
    
    I’ve always felt the main component in any successful business is knowing how to effectively communicate with people. Relationships were going to be key if a positive climate was in our future. I needed to prove to teachers I had their back and would follow through with discipline. As I discovered through conversations, many teachers over that last few years had decided to handle situations on their own. They felt it was necessary to gain any behavior advantages in their classes. Some had already given up on administration completely. They were frustrated and skeptical. Earning their trust would not be easy. 
    
    I needed more information from the high school teachers. What were their main concerns? What did they need from me? How could I show them I supported them? I met with each teacher individually to ask these questions. I learned I was the fifth principal for the HS in the last seven years. Each principal interpreted and applied policies and procedures their own way or not at all. Teachers had no idea what to rely on each year. They had no trust with administration and were extremely cautious in sharing truth.  I understood why.
    
    B.  Build Trust Among Staff
    
    Building trust is a number one priority. As educators we all know the first step to building trust is with food. I took money out of my husband’s wallet (shhhh) and purchased breakfast for the staff almost every Friday and Monday the remainder of the year. I gave them jeans days. I placed notes and snacks in their boxes. When I conducted walk-throughs I would leave reflective questions or give encouraging feedback. Sometimes I would simply ask, “How are you today?” 
    
    The second step to building their trust was follow-through with discipline from the office side. Checking through discipline files I noticed many infractions which should have been addressed by previous administration and assigned consequences, but none had been assigned. I individually tracked down teachers, showed them the infractions, and reminded them I would handle those issues the next time they occurred. Slowly referrals began coming in for “prohibited offenses”. As I followed through with consequences, trust began to settle in. 
    
    The third step was conducting a survey where teachers could share their frustrations and concerns -- their thoughts over the changes. I wanted to know, after six weeks of implementation, how they felt. Bottom line, the feedback was very positive, but the main comment from 90% of staff was, “Do what you said you will do.” They felt good about the changes, but would it last?
    
    By the final two weeks of school I had built a considerable identity of trust among staff. However, the fact the staff themselves needed work did not go unnoticed. In dealing with student discipline, I learned many teachers weren’t providing a successful learning environment for the students. Part of me understood why.  There had been a lack of reliable leadership on the campus in the prior years. But that was not an excuse. We are to be professionals. If the handbook says be at school by 7:30 then why were so many showing up well after? Very few lesson plans were being turned in; no one had an assigned duty they were tending to before or after school. That too needed to be fixed, and quick. However, knowing how defeated and unstable the faculty already was, handling them in the right way at the right time was vital. I made sure I let the staff know my expectations up front, but I didn’t write anyone up during those two months if they messed up. I’m still not sure I did the right thing there, but I was in new skin as well. Mistakes were inevitable -- I’m not just referring to theirs.
    
    C.  What do the Students Need?
    
    I also needed to know how the students felt about the learning in the classroom. I conducted a student survey and asked some pretty tough questions (based on conversations from discipline situations). What teachers have used inappropriate language in the classroom? What teachers have you learned the least from? The most from? What staff have been the most consistent in handling behavior? The least consistent”? I asked, “How do you feel about current discipline practices from the office and classroom? What are the top three concerns about the school and the top three reasons to come to school?” With all these questions I asked students to list names and explain why they felt this way. A risk – oh yeah, it was certainly a risk. I had spent considerable time building trust with staff. A survey like this one could throw all of it away in an instant. I didn’t intend to make staff changes based on student surveys, but they offered details to have great one-on-one conversations. 
    
    I was very impressed with how seriously the students answered the survey. They gave intelligent answers. It was valuable feedback. I honestly felt I knew exactly who the best and weakest teachers were by listening to the students. 
    
    Taking time to gain a complete perspective of the survey and picking the right timing to share what I had learned would be paramount. I put the survey on the back burner for now. Graduation was a week away and teachers would be leaving for the summer. I needed to assemble my new leadership team and develop a plan for laying out the new expectations – including those challenging discussions with staff. 
    
    Overview:
    
    1. Begin with follow-through – I did not implement any new changes, only followed through with pre-existing policy
    
    2. Build trust with staff; listen to them – yes – it may mean stepping outside your comfort zone to leave notes or bring treats – it’s worth it and they deserve it
    
    3. Learn from students – their knowledge is very reliable – they know the teachers better than any other person – even little ones know (as I wrote about in Second Grade Revelations)
    
    Next Week: Part 3 – Dreaming with the Students in Mind! 
    I love this part – it still gives me chills when I look back on the summer that changed everything. I began to dream and dream big – but what really counts is the WHY – hope you’ll be back next week. To be continued… 
    
  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
  • Views: 317

• Cynical Teens and the Literatu Cynical Teens and the Literature we Feed Them

  • From: Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides
  • Description:

    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

  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
  • Views: 566

• L2L News: August 2012 L2L News: August 2012

  • From: Meg_Simpson
  • Description:

    ASCD Leader to Leader (L2L) News is a monthly e-mail newsletter for ASCD constituent group leaders that builds capacity to better serve members, provides opportunities to promote and advocate for ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative, and engages groups through sharing and learning about best practices. To submit a news item for the L2L newsletter, send an e-mail to constituentservices@ascd.org.

     

    Join the L2L Conversation on Twitter

     

    ASCD Launches Free Online Needs Assessment and School Improvement Tool

    All educators want to improve the work they do for students. Whether it’s instruction, school climate, leadership, family engagement, or any of the other issues we face on a daily basis, we all need tools to help us improve in our context with our students. The ASCD School Improvement Tool is the newest and best way to get a snapshot of how well your school or district is doing and then identify what steps to take to get to the next level.

    Designed for use in schools and districts around the world, this free tool offers educators a comprehensive and completely online needs assessment. It includes a survey based on the indicators(PDF) of a sustainable whole child approach to education which span school climate and culture, instruction and curriculum, leadership, family and community engagement, professional development and staff capacity, and assessment.

    Based on your unique results, the tool points you to professional development resources that can help immediately address schoolwide challenges. Go to http://sitool.ascd.orgto get started.

    To post an ASCD School Improvement Tool badge on your website:

    Go to http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/images/siteASCD/ProfessionalDevelopment/school-improvement-tool-150x150.png. Download the image to your computer (for PC users: right-click your mouse and select “save image as”). Hyperlink the image to http://sitool.ascd.org, preferably to open in a new window/tab.

    -Or-

    Use the following html code to embed the image, already linked, on your website: <a href="http://sitool.ascd.org/Default.aspx" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/images/siteASCD/ProfessionalDevelopment/school-improvement-tool-150x150.png" alt="ASCD School Improvement Tool" width="150" height="150" /></a>

    Contact Klea Scharberg at kscharbe@ascd.org with questions or specific size, format, or language requests.

     

    Please Welcome the Whole Child Network of Schools to the ASCD Community

    The 10 schools—nine from across the continental United States and one from Guam —chosen to participate in ASCD’s Whole Child Network kicked off their efforts with a two and a half day Whole Child Network Summer Institute in Alexandria, Va., on July 15–17, 2012.

    These chosen schools have committed to a comprehensive school improvement process using the tenets of the Whole Child Initiative—healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged—and their indicators (PDF) as a sustainable whole child approach to education.

    The July institute will be followed by a one-day, on-site professional development at each school. Facilitated in partnership with ASCD’s Whole Child Programs staff, the training will introduce the whole child approach to education within each participating school’s community. ASCD staff will work with each school to support a comprehensive implementation based on the school’s results fromthe new ASCD School Improvement Tool and in correlation with their school improvement plans.

    Contact Donna Snyder, Manager Whole Child Programs, for more information at 703-575-5448 or donna.snyder@ascd.org

    2012 Whole Child Network of Schools:

    ·         Albert Harris Elementary School, Martinsville, Va., K–5.

    ·         Drew-Freeman Middle School,  Suitland, Md., 7–8.

    ·         Finegayan Elementary School, Hagatna, Guam, Head Start and K–5.

    ·         Fredstrom Elementary School, Lincoln, Neb., K–5.

    ·         Holly Glen Elementary School, Williamstown, N.J., preK–4.

    ·         Le Sueur-Henderson High School, Le Sueur, Minn., l 6–12.

    ·         Martinsville High School, Martinsville, Va., 9–12.

    ·         Odyssey Community School of the Santa Clara County School District in San Martin, Calif., 9–12.

    ·         P.S. 9, the Teunis G. Bergen Elementary School Brooklyn, N.Y., preK–5.

    ·         Urban Community School in Cleveland, Ohio, preK–8.

    Read the full press release.

     

    ASCD Emerging Leaders Sound Off on ASCD EDge

    Check out these great posts from ASCD leaders on ASCD EDge. Feel free to comment and share!

    ·         Ready, Set, Goals! By Fred Ende, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         On the Edge of Insanity: Developing My First PLN! By Craig Martin, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         Practice Makes Permanent by Fred Ende, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         How Will You Be a Connected Educator? By Steven Anderson, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         If It Ain’t Broke… by Fred Ende, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         Reform in Mathematics Teaching by Patricia Dickenson, 2011 Emerging Leader

    ·         The Power of the Lurker by Steven Anderson, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         Does the Student Create the Teacher? By Jason Ellingson, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         Learn to Lead, Lead to Learn by Fred Ende, 2012 Emerging Leader

    ·         If We Are Going to Lead, We Have to Be Connected by Steven Anderson, 2012 Emerging Leader

     

    Over 200 Leaders Gather for the 2012 Leader to Leader Conference

    Last month, ASCD leaders met at the Hyatt Dulles hotel for the 2012 Leader to Leader Conference. ASCD staff would like to thank attendees for a great conference and for their dedication and renewed commitment to revolutionizing the way we learn by ensuring that each child, in each community, is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Attendees have already provided extremely helpful feedback in the conference evaluation that will help inform future improvements to the conference.

     

    Past OYEA Cadre Members Share Their Thoughts on ASCD Inservice

    ·         From School Leader to Community Leader “You can no longer just worry about the issues that are happening within your school.”—Luis Torres, 2011 OYEA Winner

    ·         How Leaders in Singapore Stay Relevant to the Classroom “It’s this constant rotation in leadership so that educational leaders still have that fresh classroom experience to really think as a teacher.”—Deirdra Grode, 2008 OYEA Winner

    ·         Educational Leadership is My Just-in-Time Resource —Dallas Dance, OYEA Honoree

    ·         Using Mobile Devices to Improve Feedback Between Teachers and Principals “As principals, the quickest way to help students is to give teachers really good feedback.” — Brian Nichols, 2010 OYEA Winner

    ·         Is Learning Being Redefined as Project-Based?—Bijal Damani, 2009 OYEA Winner

     

    Help Stop Sequestration!

    Sequestration will take effect in January 2013 unless Congress repeals it, making it crucial for education leaders like you to act now to prevent education spending from being cut by 8.4 percent, or about $4.1 billion.

    • Access ASCD’s updated sequestration page to learn more about the estimated cuts and their timing for key education programs and to calculate the amount that your school or program stands to lose.
    • Take advantage of this month’s congressional recess to meet with your federal lawmakers, inform them about sequestration’s severe consequences on local schools, and urge them to repeal the across-the-board cuts.
    • E-mail your stories about how sequestration is affecting (or will affect) you, your schools, and your school districts to ASCD’s Policy Team. We will share them with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as part of our effort to urge Congress to repeal sequestration.

    If you haven’t yet e-mailed your federal legislators about sequestration, we strongly encourage you to take five minutes to contact them today.

     

    Save the Date for ASCD’s Annual Legislative Conference

    Don’t let Congress make decisions about student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and school reform without the expert information you can provide. Let your voice be heard at ASCD's Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy (LILA), which will be held January 27–29, 2013. LILA is your opportunity to learn about and advocate for the education policies that have a direct effect on your work in the district, school, and classroom. Whether you are just becoming interested in advocacy or are a long-time activist, LILA can enhance your influence and effectiveness with policymakers at all levels. Look for more information, including registration details, in the coming weeks.

      

    Something to Talk About

    ·         Most recent blog posts on ASCD EDge®

    ·         Most-clicked stories from ASCD SmartBrief.

     

    Association News

    ·         Prince George's County Public Schools and ASCD Partner to Achieve Title I Professional Development Goals—Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) Title I Office has chosen ASCD as its newest professional development partner. As the second largest school system in Maryland and the 18th largest in the nation, PGCPS's 9,000 educators serve 125,000 students in 205 schools. Read the full press release.

    ·         School Renewal Experts Publish ASCD Guidebook for Fearlessly Leading School Transformation—ASCD is pleased to announce the release of Aim High, Achieve More: How to Transform Urban Schools Through Fearless Leadership, a practical and inspiring new book by school renewal experts Yvette Jackson and Veronica McDermott. Read the full press release.

    ·         ASCD Leader Receives Award for 20 Years of Service—ASCD CEO and Executive Director Dr. Gene R. Carter was honored by the association’s Board of Directors for his 20 years of service to the organization. The award was presented to Dr. Carter by ASCD President Debra Hill at the close of the association’s summer Board of Directors’ meeting in Alexandria, Va. Read the full press release.

     

  • Blog post
  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 667
  • Not yet rated

• Top five reasons to eliminate Top five reasons to eliminate classroom rules

  • From: Mark_Barnes
  • Description:

    Classroom rules and their accompanying consequences are old school; they are crutches used by teachers who are afraid to move into a student-centered, progressive classroom.

    Here are my top five reasons for eliminating rules and consequences in the classroom.

     

    5. Classroom rules are about control - The best way to create an adversarial relationship with kids is to control them. Using "if-then" procedures will make for a controlling, combative atmosphere that students will hate.

    4. Classroom rules impede freedom - Listing a bunch of Do's and Don'ts creates an environment in which students feel they have no choices. They can't chew gum, can't move from their seat, can't talk to their neighbors. This makes them wonder what they can do.

    3. Classroom rules discourage learning - A room that is governed by rules and consequences keeps students on edge. The controlling, combative teacher makes students nervous. They can't move, they can't talk, and they don't dare ask to go to the bathroom. Who on earth could concentrate on learning in this environment?

    2. Classroom rules make teaching integrity impossible - French philosopher Albert Camus said, "Integrity has no need for rules." Integrity is a difficult concept to teach kids, and a classroom founded on rules and consequences makes understanding it difficult. After all, as Camus suggests, people of integrity shouldn't need rules and consequences.

    1. Classroom rules create disruption - Rules and consequences inspire the very thing that teachers want to eliminate, class disruption. With all of their freedoms taken away and faced with a controlling adult, many students feel challenged to disrupt. After all, they certainly aren't encouraged to learn in a rules-and-consequences world.

  • Blog post
  • 10 months ago
  • Views: 3468

• Bully Mapping Bully Mapping

  • From: Michael_Fisher
  • Description:

    There are times when I blog when I wonder about the consequences of what I “put out there” and how it may be perceived. There are also times when I feel like I’m getting thoughts out that may be incomplete or are in need of additional information. I try to explain to others about the nature of a blog not being a completist publication event. It is the spark, the impetus, if you will, for creating a conversation, not just the delivery of information. So please know, when I write what I’ve written here, it’s just that: a conversation starter. There are many implications and many holes to fill in, but the actions must begin.

    
    ...
    
    I just read the most amazing blog post about bullying at summer camp and what one camp director did to begin to remedy the situation. YOU CAN READ THAT POST HERE.
    
    One of the excellent ideas that the author wrote about was the concept of “sociograms.” The author describes them as “a social map of [a counselor’s] cabin twice per four-week session, to show which campers are ‘in’ and who’s being left out. On day five of each session, every camper fills out a questionnaire, which asks, among fun stuff like favorite activities, if anyone has made them feel unsafe.”
    
    This resonated with me big time. This is a specific act that teachers can take to start curbing bullying at school. My mapping alarm went off. We can direct a path to our intended destination with just a few considerate and reflective moments of time.
    
    When we map curriculum, we think first of evidence, then actions and tasks to get to that evidence. I think the same process would work for our work around antibullying efforts in schools.
    
    This author gave me an idea that I’m calling RAP: Responsibilities, Actions, and Proof. (It relates to curriculum mapping: Content, Skills, Assessment.) If “RAP” is too convivial or contrived an acronym, use whatever you want to call it; but identify your action plan.
    
    What are the Responsibilities around preventing bullying:
    

    • Conversation with students
    • Awareness of the outsiders
    • Monitoring of places where bullying could happen
    • Personal interactions

    (Funny that those create an acronym: CAMP. That was the seed of this blog post!)
    
    What are the Actions needed to stop bullying:
    

    • Knowing who the outsiders are and planning for specific actions to bring them in.
    • Keeping track of who is on the inside and who is on the outside.
    • Specifically addressing those who exclude others for any reason.
    • Creating a written plan/policy for those who bully others, and enforce it.
    • Getting personal with all students and using their individual interests to guide progress in creating and maintaining appropriate relationships.

    
    What is the Proof that our plan is working:
    

    • Surveys of students that specifically address bullying, dignity, and safety
    • Personal interactions with stories of success
    • Observing students previously challenged integrated with peer groups
    • Reduction in the incidence of reported bullying episodes
    • Overall positive school culture as evidenced by preceding proof

    
    Additionally, I think some attention should be paid, especially as kids get older, to online bullying episodes and actions being specifically addressed with proof something was done. Part of this means preventative measures including teaching students about internet safety, information literacy, and digital footprints.
    
    I think too, it would be easy for this to turn into “bully tracking,” which is not what I’m suggesting. There may be some elements to self-fulfilling prophecies being fulfilled if we first identify someone as a bully or victim and then, perhaps subconsciously, treat them in a way that could enable behaviors that they would not have otherwise exhibited.
    
    This is about observing who is in or out, identifying places where bullying could happen and being visible in those areas, how to bring everyone to the table, and creating a safe environment at school. “Bully Mapping” is about the plan for curbing behaviors that lead to bullying, the action triggers. If we want to prevent bullying, then we have to be mindful of the behaviors that precede it and quell those before the actions escalate.

     

    Mike on Twitter

    Cure for the Common Core on Amazon

  • Blog post
  • 10 months ago
  • Views: 2925

• Four Activities To Help You Be Four Activities To Help You Become a Better Teacher and Leader…

  • From: Elliott_Seif
  • Description:

     

    Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21^st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org

    ---------------------------

    Jim Collins is one of the best organizational development/leadership gurus, frequently writing about what makes organizations great.  His well-researched books about what it takes to become good and great organizations have a wealth of tips and strategies to help make all organizations great.

    All educators – superintendents, principals, teachers, even Board members-- can learn a lot from his most recent book Great By Choice[i]. Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen, compared seven businesses that are very successful with seven failed businesses in the same fields, in order to discover the reasons for success or failure. These included the Southwest Airlines (successful) and PSA (unsuccessful); bio-engineering companies Amgen (successful) and Genentech (unsuccessful); and insurance companies Progressive (successful) and Safeco (unsuccessful). This is a book well worth reading – here I will just summarize some of the major points, suggest how they might apply to schools and teachers, and also suggest four activities that educators might do to move teaching, schools, districts towards greatness over time.

    Surprisingly, Collins and Hansen did not find that successful businesses and their leaders are more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, blessed by luck, risk seeking, heroic, or prone to making big, bold moves (p. 18). What they did find is the following:

     

    Great businesses have “level 5 ambition”  coupled with fanatic discipline.

     The leaders and people in the highly successful businesses translate their high ambitions, egos, self-images, and intensity into creating “something larger and more enduring than themselves” (p. 31). Translated into educational terms, great educational leaders,  teachers, and organizations have lofty aims – to educate all children for success in a 21^st century world, to make sure that every child can read well by the end of the year (first grade teacher), to prepare every child for citizenship in a democratic society (social studies department, district), and so on. But what helps to translate this high, “level 5” ambition into reality, what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful companies, is not their goals but their fanatic devotion to the implementation of their SMaC (Specific, Methodical, and Consistent) recipe –a set of “durable operating practices that create a replicable and consistent success formula” for implementing their goals. SMaC is the “operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics” (p. 128). In simple terms, the SMaC recipe are the key organizational “ingredients” that will get them to their goals. They also include “not to do” practices. Once established and understood, they are pursued with consistent, fanatic intensity and devotion over time. Changes to the recipe occur only when it is clear that the specific ingredient does not help lead to the implementation of goals. In the book, the authors include a number of examples of SMaC recipes from successful companies, well worth examining as models and samples.

     Unfortunately, very few schools, districts and teachers develop clear, explicit outcomes and SMaC recipe ingredients that they consistently, day in and day out, devote their energies to implementing. One that does is High Tech High, a charter school in San Diego, California. The school has developed a clear set of goals and a SMaC recipe that it implements it with fanatic discipline built around four design principles – personalization, adult world connection, common intellectual mission, and teacher as designer. As the school says on its website: “The design principles permeate every aspect of life at High Tech High…”.  

     Another school with lofty goals and a SMaC recipe for success is Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school adheres to five core values – inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, reflection, and a set of specific ingredients to help get there, such as flexible schedules, the use of “Understanding by Design” as a planning tool, project and performance based learning in all classes, continuous professional development, authentic connections to outside resources and organizations, and a graduation capstone project focused around the five core values and a strong interest of the student.

     My own thinking about a vision and a SMaC recipe for a 21^st century world education focuses on three broad outcomes – preparation for lifelong, continuous learning; citizenship; and the development of each student’s interests and talents. The specific recipe for implementing these includes the development of a rigorous, meaningful curricula in all subjects, devotion to teaching five core skill sets; a focus on student work as a key assessment tool; continually assessing student growth and progress; teaching using interactive, project and problem based learning; customizing learning through many learning choices and options within and after school; creating service learning opportunities;  and applying learning to real life situations and contexts. I would also include: don’t pay much attention to standardized test results – they don’t really help you improve your school![ii]

     

    Activity #1: becoming a level 5 ambition - SMaC recipe educator! What are you devoted to? What are the your key, enduring goals and learning outcomes that will make a significant difference in your students’ lives? What are the characteristics, qualities, and “ingredients” of your classroom, school, district that will help you to implement your goals?

    Together with others in your school or teaching teammates, create a set of high, far reaching goals and an SMaC recipe for yourself! If you lead a school, bring people together to create clear, explicit goals and ten specific qualities-features-characteristics that will promote excellence. If you are a teacher, bring together your co-teachers to develop a set of clear and explicit student learning outcomes and a SMaC recipe based on those outcomes. Commit to working on making these happen and improving how these occur in your school, district, or classroom over time.

    Great, highly successful businesses implement a “20 mile march” approach to success.

     Successful companies discipline themselves to pursue their goals and core values-recipes for the long haul. Through good times and bad, they worked to make sure that their goals and recipes for success stayed in place, got better, improved. The focus on these goals and recipes were long term, and often stressed the discipline not only of learning how to deal with difficulties and downturns, but also of making sure that there was a gradual movement towards improvement. For example, these businesses did not “sprint” towards the finish line, but marched a mile at a time towards improvement and success.

     Collins and Hansen use two attempts to be the first to reach the South Pole to illustrate the 20-mile march approach to success.. Both Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott began their trek to the South Pole at about the same time.  Amundsen adhered to a regimen of traveling 15-20 miles a day, in both good and bad weather. (sometimes not traveling if the weather was particularly bad). In other words, even on really good days, his team only went 17 miles in order to avoid exhaustion, and on bad days, they still tried to travel 15-20 miles unless the weather was extremely bad and made travel impossible. Scott, by contrast, would drive his team as far as they could go on good days, and complain about the weather on bad days. “According to Roland Huntford’s account in The Last Pace on Earth, Scott faced 6 days of gale-force winds and traveled on none, whereas Amundsen faced 15 and traveled on 8. Amundsen clocked in at the South Pole right on pace, having averaged 15.5 miles per day” (p. 82). It took Scott a month longer to reach the South Pole than Amundsen!

     In educational terms, the 20-mile march analogy to highly successful schools and classrooms means that they don’t suddenly become great.  They work to get there slowly and gradually-- one step, one mile at a time. Sometimes they may be forced to move back one step, or to move forward more slowly, but then they resume their gradual march towards the finish line 20 miles down the road. The deeper the crisis, the more gradual they must move towards success.  They also don’t rush to get there fast, knowing that the mile sprint is a recipe for disaster.

     For example, some years ago, a comprehensive inner city high school in Philadelphia, known for its chaotic school culture and climate, got a new principal. Over a period of several years, this principal gradually changed the culture of the school, creating a more positive and much less violent culture. The next step was to use this positive culture to improve learning and achievement among its students. Unfortunately, the district administrators did not understand the need for gradual improvements and the 20-mile march in order to reach achievement goals. They replaced the principal because the school wasn’t moving fast enough towards higher test scores! Needless to say, this considerably set back the school and its march towards success.

     The KIPP (knowledge is Power Program) charter schools primarily operate in urban cities across the nation. KIPP has five pillars that are their “core set of operating principles”: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results (their SMaC recipe). What KIPP seems to also have is a commitment to the 20-mile march. KIPP schools are constantly working to improve what they do. They have annual conferences to share successful programs and approaches. In Philadelphia, where I live, the KIPP data are “transparent”, so as to allow everyone to see their results and to understand the challenges they are facing. One of the reasons KIPP has grown so large and successful is their 20-mile march approach to success.

     

    Activity#2: Become a 20-mile march educator! Is your school-district-classroom on a 20-mile march towards improvement? Or does it operate with “sprints” towards the finish line? Do you constantly think about ways to get better results, and make small changes to help you get there? Or do you introduce big new ideas and approaches every year? Do you struggle to implement better teaching and learning through collaboration and sharing of good ideas, or each year introduce big staff development programs with whole new ways of teaching and learning? Is the curriculum improved through systematic curriculum renewal processes that regularly refine and improve the curriculum?

     How can you plan for a 20-mile march towards your goals and learning outcomes? What steps can you take to make gradual, cumulative improvements? How can you learn more about what steps are appropriate over time? And how can you avoid getting sidetracked, giving in to the distractions that take you away from moving towards your goals.  

    Great businesses are empirically creative, first firing bullets, then cannonballs.

     Another difference between businesses that failed and those that succeeded was that failed businesses tended to latch onto new ideas and immediately put them into practice without gaining evidence as to their promise or considering how to implement them with precision and accuracy. They often grew too quickly. They were too ambitious! For example, they often tried to implement too many new ideas at one time, or to implement an idea without taking into account the necessary organizational changes to make it work. They often took on too much debt by buying businesses that ultimately failed; put a new innovation on the market too quickly; expanded into other markets without the expertise to make it work. On the other hand, successful businesses, when they learned of a new idea, tended to pilot it; try it out in a number of settings to determine if it was workable, hold back until there was some data to support its promise, develop the internal organization to put it on the market successfully and with high quality. Successful businesses tended to try out (fire bullets) in a number of directions before deciding on one or more to “go big with” (fire cannonballs). They reduced the risk of implementing new ideas and made it more likely that they would be successful.

     Unfortunately, educators often fire cannonballs without first firing bullets. “This year’s new thing” is often a common cry among teachers, and “this too shall pass” a common refrain. Instead of piloting a number of different programs and options, determining which seem to be successful in a particular setting, taking the time to implement it over a period of years until it’s done right, sticking with an innovation long enough to determine if it works or not, districts and schools often latch on to “This Year’s New Thing”, asking everyone to use it, even if it doesn’t fit into a teacher’s approach or even if a teacher has an already successful program, expecting its successful implementation in a short period of time, and then moving on to the next “This Year’s New Thing”.

     

    Activity#3: Become a “firing bullets, then cannonball” innovator! Given your goals as a district, school, or teacher, what practical approaches are working for you? What results are you getting from your program? What’s out there that MIGHT improve student learning with the context of what you already do? (bullets to try). What are others doing that seems to be working? What might you (and others) pilot? How will you know if your pilot improves learning? What evidence would help you decide?

     After pilots and trials, the collection of empirical data, what should you choose to “run with” (the cannonballs) and work on for a long period of time that you think will truly make a difference in outcomes?

    Great Businesses have “productive paranoia”.

    Imagine that you go to the beach on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. But, while you are enjoying lying in the sun, here’s what you are thinking: What if it gets cold? What if thunderstorms appear on the horizon? How will you handle these possibilities? Are you prepared?

     Great businesses think this way. They have what Collins and Hansen call “productive paranoia”. They are always considering the negative possibilities, the risks and challenges that might occur, even in good times. They tend to keep more dollars in reserve, take fewer risks (at least risks that don’t have some empirical evidence to support the risk), prepare for down markets, consider all the negative things that might happen along the way, and take these into account as they attempt to move forward. They avoid moving in a direction that has too many possible negative outcomes, puts too much on the line, unless they are prepared for a negative result.

     Similarly, great schools and teachers also worry about negative possibilities: what to do if some students are not learning using traditional methods; how to make sure students learn the really important skills; how to handle the negative effects of implementing a new and expensive innovation; what to do if the community decides not to support higher tax assessments; how to reduce the budget in good as well as bad times; how to make sure that schools, teachers, and students get what they need to improve learning. They don’t spend a lot of money on expensive ideas unless there is considerable evidence that they will pay off. They consider as many negative factors as they can when faced with a possible opportunity that seems too good to be true!

     

    Activity#4: Become productively paranoic! What can go wrong? How can you prepare for it? Think about the things that can go wrong as an educator. How can you prepare to make sure that, if these things occur, they will minimally disrupt your school or classroom program?

    Conclusion 

    According to Collins and Hansen, what does it take to build a great, enduring organization? The answers are surprising. It takes a clear vision, clarity on the ingredients that will operationalize the vision, the discipline of a consistent march towards implementing the ingredients, trying out and testing many new ideas before implementing a few, and always looking over your shoulder at what might go wrong in order to be prepared for negative consequences and outcomes. It takes a slow and gradual accumulation of many successful actions, inputs, and activities to create successful organizations, schools, districts, and classrooms.

     The four activities described above should help schools, districts and individual teachers and leaders take stock of their goals, daily operations, innovative approaches, and strategies for improvement that should help all to improve on what they do over time. Read the book Great by Choice and the other books by Jim Collins to find out even more ways to be better at what you do.

     

    ENDNOTES

    
    

    ---

    [i] Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (2011), Great By choice. New York, NY: Harper Collins publishers.

    [ii]  For more information about these goals and recipe ingredients, go to:  www.era3learning.org

     

  • Blog post
  • 11 months ago
  • Views: 5203

• Re: Re:

  • From: Alyssa_Sachs
  • Description:

    I think there is something to be said for this teaching style as long as you can command the respect of your students. If they view you as a pushover that kind of freedom can blow up in your face. Though I do agree (especially in higher education) that treating the students like adults and giving them the same respect that you expect can make for a much more pleasent learning atmosphere.

  • 11 months ago
  • Views: 211
  • Forum: 21st Centur...

• It's time to abandon rules and It's time to abandon rules and consequences

  • From: Mark_Barnes
  • Description:

    If you are a product of Teach for America, you likely have all sorts of rules and consequences posted around your classroom. Your students may routinely write their names on the board -- branding themselves as troublemakers on the verge of doom.
    
    Subscribers of assertive discipline allow their students to think they are part of creating the discipline system -- a subtle manipulation. Teachers in these classrooms may be caught lavishing praise on the do-gooders and giving gentle reminders of punishments to the offenders.
    
    In a classroom based on results-only, there are no posted rules, and there is no praise when Sally brings her materials or Johnny comes  to class on time. This new classroom disdains these embarrassing methods, completely eliminating rules and consequences.
    
    A rule and its accompanying consequence is  nothing  more than a crutch for a teacher, who struggles to provide effective guidance within a learning community. Rules and consequences give a teacher a perceived sense of control.
    
    If you are skeptical about eliminating rules and consequences, try it for a while, even if you don't announce the experiment to your students. Replace reminders of rules with one-to-one discussions about the mutual respect that makes a learning community successful.
    
    For specific ways to eliminate rules and consequences, refer to this post.
    
    So, what do you think? Is a classroom with no rules and consequences possible?

     

    We can discuss this further on Twitter.

    Cross posted at www.resultsonlylearning.com

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 284

• A Common Core Issue: Student D A Common Core Issue: Student Disrespect of Teachers

  • From: Mindy_Keller-Kyriakides
  • Description:
    At the end of the month, I’m scheduled to present a short seminar on behavior management at one of the upper schools nearby.  (I should clarify—I’m in Cyprus, a beautiful island in the Mediterranean. That picture of the natural land bridge, up there? I took that. ) As someone who last taught in a Title I Urban school in Florida, I was curious about some of their specific issues, and my initial meeting with the headmaster gave me some valuable insights.
    Parent involvement? No problem (unless too much involvement can be considered a problem).  Remedial or below-grade-level students? None.  High student-teacher ratio? 20:1. Number of students in poverty/low-income? None.  Students not doing homework? Most students do their homework. 
    Violent or gang-related behavior? No.  Lack of supplies/textbooks? Every student is provided with two textbooks per class and a laptop, if he/she doesn’t have one.  High stakes tests causing too much stress on everybody? No, O-levels, A-levels, and proficiency exams are part of the culture.
     
    The biggest issue is the students’ disrespect of teachers.
    
    
    Ironic, isn’t it?  Over here in Eastern Europe, society actually holds teachers in pretty high esteem. The careers are competitive, and some have to wait for years before they can become educators. Thus, the students aren’t acting on something they’ve heard at home or in the media.  
    All of the issues that I was used to dealing with simply don’t exist here.  However, their core problem is the same. 
    Of course, this got me to thinkin’ about home and US schools:  When all of those reasons that we hold out as to why we have difficulty teaching students is “fixed” or “resolved”, what’s left?  What do we do when they’re still disrespectful and apathetic? What do we do when calling (albeit sympathetic) parents, who actually dodole out consequences (instead of threatening to sue us), is a futile course of action? What then?
    
    
    I know that how I carry myself (emotionally and physically) has a lot to do with managing classes—some of mine were at 40+ students.  Dressing as a professional teacher in professional business dress may be something we discuss, especially since the “island” look may be part of the problem.  We may also talk about posture and body language. 
    I also know that at 5’3” tall, my voice is my most effective behavioral management instrument, so how I choose to use it, or not use it, makes a huge difference.  We’ll probably talk about how to convey authority more simply and authentically with the voice. Shouting equates to neither power nor authority.  A simple question can verify that—“How’s that working for you?” 
    Much of my success with students had to do with how I treated them (they said), so we may talk about their perceptions of students as people.  Do they see them as “the class”, or do they see Maria, James, and Giorgio?  Do they know a little bit about each student, enough to carry on a personal conversation?  Do they “see” them as individuals or abstracts? Are they too chummy or “pally-pally”?  We might talk about making the distinction between mentor and friend.
    We might also brainstorm a little on the concepts of control, power, respect, authority, leadership, because these terms don’t necessarily work in tandem.   
    Simple things to do and think about, really, for this shared issue on both sides of the Atlantic. Things we can do no matter the state of the economy, the media’s perspective, the parents, the tests, the DOE, or the academic level of student.  

    Things that might make a huge difference in how and what students learn from our classes.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 451
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