941 Search Results for "whole"

• Jan_Zeiger

  • ASCD EDge Member
  • Points:250
  • Views: 48
  • Since: 1 day ago
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• How will your child suffer? How will your child suffer?

  • From: Jessica_Bohn
  • Description:

    Normally, I am not one to write on controversial issues, but there is freedom in the provocative, and the time is now (or yesterday) for action in education.  Although this speaks to one state's journey through the massive budget cuts and the looming additional injustices, I think that most educators in the nation have experienced a degree of this.  I humbly share my thoughts with legislators considering budgets for next school year and the community of ASCD advocates: 

    How will your child suffer?  We must stop this ridiculous abomination of a proposed budget now.  The incessant and continuous hit that education has taken in the last 5 years has been beyond reason.  However, this year's proposals fall just shy of criminal.  As a voter, a parent of children in the school system and a school principal, I have many perspectives to offer.  First, as a voter:  We elect officials into office who we believe will stand for the things that we hold close to heart.  Public schools are the birthplace of some of the best minds in America.  What does it mean to be American?  Please ask yourself this, as our elected representative.  Americans value critical opinions and diversity but stand united when someone attacks our home or our community.  To my esteemed elected officials, I say: We are under attack.  Make no mistake... this is a war of interests.  We must not let the future of our children and ultimately our country falter to other priorities.  We know that you are under pressure to invest in the political interests that got you into office, but we beg you not to sacrifice our children, your children or the future of our great nation in doing so.  As a parent:   We cannot provide quality schools without adequate funding to do so.  Should we settle for mediocrity?  Would you settle for mediocrity for your own child?  Absolutely not.  I want my children to get access to teachers with skills that will challenge their minds and inspire their hearts. Teachers deserve pay worthy of the countless hours they spend planning. Let Principals hold them accountable to that. I want my children to have adequate support in their classes as they are acclimated to the rigor of public schools. Teacher Assistants provide this support.  They are educators, advocates and probably teach your child in a center or reading group. I want my child to have access to the equipment, books and materials needed for 21st century learning. As a school principal:   Is the public aware that kids in most counties are still using outdated books, so teachers have to develop their own curriculum materials to match the new standards?  And what justice do we pay teachers when they do this with a smile on their face and protect our children from the perils of society?  We cut their support (TAs), cut their pay (furlough), cut their money for supplies (instructional money), increase their class size (class size waiver elimination), increase their insurance premiums and cut their access to resources and support (district funding going to charter/private schools).   Teacher Assistants are not just secretaries for the teacher, and I wonder if the public realizes that.  They are instructional assistants... they help your children and grandchildren learn.  Also, as a school administrator, one of the ways in which we can provide a duty-free lunch for teachers (which is a state requirement) is through the use of teacher assistants.  Similarly, I wonder if the public understands the correlation between effective instruction and the number of students in a class.  There is an inverse relationship between time for critical learning and the number of students in a class.  This state and this nation is in a dire place of certain demise, if we cannot commit to providing safe, quality schools for our children today, so they can solve nationwide and worldwide problems tomorrow. With the proposed legislation about class size, harsh cuts to public schools (again), elimination of Assistants, sequestration at the federal level, and funneling the leftover pocket change to charter/private schools rather than public schools... I must ask the question... how will your child suffer?
    
    

  • Blog post
  • 5 days ago
  • Views: 125

• Refocus on the Learner Refocus on the Learner

  • From: Michael_Fisher
  • Description:

    

    Recently, I worked with Steve Hargadon of Classroom 2.0 at an educational conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Steve is a marvelous conversationalist and has fantastic stories to share.

    
    

    In the car on the way to the conference, Steve and I were discussing the “institution” of school and the “system” of school. The largest part of our conversation centered around the fact that we have, collectively as a nation, created a massive operation for educating children that does not work. Students are not graduating with the skills they need to be successful in the world they are graduating into. No surprise to many of you reading this--it isn’t “new” news. We know it’s not working.

    
    

    The “institution” is the bureaucratic, policy side of public education that demands that “each get some.” The “system” is the mechanism for delivering the “some” to all.  The good ideas that created the system and thus the institution around it are lost in the shuffle. Doing what’s best for kids and doing what’s fair for all have each become a separate megalopolis each on a separate continent.

    
    

    Education has become so institutionalized that the act of “doing” something equates to readiness for the next checked off item on the “to do” list of instructional practice. The ebb and flow of “doing” becomes the barometer for success as measured by standardized high stakes tests that, in one moment, assess a student’s ability to “do school,” measure a teacher’s effectiveness, and be a checks and balances sheet to maintain the system as directed by the institution.

    
    

    Note that in the previous paragraph, the word “learning” was not used. In a Huffington Post article from last March, Connie Yowell describes education as what institutions do and learning as what people do. What’s happening, though, is the system and the institution are methodically destroying learning. I think it’s high time we refocus on the learner.

    
    

    My friend and colleague Jennifer Borgioli recently wrote a piece for the Gotham Schools blog about standardized testing, in the wake of the recent Common Core aligned New York state tests. In the blog post, she describes learning as a construct. We can measure variables that indicate that learning is happening but cannot quantify the whole of what learning means. In Jen’s words, we can’t “pull out a child’s brain, slap it on a scale, and say, yup, they’ve learned this much.”

    
    

    The system and the institution would have you believe that it is possible to well quantify the learning with one high-stakes assessment that serves as a good indicator of year to year growth, how well a teacher teaches, and whether or not the school as a whole is an effective system. The problem is with the variables. In science, we draw conclusions based on the experimentation of one variable at a time, a process approach that helps winnow the possible outcomes of comparative observation. In our current model, the system and the institution are on a multi-variable train that not only amounts to bad science but, in turn, leads to bad practices.

    
    

    Case in point:  A few weeks ago, students in New York State took the first version of the new Common Core aligned tests. They were asked questions that were more rigorous than ever before in an attempt to measure the learning of the Common Core standards. The stories that came out of the woodwork over the course of the week involved students walking out of the test, kids crying, kids unable to finish, kids just giving up, etc. The test was designed to measure the degree to which the students met the Common Core standards. The test does not allow for variations in home environment, parental support, socioeconomic status, etc., all of which are variables that are not necessarily considered as important but in the end, majorly affect the data collected. (Other variables here would also include teacher support, teacher training, schools as systems supporting the standards versus pocket buy-in, etc.)

    
    

    The test was designed to evaluate the system and perpetuate the institution. The tests in other states that are being designed to evaluate the “learning” are all heading in the same direction.

    
    

    Do we want our students ready for college and careers? Absolutely.

    
    

    Do we want them ready to meet the challenges of the world they will graduate into? You betcha.

    
    

    Do we need assessment? Of course.

    
    

    Do we want them suffering through assessments that were designed with the institution/system rather than the child in mind? Not at all.

    
    

    Steve and I discussed how the people with the best ideas are usually not the ones running the companies that develop and market and sell the product that the idea people generated. Wonderful ideas are snagged up by companies or companies are created around them. In order to sell to the masses you need a system set up for production and delivery. You also need an institution to maintain and advance the ideas, normalizing everything for the benefit of impacting the most people possible to increase the bottom line over time.

    
    

    The problem though, lies in the fact that once the ideas/learning lose the focus of priority in favor of the system or the institution because of a mistaken belief that “some” of the original ideas are best for “most” in the system, the system falters. How well does that work when the institution or the system becomes the priority? You tell me: Polaroid. Enron. Commodore. Hollywood Video. Madoff Investment Securities. The list is long...

    
    

    Assessment is not bad. In a previous blog post, I wrote about why in the world we would practice for a game we never played or rehearse for a performance we never give? I also don’t disagree with checks and balances in the system, but the system must have integrity. That integrity lies in the priority of keeping the learner at the center. That means that we must not only find ways to more rationally assess students without causing complete psychological breakdowns on test days but also that we address some of the other variables that the system and the institution keep in the periphery, primarily poverty and family/environmental support.

    
    

    Hmmm. “Test days.” Now that I’ve said those words specifically, perhaps that’s the beginning of the new conversation. Instead of the grimness of the dark and scary hell week of assessments, perhaps we start looking at what can be embedded in instruction. Perhaps we look at leveraging opportunities for choice and differentiated products through performance tasks and problem-based scenarios that not only generate a product but also are a launching pad for the next learning moment. These aren’t new ideas. I’m not innovating here. I am talking about something though that is difficult for institutionalized implementation. It is difficult for systemic production and delivery. It’s expensive and messy and would involve much more local control.

    
    

    We can send a man to the moon but we are still having trouble negotiating the creation of a better assessment of student learning? I wonder how many one size fits all, end of the year, high stakes assessments those NASA engineers took before they were finally ready to, according to the system and the institution, design and implement their ideas? I wonder if Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would have been comfortable putting their lives on the line for a bunch of scientists that did REALLY well on their one moment in time, end of year state tests?

    
    

    There are no easy answers here, I know that. But I also know that there are still kids at the heart of all of this. The institution and the system need to refocus on that. We have an unbelievable challenge and a massive obligation to get this right.

     

    Originally blogged on Smartblogs.com/education. Portions added.

     

     

    Follow Mike on Twitter

    Upgrade Your Curriculum now available at the ASCD Bookstore

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 416

• The Miss for Bliss The Miss for Bliss

  • From: Tom_Whitby
  • Description:

    After watching the Jeff Bliss’s, viral video, as well as the remix of it, created to popularize the event even more, I was almost moved to do a reflective post on the subject. After viewing a number of supportive blog posts for the Bliss position I kind of backed off thinking that I was off base in my position. Then I read Why the Jeff Bliss story makes me want to quit by a fellow English teacher.

    The end of the academic year has all teachers stressed out. After giving one's all for a year, and having it come to an end, hoping all along for the success of the students, leads one to question much of what had been done during the year, and even why it was done.  When I first saw the Bliss video, I saw a kid being asked to leave the class for whatever the reason, and the kid trying to get back at the teacher. The kid began to use an attack that echoed the focus of many educators seeking to reform the system with the same rhetoric. Without knowing anything of the student, I determined he must be active on social media and had an interest in what was being said about the change in education. This was some evidence of intelligence. I also felt that everyone would see this teacher as the “devil teacher” responsible for all the ills of our system. There is probably some accuracy to both of those descriptions but I think neither is a reflection of the whole truth in this situation.

     As a retired teacher I encountered many rants from students that I removed from class for disruptive behavior. What is different in this instance is the addition of social media and the educator’s perceived opposition of the position taken by the student. This was further advanced by the teacher's negative responses to the student's critique. All of this recorded and published to the world in You Tube Celebrity.

    I was moved by the frustrations of the blogger who feels overwhelmed with the on going blogging, reflection, and discussion in social media about all of the turmoil in education. Much of this is flamed by the mindless, senseless and poorly planned reforms put forth by non-educators. I am not arrogant enough to think only educators can intelligently reform education, but the general feeling among educators is that the reforms are being mandated with very little educator input. That is the most frustrating part to many educators who are being targeted and maligned even by fellow educators. Educators seem to be circling the wagons and shooting to the inside.

    Most educators are doing what they have been trained to do, or what is supported by their school’s culture. I hate the fact that so many teachers use the work packets to present material, but that again is what is supported by the system that they must work in. We need to improve our professional development and be open to more relevant teaching methods, employing more relevant tools for learning, as well as more relevant attitudes toward student-centric learning.

    My friend and colleague Lisa Nielsen is a great student advocate and passionate education reformer. We have collaborated on a few very popular blog posts. I do not fault her for taking the side of Jeff Bliss in his rant against his teacher. Bliss made a convincing, and passionate speech against an outmoded method of teaching that stymies our system of education every day. I hope Lisa continues to follow her bliss (not the student) in supporting students in education reform. I would only hope that an “us and them” mentality does not dominate the discussion of education. There is no group more in favor of positive education reform than educators. We must keep in mind that educators are also products of the same education system that we seek to reform. They should not be the targets for the reform; they are in fact victims of that system as well. In order to educate our students, we need to first better educate our educators, and continue to educate them as part of their job. To be relevant educators, we need to be relevantly educated. That implies continuous education in a computer-driven, continuously developing culture.

    I would hope that this blogger was not discouraged by the reflection and conversation going on about education reform. We need more educators involved in the discussion that has been hijacked by business profiteers and politicians. There is a planned assault on public education. We need more educators adding their voices to the needed change. We need educators to tell other educators that it is okay to give up methods of the past, that are not working in today’s system of education. It is a question of permission, as opposed to confrontation. Educators are all in favor of kids succeeding; it is but a question of how to accomplish that goal. I would encourage this blogger to hang in and continue to speak out.

    If the post by this English teacher moved me, others may be moved as well. That is a skill that is not mastered by many and it is a powerful tool for change. We need more educators stepping up and speaking out if we as educators are to take back the discussion that we left to other less qualified people to dominate.

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 54

• Speed Geek Your Faculty Meetin Speed Geek Your Faculty Meetings

  • From: Michael_Fisher
  • Description:

    

    I love witnessing miraculous things and I love it even more when it’s kids performing the miracles.

    
    

    I attended a conference last weekend called EdJEWcon in Jacksonville, Florida where I attended a “Speed Geeking” session designed and presented by 4th and 5th grade students. In the session, participants were engaged in a “Speed Dating” model but with technology. Each of the seven students prepared a five minute presentation around a technology they cared about and shared with the participants how it impacted their learning. Students shared a variety of technologies including blogging, iMovie, Frames, and more!

    
    

    
    
    
    

     

    The whole model reminded me of a discussion I had several weeks ago at EdCamp Buffalo about student S.W.A.T. teams: Students Who Assist with Technology. These are students who help each other and their teachers learn new software and hardware tools.

    
    

    This is EXACTLY the kind of student-centered authenticity that schools need more of! In fact, I would love to see much much more of this going on in schools, particularly in faculty meetings. This would be a fantastic use of faculty meeting time to not only introduce new tools but to add new tools to everybody’s toolboxes. This also invites students into design and instructional practice and gives them an opportunity to be valued as contributing members of the school.

    
    

    I’ve talked with administrators all over about leveraging digital tools like Padlet or Today’s Meet or Google Docs to have “meetings without meetings.” Asynchronous, anytime available digital opportunities increase participation in discussions and ease the dissemination of information without having to sit through a meeting that was called for the sake of saying we had one.

    
    

    Speed Geeking is a way to kick that up several notches and upgrade the WAY a faculty meeting is run. Imagine it: Student Led Faculty Meetings! #AwesomeAwesomeAwesome

    
    

    I was so impressed with these students and was absolutely thrilled to be able to see them in action! Kudos to the 4th and 5th graders at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School!

    
    
    
    

    Pictures from Jon Mitzmacher - @Jon_Mitzmacher

     

    Upgrade Your Curriculum now available from ASCD.org
    

    
    
    

    Follow Mike on Twitter: @fisher1000

     

    Originally posted on Smartblogs/Education at: http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/05/08/speed-geek-your-faculty-meetings/

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 1208

• Which Comes First, SEL or Acad Which Comes First, SEL or Academics?

  • From: Kevin_Parr
  • Description:

    Arne Duncan recently gave a speech at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.  In the speech he emphasized the importance of non-cognitive, or social and emotional skills stating, “We know . . . that the development of skills like grit, resilience, and self-regulation early in life are essential to success later in life.”  He later continued,

    Ultimately, a great education involves much more than teaching children simply to read, write, add, and subtract.  It includes teaching them to think and write clearly, and to solve problems and work in teams. It includes teaching children to set goals, to persist in tasks, and to help them navigate the world.

    Duncan’s words were not all that surprising considering his own U.S. Department of Education had just released a publication titled “Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance—Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century” a month earlier.  Surprising or not, it is always good to hear that there is a push (with some real muscle behind it) for teaching these skills.     

    Duncan didn’t stop with simply promoting non-cognitive skill development, however.  Instead, he went on to suggest,

    . . . testing experts need to further expand the range of assessments in the years ahead by developing better, reliable, and valid assessments of children’s non-cognitive skills. This is the next frontier in assessment research—and it is hugely important to me.

    Adding later,

    I would love to see assessment experts work with schools and districts to develop more reliable, meaningful, and easy-to-administer assessments that help us understand whether we are teaching the non-cognitive skills that predict students’ success in college, careers, and life.

    The whole idea of assessing non-cognitive skills is an interesting proposition in and of itself because it would require all teachers to actively teach these specific skills.  It becomes even more interesting, however, when we realize that something must be done as a result of it. The reality is that just as with academic skills, an achievement gap will exist for non-cognitive skills.  In fact, it’s already there.  In Washington State the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) revealed that only 74% of students demonstrated the characteristics of entering kindergartners in the area of social and emotional development. Kindergarten readiness in the area of cognitive development (which includes problem solving) was only 71%.  Furthermore, similar to academic skills, these so-called soft skills become more sophisticated as one gets older.  For example, whereas the ability to work cooperatively might mean simply joining in a game of tag for a kindergartener, it could mean building consensus for a project idea for a middle schooler.  Therefore, the gap that exists in kindergarten will only widen unless intensive interventions are done.  

      

    This begs the question:  If a student has low academic skills and low non-cognitive skills, will one be given priority in terms of time and resources? 

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 50

• L2L News: May 2013 L2L News: May 2013

  • 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.

     

    Your To-Do List: Action Items for ASCD Leaders

    • Attend today’s Whole Child Virtual Conference Session “Grit: Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technology in the Classroom” at 4:00 p.m. eastern with Walter McKenzie and Professional Interest Community Facilitator Tom Hoerr. Register now.
      View and register for the other Whole Child Virtual Conference sessions.
      
      
    • Apply for the 2013–14 Nominations Committee. ASCD is seeking ASCD leaders who are interested in serving on the 2013–14 ASCD Nominations Committee. More information, including the committee’s charge, qualifications for service, and time commitment, is available at www.ascd.org/nominations. ASCD will accept applications until May 31.
       
    •  Submit a proposal for ASCD’s 2014 Annual Conference. ASCD is accepting proposals for 2014 Annual Conference presentations until May 15.

     

    Newest Policy Points Revisits A Nation at Risk

    ASCD’s newest Policy Points (PDF) takes a closer look at A Nation at Risk, the 1983 report on the state of U.S. education that launched a spirited and ongoing debate about the quality of our public schools. This issue of Policy Points examines the specific recommendations of the report, the accuracy of its dire prediction about “a rising tide of mediocrity” undermining the nation’s well-being, and the evolving school reform debate the report kick-started three decades ago.

     

    Throughout May on www.wholechildeducation.org: The New Poverty

    In today’s global economic state, many families and children face reduced circumstances. These “poor kids” don’t fit the traditional stereotypes—two-thirds live in families in which at least one adult works and the percentage of poor students in many rural districts equals that in inner-city districts. In the United States, the economic downturn has dramatically changed the landscape, and districts that were previously vibrant are now dealing with unemployment, underemployment, and more transient families.

    Join us as we share what new—and old—solutions we are using to support learning and ensure that each child, whatever her circumstances, is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

    Download the Whole Child Podcast for a discussion on the current economic downturn; its result that many families and children face reduced circumstances; and implications for schools, many of which have seen drastic changes in the populations they serve and their communities. Guests include Deborah Wortham, superintendent of the School District of the City of York, Pa., and former assistant superintendent for high schools and director of professional development for Baltimore City (Md.) Public Schools; Felicia DeHaney, president and CEO of the National Black Child Development Institute; William Parrett, director of the Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies and professor of education at Boise State University;  and Kathleen Budge, coordinator of the Leadership Development Program  and associate professor in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Department at Boise State University. Parrett and Budge are also coauthors of the 2012 ASCD book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools.

    Throughout the month, read the Whole Child Blog and tell us what has worked in your school and with your students. E-mail us and share resources, research, and examples.

     

    ASCD Leader Voices

    • Outstanding Young Educator Award (OYEA) cadre members PJ Caposey and Brian Nichols were featured in EdWeek’s Classroom Q&A series with Larry Ferlazzo. Read their thoughts about ways to observe teachers without demoralizing them.
      
      
    • Read ASCD Emerging Leader Ember Conley’sWhole Child Blog post about “Promising Whole Child Practices in Arizona”
       
    • Read ASCD Emerging Leader Daniel Smith’sWhole Child Blog post, “Who is Today’s Principal?”
       
    • Check out OYEA winner and ASCD Board Member Marc Cohen’s Whole Child Blog post, “Our Expectations Are (and Should Be) High”
       
    • 2013 OYEA Winner Joshua Garcia has a blog series on ASCD EDge called WILL (What I Learned Lately). Read his #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6 posts.
       
    • ASCDEmerging Leader Kevin Goddard, also known as “the Goddblogger,” has written great posts over the last few weeks on ASCD EDge: “Complicated vs. Complex,” “Systems Theory,” “Reductionism,” “Chaos vs. Complexity, ” and“Capacity Building.”
    • Read ASCD Emerging Leader Nicole Zuerblis’ ASCD EDge blog post: “Everything But the Kitchen Sink?”

     

    Arkansas Governor Signs Whole Child Legislation

    Arkansas Governor Michael Beebe signed a new bill into law that promotes a whole child approach to educating the state’s children. The legislation (PDF) establishes a Whole Child Whole Community recognition program and aims to measure the comprehensive well-being of children and how well stakeholders are meeting their needs according to the five whole child tenets and their indicators as identified by ASCD.

    The recognition program will acknowledge and highlight the work of Arkansas educators, parents, community members, and policymakers who support the whole child. The legislation also indicates that one purpose of the recognition program is to help spur systemic collaboration and coordination within and beyond schoolhouse doors and to promote a shift from narrowly defined student achievement and traditional education reform to broader, more comprehensive efforts that recognize the crucial out-of-school factors that influence teaching and learning. A diverse state working group will work over the course of a year to recommend a framework and process for recognizing exemplary whole child and whole community successes.

    Congratulations to Arkansas ASCD, which played a crucial role in supporting the bill’s development and introduction!

     

    Rhode Island Passes Whole Child Resolution

    The Rhode Island General Assembly passed a joint resolution (PDF) supporting a whole child approach to education that ensures each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

    The resolution affirms that to educate Rhode Island’s children effectively, the state must pay attention to factors within and beyond its school buildings as well as integrate efforts among schools, families, and communities. In addition, the resolution expresses the assembly’s intent to model whole child concepts in its own work and to join with other stakeholders who support the whole child.

    Congratulations to Rhode Island ASCD(RIASCD), which worked hard to have this joint resolution introduced into the Rhode Island legislature!

    To help the state fulfill its commitment to whole child education, ASCD and RIASCD offered some initial steps (PDF)—organized by the five whole child tenets—for educators, parents and community members, and policymakers to take. RIASCD also highlighted some of ASCD’s free resources to help the state put its whole child vision into action. 

     

    South Carolina ASCD Featured in ASCD Inservice Blog Series

    Weasked 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 seventh post of the series, South Carolina ASCD leader Josh Patterson writes about the challenges and successes that South Carolina has had with CCSS implementation.

    Previous Posts:Tennessee ASCD, New Jersey ASCD,Alabama ASCD, Arkansas ASCD, New Hampshire ASCD, and Florida ASCD

     

    The Effective Principal

    What we see through our research, reading, and conversations with principals and school staff is that to see what an effective principal is, don’t look at the person; look at the effects of her leadership on student achievement, school culture and climate, teacher effectiveness and satisfaction, and community relationships. As the wearers of many hats, principals are crucial to implementing meaningful and lasting school change. Read more on the Whole Child Blog.

    In April, we looked at what qualities principals in today’s (and tomorrow’s) schools need to fulfill their roles as visionary, instructional, influential, and learning leaders. Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests Donna Snyder, manager of Whole Child Programs at ASCD; Kevin Enerson, principal of Le Sueur-Henderson High School in Minnesota (an ASCD Whole Child Network school); and Jessica Bohn, an ASCD Emerging Leader and principal of Gibsonville Elementary School in North Carolina.

    Also this month on the Whole Child Podcast, we talked with educators from Oregon’s Milwaukie High School (winner of the 2013 Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award) about how they meet student and staff needs, taking challenges and turning them into opportunities for all. Guests include principal Mark Pinder, assistant principal for curriculum Michael Ralls, assistant principal for student management Tim Taylor, dean of students Donnie Siel, and teacher leader David Adams.

    Have you signed up to receive the Whole Child Newsletter? Read the latest 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.

      

    Something to Talk About

    ·         Most recent blog posts on ASCD EDge®

    ·         Mostclicked stories from ASCD SmartBrief

     

    Association News

    Killeen Independent School District Deepens Professional Development Partnership with ASCD—Killeen Independent School District (ISD)—whose more than 6,100 staff members serve approximately 42,000 students—is deepening its relationship with ASCD to meet its professional development goals. Read the full press release.

    ASCD Publishes Leadership Guide on Transforming Any Teacher into a Master—ASCD is pleased to announce the release of Never Underestimate Your Teachers: Instructional Leadership for Excellence in Every Classroom by best-selling education author, renowned educator, and professional development expert Robyn R. Jackson.
    Never Underestimate Your Teachers offers school leaders a new model for understanding great teaching as a combination of skill and will, and it's the first book of its kind to support leaders as they facilitate teacher growth in both areas through differentiated leadership. Jackson shows readers how to design and deliver targeted professional development to help each teacher realize his or her potential and achieve great results for the benefit of every student. Read the full press release.

    New ASCD Common Core Academy Supports School Leadership Teams Across the United States—ASCD is bringing its inaugural ASCD Common Core Leadership Team Academy to Chicago August 5–8, 2013. This intensive four-day professional leadership experience offers groups of administrators, teacher leaders, and nonprofit and higher education partners an accelerated plan for putting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into routine practice. Read the full press release.

    ASCD Summer Reading List Identifies 10 Books That Can Transform Teaching and Learning—In the spirit of promoting year-round professional development, ASCD has assembled a diverse list of books essential to educators who seek to improve their practice over the summer months. These books—organized by how they help educators transform teaching and learning—offer readers the opportunity to dive deep into the hottest topics in education, including using data to focus improvement, project-based learning, child development, and neurodiversity. All books are currently available in paperback and e-book formats. Read the full press release.

    Arkansas Governor Beebe Signs Education Reform Law Supporting the Whole Child—Arkansas Governor Michael Beebe has signed a new bill into law that promotes a well-rounded whole child approach to educating the state’s children.“An Act to Establish the Whole Child– Whole Community Recognition Program; and for Other Purposes” (Senate Bill 1051[PDF]) outlines a plan for the Arkansas education system that ensures Arkansas students receive a whole child education. Read the full press release.

    New ASCD Staff Expand Association’s Ability to Design, Deliver, and Evaluate Professional Development Resources—ASCD welcomes three new staff members to the association’s Program Development Work Group. Dr. Andrea Muse has accepted the position of director of research and program evaluation, Jen Thompson will serve as director of program management and process improvement, and Elizabeth Thurman has joined ASCD as director of customer engagement and product support. The additions of Muse, Thompson, and Thurman expand ASCD’s capability to design, deliver, and evaluate the crucial professional development resources today’s educators need to learn, teach, and lead. Read the full press release.

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 107
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• Amanda_August

  • ASCD EDge Member
  • Points:250
  • Views: 66
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• Release The Tests! Release The Tests!

  • From: Michael_Fisher
  • Description:

    

    Full disclosure: I am a New York Network Team Representative that is charged with taking the message of NY State Ed back to my participating districts. I attend meetings in Albany several times a year and then share this information with the schools I work with and help them understand and implement all that is coming in the wake of Race to the Top.

    
    

    I believe in helping teachers help students. I believe that students are the focus of everything I do. I believe that some of this initiative, including the new Standards, is working and is good but I also believe some of it is not. I believe that teachers are professionals that deserve better than they’ve been treated in the last couple of years (particularly in the media) and I believe that if we trust them with children, then we should trust them with how to instruct and assess those children as well. I believe in fairness and I believe in calling attention to inconsistencies, not for the sake of argument or anger, but for the sake of solving solvable problems and getting this right. I believe in our obligations to our children.

    
    

    I also believe that NY State has an opportunity here to build a new bridge.

    
    

    But first, a little background:

    
    

    In August of 2011, I began attending the NY State Education Network Team Institutes--the first of many that I’ve attended where State Ed rolls out initiatives, resources, upcoming expectations, etc. At one of these meetings, I had the very good fortune of meeting Mr. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, author of Driven By Data. Data Informed Inquiry models were to be part of our message that we took back to schools as schools were expected to form their own inquiry teams for the sake of letting the data guide instructional decisions. The assessments were meant to be more frequent and standards-based with a quick turnaround so that teachers could use the data and make necessary tweaks and improvements to the instructional program in the moment, rather than waiting until the end of the year to see if students “got it.”

    
    

    The most important part of Santoyo’s message is transparency in the assessment. In order to do the deep analysis required, teachers must have the assessment in hand so that the skills that a student needs to answer the questions could be analyzed. Additionally, having the test in hand means that there are further opportunities for professional development around the structure of the test, the deconstruction of the questions for type and strategy, and the levels of cognition (Bloom’s, Webb’s, etc.) on the assessment and how those compare to the levels of cognition in instruction. Understanding by Design 101.

    
    

    At these Network Team meetings, we spent HOURS understanding this methodology, preparing to turnkey it to our participating districts by exploring the models and creating our own data analysis spreadsheets and understanding protocols for data meetings. Throughout every single bit of this, we had the assessments in our hands. Again, let me say, WE. HAD. THE. ASSESSMENTS. IN. OUR. HANDS.

    
    

    We taught our districts to do this exact same thing through their data meetings. Test in hand, begin analysis, use the observations to make changes in instruction to benefit students and their success.

    
    

    This is not intended to give teachers ammunition for teaching TO the test, this is about understanding skills and strategies that enable students to be successful on assessments. This is not just about multiple choice either--it’s meant to analyze multiple types of assessments but to do so quickly so that students reap the benefits of deep understanding and teachers reap the benefits of planned student successes. This is an opportunity to leverage our professional development to do well what we were trained to do: TEACH.

    
    

    Jump to now.

    
    

    New York State just finished administering the first tests that are aligned with the Common Core. They were way more rigorous than previous assessments and both teachers and students struggled. Sometime over the summer, scores will be released, but the test will not.

    
    

    The test will be embargoed and teachers will not be able to see it. State Ed Leadership will say that there are sufficient samples available online. They will say that there are curriculum modules to help with understanding skills and cognition to prepare for the assessments. They will say that it’s too time-consuming and expensive to share the tests as new ones will have to be developed.

    
    

    They will also continue to promote Santoyo’s model on one hand, but deny teachers access to the central message of the model on the other hand. This is the inconsistency.

    
    

    With all of the stress that teachers are under to both perform and be evaluated on that performance in ways they never have before, there needs to be some team-building going on, something that will bring everyone together for the sake of our students.

    
    

    There is an opportunity here:  Release the tests.

    
    

    Teachers need an anchor right now, a shelter in the storm of changes. They need something concrete that will help them and their students be more successful and help them to feel that they have more control over the flawed teacher evaluation system currently in place. There are so many across the state just treading water and releasing the test would be a major lifeboat moment.

    
    

    Many of the teachers I’ve talked with over the last couple of years of implementation will tell you that the Common Core Standards are not bad. They will tell you that with time and continued professional development that we can use those standards as a basis for modern learning practice and to prepare our kids to succeed in the world they will graduate into.

    
    

    These teachers will tell you that data driven inquiry is important and that they agree that it is necessary. They will even tell you that they are fine with teacher evaluation and that, for the most part, there is a desire to improve professional practice and discover opportunities to do things better and implement new ideas.

    
    

    They will also tell you that the current evaluation plan is inauthentic, inspiring a checklist of “to-dos” that meet the requirements of Race to the Top but do little to impact practice. They will tell you that a single test score has too many uncontrollable variables such as parent support, home environment, and poverty status to be a reliable measure for any part of a teacher’s evaluation. They will tell you that doing the same thing for all may be equal but it is not fair.

    
    

    They will also tell you that it is difficult to prepare for an assessment when the potential exists for only a narrow secret set of assessed standards which in turn need broad preparation, leading to missed opportunities in instruction and inconsistent results.

    
    

    Release the tests.

    
    

    Teachers need to see that they are trusted and valued. They need to see that they are viewed as capable collaborators in this quest for college and career readiness. They need to see themselves as part of the whole team.

    
    

    Release the tests.

    
    
    
    

    Follow Mike on Twitter: @fisher1000

    
    

    Upgrade Your Curriculum now available from ASCD.org

    
    

  • Blog post
  • 3 weeks ago
  • Views: 312

• Everything But The Kitchen Sin Everything But The Kitchen Sink?

  • From: Nicole_Zuerblis
  • Description:

    If you’re an educational leader, you know how important it is to have teachers feel supported or be on board with new ventures.  The last thing we want to hear, or want teachers to feel, is “not one more thing” or “how can we fit it all in?” But it’s not about everything but the kitchen sink; it shouldn’t all fit.  Something’s got to give.  If we don’t acknowledge that and help teachers modify, we’ll get overworked teachers throwing it all in, or students who need what was left out. We need to continually reevaluate and “remodel” to make room for what’s important.

    Picture this: a new teacher pulls out a curriculum guide, talks to her colleagues and creates a year-long plan to include concepts and objectives.  Being new at this, it looks like a lot to fit in.  She decides to start small; one unit at a time.  The manuals and guides are helpful.  Her team shares activities for her to use in her classroom. This is all a great start...

    A different picture: an experienced teacher of more than 10 years, well respected by students, parents and peers, has just been told of a new program in her curriculum.  There’s now a wrench in her well-oiled teaching. There’s no room for anything else...

    When we’re busy “trying to fit it all in,” it’s easy to forget the big picture.  We get caught up in planning activities, teaching concepts and moving on. If we’re honest, I think this can happen to all of us sometimes.  Here are some good reminders and questions for new teachers and those of us who’ve been at this for a while.  It’s important to stop, reflect and remind ourselves of ultimate learning goals.

    REMINDERS:

    • The material = the vehicle for instruction.  It just helps us get there, but it’s not the goal.
    • Content ≠curriculum.  Curriculum is based on varying degrees of mastery of skills and strategies that will help students transfer to other learning, not solely on mastering the facts or content of a text.

    QUESTIONS:

    • How else can I have students demonstrate learning? 
    • Am I explicitly teaching for transfer?  Do my students know how what they’ve just learned will help them in a new situation?
    • Am I checking for student understanding?  If most students understand, it may be appropriate to scaffold further in a small group for just the students who need it.  This will cut back on whole class instruction time.
    • Will this lesson activity move student learning forward?  If not, don’t do it.

    If teachers are to feel supported, curriculum leaders need to regularly reflect as well.  When presenting new or revised curriculum, leaders need to be explicit in communicating transfer as the ultimate goal.  Essential questions and big ideas should drive student learning.  When we open the conversation to why and how we can use curriculum, it's more likely we'll all be on the same page.

  • Blog post
  • 3 weeks ago
  • Views: 120

• What happens in Vegas should b What happens in Vegas should be shared!

  • From: Tom_Whitby
  • Description:

    I recently participated in what might possibly be a one-time experience for an educator, an education conference in Las Vegas. Of course that probably doesn’t hold true for Nevada educators. Solution Tree Publishing sponsored the Leadership Now Conference in Vegas. It was a Quality event with high visibility speakers keynoted the event.

    The speakers at the event were Solution Tree authors and each was a leading expert in their area of expertise. They were also all affiliated with the Marzano/DuFour group. This was a big showing of the PLC at Work institute. For the most part I happen to be a believer in most of what they preach, so I was quite happy with the topics presented.

    Of course the backbone of most of what was discussed was the idea of collaborative learning communities within individual school districts. I love the idea and I believe in the concept that collaboratively we all benefit more in learning and teaching. I do find the idea of stopping that collaboration at the district level somewhat limiting however. We need global networks of collaboration. We should not stop at the borders of our own school district or just the network of a group of paying participants of some larger group. Collaboration through social media is free and global. We need to explore and use it to our best advantage as educators and as students.

    The First keynotes by Robert Marzano and Richard DuFour lasted an hour and a half each. They were lectures with text-ladened slides to keep the audience (learners) on track while laying out the research and philosophy of the grand plan. There was a printed and bound compiled text of the presentations along with worksheets for the learners. I actually weighed it. It was THREE pounds.

    The highlight for me was the keynote by Sir Ken Robinson. He did a keynote that covered many aspects of several of his TED Talk videos. Although I heard much of it before, it meant more live, presented in sir Ken’s unique blend of humor, irony and common sense. This was a vast improvement over the last time I saw him at ISTE with a disastrous panel presentation after what seemed like a ten-minute keynote. In contrast to that, Sir Ken’s Solution Tree retrospective presentation was one to remember.

    The workshops following the keynotes were again 90-minute lectures with text-ladened slides that corresponded to the three-pound, bound, text workbook. The material covered in the workshops was essential. The research seemed sound. It was all a common sense approach to the complicated problem of education reform. Each workshop was a clear presentation of how we might best approach what we are doing now in education with what we might be doing even better.

    I only wish that they applied the same amount of time, research, and development to their methods of teaching and presentation as they applied to their subject material. First rule of PowerPoint: Don’t read from text-ladened slides to the audience, even if it is from a book written by you, the presenter. To do such a presentation differently is not going to be an easy task and it will probably take several iterations of a presentation to eliminate so much text from slides, but it will help the learners or should I say audience. Although there is a certain element of entertainment in education presentations they are designed to inform and teach. That means the seats are filled with learners and not audience members.

    The workshop leaders of the workshops that I attended were wonderful, knowledgeable, and experienced educators. Leaders included: Rebecca DuFour, Tammy Heflebower, Timothy Kanold, Anthony Muhammad, Phil Warrick, and Kenneth Williams. The workshops that were most striking and helpful to me however, were the workshops of Anthony Muhammad. He dealt with changing the culture of the school in order to affect any meaningful change in the structure of the school. I found him to be a shinning star in a room full of stars. He was dynamic, engaging, and most of all gave out meaningful ideas to deal with the real changes for education reform with the most “elephant in the room” problems. He later gave a rousing, closing keynote.

    The low point for me anyway came when they had the panel discussion at the end of the sessions of the second day. It was not very well attended by the participants of the conference. The panel was made up of the key members of the Marzano group. Of course the lead panel members gave the longest answers. It was the questioning of the panel that struck me to be rather archaic in our world of technology. The audience was asked to write questions on a piece of paper that would be picked up and delivered to the moderator. There was no microphone stand for open questioning. There was no hashtag back channel screen. The moderator was not monitoring an iPad for questions. I guess this was made difficult because there was also no Internet service for the conference, which should be a mainstay of any education conference. 

    Criticisms aside, I found this to be a very informative conference. I wish it could have been live streamed to the many connected educators who were following the conference hashtag over the three days. I think the Marzano approach to collaboration and addressing the whole system in order to affect change is a sensible and sound approach. I would simply love to see an updated methodology in their approach.

    

  • Blog post
  • 3 weeks ago
  • Views: 96

• Social Media Week Ideas Social Media Week Ideas

  • From: Vincent_Young
  • Description:

    Social Media Week is one of the two New York events that inspire me and inform my perspective on developing curriculum. The New York Comic Con is the other. While they may seem tangential at first glance to classroom teaching and curriculum design, they actually offer a model of and insight to creating moving narratives which I believe drives effective learning.

    It was at a Social Media Week session two years ago that I learned about Timehop. Timehop is a social media service that places your tweets and wall posts into an historical context. On any given day, you are sent a reminder of what you tweeted and posted on the same date last year. This includes news items you retweeted and shared. When you compare what you tweeted a year ago to what you tweet today, you have the beginnings of an autobiographical narrative (a personal history).

    Currently, Timehop only presents you with an account of day-to-day social media activity. What I am hoping to see somewhere down the line is a "timeline" feature. I am certain there would be some meaningful classroom applications, if Timehop users were given the option to view day-to-day activity over multiple days, weeks, months, and even years.

    Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend as many sessions this year. I was particularly disappointed about missing the Cowbird workshop. Cowbird describes itself as a "community of storytellers". I like to think of it as a great online anthology of flash non-fiction filled with examples of folksy wisdom and lazy Sunday observations over coffee or tea. Cowbird is definitely meeting its goal of building a "public library of human experience".

    I particularly admire Cowbird's resistance to video and hope it continues to ask its community to take the time to contemplate the pictures and sounds (the individual components of video) and text they chose to tell their stories with. There is a risk of forsaking these individual pieces when composing directly in video.

    Cowbird offers classroom teachers in the age of Common Core a powerful tool to create personal narratives. It also provides teachers with a way for engaging in informational texts especially in "Integration of Knowledge and Ideas" where in eighth grade students are tasked to "Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea."

    Happily, I managed to attend the "gsummitX - Gamification in NYC" presentation with Gabe Zichermann from Gamification.co. In the classroom, teachers understand that playing games is an effective way of engaging students. However, with the rise in the number of free online video games and the increased portability of traditional console games, students are much more sophisticated edutainment consumers than we Generation X'ers were with our Colecovisions and Commodore 64s.

    Gabe was speaking from a Sales/Marketing perspective when he stated the challenge of retaining consumer attention. However, I don't think you need to stretch your imagination too hard to see how even with the onslaught of educational online video games that student attention retention can still be a challenge for teachers.

    Gabe made several interesting comments during his presentation. First, he stated that gamification is a process not a product (Sound familiar?) It's what those who favor a constructivist approach to education believe. He then said that (I'm rephrasing slightly) games allow players to play with the limits of the reality of their jobs. In classrooms, this might mean games allow students to play with the limits of the reality of their... classrooms? subjects? tests? school? community?

    Writing about Jane McGonigal's TED presentation, “Gaming Can Make A Better World” I suggested a game that addressed the school dropout crisis. The role playing games that Jane has worked on fit well into Gabe's statements on gamification. In creating a game that challenges students to solve the real world problem of dropping out, the challenge would be to convince the player to find value in the rewards and prizes. There are plenty of good commercial games available but also an equal (if not overwhelming) amount of bad video games. And there are instances where a game comes highly recommended but the player does not see value in continuing it.

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 67

• Spring Fever, High-Stakes Test Spring Fever, High-Stakes Testing and the Importance of SEL for Teachers

  • From: Kevin_Parr
  • Description:

    In a recent meeting about student behavior the discussion turned to spring fever and the stress students take on as state testing approaches.  A colleague shared an experience that reminds us all that it’s not just students that feel the stress of state testing or the anticipation of summer.  The teacher was working with her students on writing conclusions, a skill they had been honing throughout the school year.  With the state test approaching, it was time to review and practice.  When asked to write a conclusion, students acted like it was a foreign concept.  The teacher’s reaction, however, was anything but foreign to those of us in similar positions:  she lost it.  The usually calm and considerate teacher ripped into the class, “What do you mean you don’t know how to write a conclusion?  We have been working on conclusions all year!  You have to be able to write a conclusion!”

    Listening to her regret her uncharacteristic outburst it reminded me of similar scenes in my classroom recently.  Her call for all of us to be aware of how the stress and excitement of the season affects our behavior drove me to think about how social and emotional skills are equally important for us as adults as well as students.  Here are a few ways teachers can benefit from CASEL’s five SEL competencies: 

    Self-awareness:  As teachers we must maintain our awareness of how we are feeling.  As the above story highlighted, this time of year is ripe with emotion:  the stress of state testing (especially in an age of increasing accountability based on test scores), the excitement of summer vacation and general exhaustion from a long, hard-fought year. 

    Self-management:  Once we identify our emotions we can begin to manage them effectively. For example, in stressful times perhaps a lunchtime walk in the fresh air might be a better use of time than grading that lingering stack of papers. If we are aware of our emotions we can also anticipate situations in which they could lead us to uncharacteristic and undesirable behavior. During moments of extreme frustration in the classroom we need to regulate ourselves so students are not the target of our unleashed emotions.  

    Social awareness:  We also need to be cognizant of what our students are feeling.  They also feel the stress of state testing and, depending on a student’s homelife, the anticipation of summer brings uncertainty and anxiety rather than excitement.  We simply must be able to walk a mile in our students' shoes.

    Relationship skills:  During these strenuous times we must maintain positive relationships with our students.  More than ever (even though they would probably never tell us) they need us.  They need us to listen, they need us to connect with them and they need us to be there when they need help.  

    Responsible decision-making:  By paying attention to all the above we will be in a position to analyze the probable outcomes of our actions and make decisions that truly respect our students.       

     As the pull of summer and anxiety brought on by state testing increase, let’s remember that social and emotional skills are critical, not just for our students, but for us as teachers as well.  By practicing and modeling positive social and emotional skills we can all end the year on an upbeat note without losing our cool.

    

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 408

• Paradox of Students' "Deficits Paradox of Students' "Deficits" as Society's Strengths

  • From: Jason_Flom
  • Description:

    

    The Economist article, "In praise of misfits," lays out the business-related benefits of what the author  calls "creatives," "anti-social geeks," "oddball quants," and "rule-breaking entrepreneurs." While the entire article is well worth the read, we have pulled out a few quotes to help frame the idea that we should work tirelessly to help our school system to support these "misfits." Rather than treat their uniquenesses as deficits, we would do well to build on their actionable strengths and affinities -- qualities that are proving to shape our present, and will surely impact our future. From the article:

    Recruiters have noticed that the mental qualities that make a good computer programmer resemble those that might get you diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome: an obsessive interest in narrow subjects; a passion for numbers, patterns and machines; an addiction to repetitive tasks; and a lack of sensitivity to social cues.

    Additionally,

    Similar traits are common in the upper reaches of finance. The quants have taken over from the preppies. The hero of Michael Lewis's book “The Big Short”, Michael Burry, a hedge-fund manager, is a loner who wrote a stockmarket blog as a hobby while he was studying to be a doctor. He attracted so much attention from money managers that he quit medicine to start his own hedge fund, Scion Capital.

    The article goes on,

    Entrepreneurs also display a striking number of mental oddities. Julie Login of Cass Business School surveyed a group of entrepreneurs and found that 35% of them said that they suffered from dyslexia, compared with 10% of the population as a whole and 1% of professional managers. Prominent dyslexics include the founders of Ford, General Electric, IBM and IKEA, not to mention more recent successes such as Charles Schwab (the founder of a stockbroker), Richard Branson (the Virgin Group), John Chambers (Cisco) and Steve Jobs (Apple).

    All that said, however, there must be balance between the "creatives" and what the article refers to as, "The Organisation Man," or the "'well-rounded' executives." The writer goes on to explain,

    Where does that leave the old-fashioned organisation man? He will do just fine. The more companies hire brilliant mavericks, the more they need sensible managers to keep the company grounded. Someone has to ensure that dull but necessary tasks are done. Someone has to charm customers (and perhaps lawmakers). This task is best done by those who don't give the impression that they think normal people are stupid.

    All of this hints at the need for the real career-ready skill of knowing simply how to get along -- to not just tolerate differences, but to appreciate and leverage these differences as opportunities to innovate and become more than the sum of our parts. Our learning communities can be (and already are) incubators of the social relationships that, in part, define a student's path beyond graduations, for better or for worse. What if we were so bold as to decide that each student is a learner, learning changes lives,  learning happens in different ways, and learning empowers, and therefore we need to ensure that each student feels the work of schooling matters to them and that their strengths and affinities are not only valued, but embraced and employed as essential to the success of the community? Do we need to wait until these "misfits" graduate and enter the workforce to change the following?

    Those square pegs may not have an easy time in school. They may be mocked by jocks and ignored at parties.

    Because, after all,

    . . . these days no serious organisation can prosper without them. As Kiran Malhotra, a Silicon Valley networker, puts it: “It's actually cool to be a geek.”

    We, as educators and advocates of all students, have the power to change this trend. There is no need for students to wait until adulthood to find that their strengths matter, and no research suggests this is in the best interest of students, especially those "creatives, oddballs, and/or square pegs among us.

    Photo Credit: BrittneyBush via Compfight cc

    This post was originally published on the All Kinds of Minds blog. 

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 576

• What Justin Beiber didn’t say… What Justin Beiber didn’t say… and how it’s Engaging Students

  • From: Ryan_Thomas1
  • Description:

    Every morning before work, I stop by Yahoo with the intention of checking my email—and only checking my mail. Without exception, this is what happens: In the half second it takes me to move my cursor over the email icon and click, it’s all over. Suddenly, I find myself halfway into an article entitled “Nike pulls poorly timed t-shirts from stores.” “How did I get here?” I think to myself as I polish off the last paragraph of an article about Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. Of course I never want to read these articles, but the power of an enigmatic, well-written headline can get me to read just about anything.
    
    

    So what can teachers learn from the power of a well-written headline and how can they harness it for engaging students?  Here are a few ideas we gleaned from one of our favorite authors and educators, Dr. Richard Curwin. We highly recommend checking out his blogs here.

    Headlines always use teasers. Teachers should too.
    Regardless of what you teach, try beginning each lesson with some sort of provocative statement—something that will make your students go, “huh?”
     

    Which of these two questions do you think would work best for engaging students?
    
    

    • “Please take out Kevin Jennings’ essay, “The American Dream.”
    • “I have a question: What does Kevin Jennings have in common with Jay-Z.”
      
      

    You went with the second one, yes? How about these two questions:
    
    

    • What did you think of Carrie McClaren’s essay on television commercials?
    • Have any of you seen that pistachio commercial featuring Keyboard Cat?

    We bet you went with the second question both times. Why? Because Jay-Z and Keyboard Cat are interesting. At first glance, they also seem completely unrelated to the essays you asked your students to read. This will not only capture their curiosity, it’ll force students to think critically to make a connection. Here’s another tip for engaging students that comes courtesy of Dr. Curwin.
    
    

    Use Compelling Questions
    Have you ever forgotten the name of a song, a book title or even someone's name and spent the whole day trying to remember it? It was under your skin, so to speak, and the need to remember was compelling to the extreme. The same is true when you begin a class with a question that creates a compelling need for students to know the answer. This strategy is based on the principle that questions should come before answers. Typically, teachers give information and then ask questions about it. Hearing the question first, especially a great one, radically increases the need to learn the information just to find the answer. Great questions have these things in common:
    
    

    1. They are related to the subject you're teaching.
    2. They amplify the students' natural sense of wonder.
    3. They challenge the students' belief of the way things are.
       
       

    Here is a sampling of compelling questions that teachers from various content areas have shared with me:
    
    

    • Middle school math: What does Martin Luther King have in common with Algebra? Answer: they both are concerned with equality.
    • First grade science (studying particles): What is the smallest thing you ever held in your hand?
    • Upper elementary history (studying the Pilgrims): Is there anything your parents could ever do to you that would make you run away from home?
    • Elementary art: If humans had to be a color other than any color they already are, what color would you choose? Why? Draw some people of this color.
    • High school English: If Hamlet were a television sitcom, what would be a better name for it?
    • High school social studies: If Napoleon spread nationalism, how did nationalism bring him down?
    • Middle school English: Why don't "good" and "food" rhyme?
      
      

    Questions like these begin your class with energy, excitement and most importantly, a desire to learn.

    Photo credit: Adam Sundana at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cukuskumir/

                                                             

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 151

• When is innovation old news? When is innovation old news?

  • From: Tom_Whitby
  • Description:

    If innovation is something new than the idea of technology-driven collaboration in the form of a PLN is old news and no longer innovation. Since it is no longer innovative, maybe educators will consider it, as a possible next step in education that will enable needed change. The idea that educators may be anti-innovative is my only explanation as to why the idea of a Personal Learning Network has not yet moved educators to accept it as a method to move educators, and education to a better place.

    The term “innovation” has been thrown around through the halls of education for several years. Its creation in our education system is a stated goal by our Department of Education. It is a reason, although some would call it a justification, for charter schools being formed. Charter schools were supposed to lead the way to innovation for public education. A problem with innovation however is that we often do not know it when we see it.

    The whole idea of innovation is that it is something new. The other part of that, which is implied, is that it is also a successful improvement. That may be the piece that prevents recognizing innovation in education. Teachers, when it comes to education, are a conservative group. Change comes slowly, and there is a comfort in holding on to what has worked in the past. This has long been reinforced by the many trends and fads in education that have come and gone. Teachers have been programmed to believe that whatever the change being mandated by the powers that be, it will be gone with the next change of power. “If we wait a little while, this to will pass” becomes the educators’ mindset.

    The newness of innovation is probably its greatest obstacle to acceptance. Teachers generally rely on the tried and true methods, proven to work over a long period of time. Innovation requires a leap of faith on the part of educators that the innovation will be a success. Unfortunately for innovation, the conservative nature of educators does not support taking risks. It may have something to do with self-perceptions of many teachers that as “content experts” they shouldn’t make public mistakes. Supporting innovation that fails would be a commitment to failure in the eyes of many educators. Obviously, this slows innovation acceptance.

    This entire process has been further complicated by the rate of speed that technology moves and affects change. Committees, research and approval are very big parts of change in education. Today however, change comes faster and more significantly than in years past primarily because of the advancements in technology. These advancements continue to move forward regardless of anyone’s committee, research, or approval.

    Collaboration has long been an element of learning. The term social learning is now creeping into discussions more and more giving collaboration a facelift. Face to face collaboration is the oldest and most easily recognized form. It is also a positive reason for department and faculty meetings. When learning individually we are good, but more often than not, learning collaboratively we are better. Technology tools for collaboration have moved collaboration to the forefront.

    Now, let us combine collaboration with technology and see if it fits into our education system. Technology has most recently provided many tools, or applications for collaboration. Social Media is not one tool, but rather a network of many that overlap and intertwine. Educators can: join a Ning community,and meet a colleague from anywhere, converse on that site, connect and collaborate on Twitter, continue face to face collaboration on a Google Hangout, or Skype, collaboratively create and publish documents, presentations, Podcasts and videos. The potential ability for educators to harness this power and use it to model and guide learning for their students is mind-boggling to me, as a 40-year educator. It is only surpassed by the idea that the same potential ability in the hands of the students will take collaboration, creation, and learning even further.

    We have labeled this innovation the Personal Learning Network. It is what we use to connect educators for collaboration beyond their buildings, districts, towns, and countries. It is technology-driven innovation that may profoundly affect education in regard to collaboration and professional development. It connects teachers with students, administrators, thought leaders, authors, and experts in all areas. It enables collaboration and creation on every level for educators to learn and teach. We become connected educators giving us insights and relevance that has been enabled by technology.

    This innovation has been percolating for several years now, yet it has failed to be accepted as innovation. There is a growing gap between the adapters, or the connected educators, and the unconnected educators. The continuous discussions of the connected are directed and led by thought leaders and collaborative reflections, discussions, and content. The unconnected educators rely on the past and whatever direction is given by the powers that be in their districts.

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  • 4 weeks ago
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• SEL: McDonald's is Not Lovin' SEL: McDonald's is Not Lovin' It

  • From: Kevin_Parr
  • Description:

    As educators we have a firm belief that the small efforts we make today will have big payoffs down the road.  It would seem then, that the opposite must be true:  That missed opportunities will have large penalties in the future.  These notions hold no more true than in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL) and were illustrated recently, interesting enough, by fast-food giant McDonald’s recent webcast company executives had with franchise owners.  Apparently McDonald’s hasn’t been lovin’ it when it comes to customer satisfaction.  According to a Wall Street Journal article, “1 in 5 customer complaints are related to friendliness issues.”  The article goes on to explain, “ the top complaint (was) rude or unprofessional employees.”

     Whereas I understand that a fast-food establishment would receive lower customer service ratings than its table service counterparts, it did surprise me that McDonald’s employees were downright “rude or unprofessional.”  In fact, as a teacher I was disheartened by it.  Certainly, these employees—all products of our education system—had been taught to “be nice” and “be respectful,” so what went wrong?     

    Over and above any attempts to justify these employees’ actions and vilify McDonald’s, let’s acknowledge their personal responsibility for their actions.  In doing so, it is clear that our small efforts in teaching kindness and respect did not result in big payoffs.  Instead, perhaps, the situation McDonald’s finds itself in is a result of our missed educational opportunities.  Thinking about it this way, it might be easier to think about what could have gone right for these employees while they were in school.  Or, similarly, what small efforts could their schools have made that would have had big payoffs in terms of social and emotional skills when they got jobs at McDonald’s?

    Let’s think about the outcomes of a comprehensive SEL curriculum.  According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) five SEL competencies exist:  self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.  It is easy to envision how well-developed skills in these areas would have prevented any issues with “rude or unprofessional” behavior from these McDonald’s employees.  Instead, these employees would have been aware of their emotions, managed them, and in reflecting on ethically and socially accepted behavior for the workplace, would have made better decisions.  

    This issue with McDonald’s seems to be just one in an increasing number of similar instances which call attention to a growing deficiency in social and emotional skills.  Can we as educators, regardless of our students’ academic accomplishments, deem our efforts successful when increasing numbers of our past students are “unprofessional and rude”?  Is it simply coincidence that this trend is growing along with our schools’ sole focus on academics?

     

    

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• L2L News: April 2013 L2L News: April 2013

  • From: Meg_Simpson
  • Description:

     

    Thanks for a fantastic 2013 ASCD Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois!

    Read ASCD Executive Director Dr. Gene Carter’s annual conference reflections here.

    Your To-Do List: Action Items for ASCD Leaders

    •  Submit a proposal for ASCD’s 2014 Annual Conference. ASCD is accepting proposals for 2014 Annual Conference presentations until May 15.

     

    Register for the Whole Child Virtual Conference: May 6–10, 2013

    Join ASCD for its third annual Whole Child Virtual Conference. This free online event offers thought leadership discussions; presentations from leading authors and experts; and an exploration of the steps outstanding schools, communities, and individual countries take as they move along the continuum of a whole child approach—from implementation to sustainability to culture. No matter where you are on this continuum, you’ll find lessons you can learn and questions you can ask to improve and grow your schools.

    This year the conference will include 24 sessions over 7 days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. eastern time, with sessions on May 2 and 3 specifically for Australasian and European audiences. This year’s conference speakers include authors and experts Thomas Armstrong, Michael Fullan, Andy Hargreaves, Eric Jensen, Wendy Ostroff, William Parrett and Kathleen M. Budge, Pasi Sahlberg, and Yong Zhao.

    Sessions will also feature presentations from ASCD Emerging Leaders, ASCD’s Outstanding Young Educators Award winner, the recipient of Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award, and members of ASCD’s Whole Child Network of Schools.

    Registration is now open. Go to www.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference to sign up.

     

    ASCD Nominations Committee Applications Open in May

    ASCD is seeking ASCD leaders who are interested in serving on the 2013–14 ASCD Nominations Committee. More information—the committee’s charge, qualifications for service, and time commitment—will be available starting May 1 on www.ascd.org. ASCD will be accepting applications May 1–31. We invite ASCD leaders to consider their interest in this opportunity over the next few weeks before the application becomes available.

      

     ASCD Leaders in Action: News from the ASCD Leader Community

     

    ASCD Student Chapters Help Chicago’s Hungry During ASCD Annual Conference

    On March 15, 46 ASCD Student Chapter members volunteered to make a difference in the fight against hunger in Chicago. Working together the Friday morning before ASCD’s Annual Conference, the students packaged more than 15,000 pounds of food to help feed the nearly 678,000 people who rely on emergency and supplemental food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Thank you and congratulations to our ASCD Student Chapter volunteers! Read the full Conference Daily article.

    
    

    ASCD Forum Session at ASCD Annual Conference Gives Educators a Voice on Teacher and Principal Effectiveness

    On March 17, ASCD Past President Debra Hill facilitated a discussion of the ASCD Forum topic “how do we define and measure teacher and principal effectiveness?” Ten ASCD leaders stepped forward to help lead the discussion:

    ·         Jason Flom, ASCD Emerging Leader

    ·         Ben Shuldiner, Position Advisory Committee Member

    ·         Amy Vanden Boogart, ASCD Emerging Leader

    ·         Jeffrey Lofthus, Alaska ASCD Executive Director

    ·         Daina Lieberman, ASCD Emerging Leader

    ·         Mamzelle Adolphine, Professional Interest Community Facilitator

    ·         Laurie McCullough, Virginia ASCD Executive Director

    ·         Alice Wells, Arizona ASCD Executive Director

    ·         Matthew Cotton, ASCD Emerging Leader

    ·         Torian White, ASCD Emerging Leader

     

    Session attendees stepped up to the front of the room to share their thoughts and also posted tweets to the #ASCDForum hashtag. Many thanks to the ASCD leaders who participated to make this session a success!

     

    Congratulations to ASCD Affiliate Recognition Award Winners

    Please join ASCD in congratulating the ASCD Affiliate Recognition Award Recipients:

    Two affiliates were recognized for the 2013 Overall Excellence Award: Iowa ASCD, for its increased focus on integrating technology into professional learning opportunities and their influence and advocacy work with ASCD, and New Hampshire ASCD, for its work to increase membership and provide increased professional learning opportunities, such as Common Core workshops.

    In addition, New Jersey ASCD received the Area Excellence Award for Programs, Products, and Services for their leadership in their state as a trusted source for professional learning. Texas ASCD received an Exceptional Progress Award in Influence and Policy, and Alberta ASCD, Ohio ASCD, and Vermont ASCD were all recipients of the Exceptional Progress Award in Programs, Products, and Services.

    Read the Conference Daily article.

     

    Welcome to the “Educating Beyond Disabilities” Professional Interest Community

    Please join ASCD in welcoming our newest Professional Interest Community, facilitated by 2011 ASCD Emerging Leader Christina Yuknis. Please join her group on ASCD EDge.

     

    Tennessee ASCD Featured in ASCD Inservice Blog Series

    Weasked 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 sixth post of the series, Tennessee ASCD President-Elect John Combs writes about the challenges and successes that Tennessee has had with CCSS implementation.

    Previous Posts:New Jersey ASCD,Alabama ASCD, Arkansas ASCD, New Hampshire ASCD, and Florida ASCD

    
    

    Congratulations!

    • ASCD Emerging Leader Jessica Bohn wrote an article for this month’s Educational Leadership issue on The Principalship. Read her article “First-Year Hurdles” on ascd.org.
      
      
    • ASCD Emerging Leader Craig Martin is featured in the Spring 2013 issue of Teachers of Color Magazine.Read the article (PDF).
      
      
    • Niles West High School Dean and ASCD Emerging Leader Alum Antwan Babakhani has been promoted to be the school’s new assistant principal effective July 1. Read more about Antwan.
      
      
    • ASCD Emerging Leader Torian White was featured in a blog post for the points he made during the ASCD Forum discussion. Read the post about Torian.

     

    Other News

    • ASCD Emerging Leaders Curtis Pelham,Amy Murphy, and Armentress Robinson were recently featured in the ASCDInservice blog “8 Questions” series.
       
    • Check out Fred Ende’sWhole Child Blog post, “Exceeding Needs Through a Partnership Perspective.”
      
      
    • Minnesota ASCD’sSpring Conference, “Creating a Highly Engaged Classroom,” takes place on April 25.
       
    • South Carolina ASCD’s Spring Conference was a huge success! Read more at scascd.org.
      
      
    • Check out Illinois ASCD’s revised website.
      
      
    • Five new members joined the ASCD Board of Directors at ASCD Annual Conference. Read the press release.

     

    Meet ASCD President Becky Berg

    Becky J. Berg is from a family of educators. "My dad was a school board president; my mom was a career educator; and my sister, my grandmother, and my great-grandfather were educators," she says. Despite the genetic pull, Berg wasn't completely convinced she would follow in the family's footsteps until her experience as a summer camp counselor while she was in college. It was then that she realized how much she loved working with kids. Read the full Conference Daily article.

     

    Congratulations to the 2013 Outstanding Young Educator Award Winners!

    ASCD salutes a new generation’s passion for education excellence through this year’s selection of two Outstanding Young Educator Award winners: Joshua Garcia, deputy superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools (Wash.), and Parkville High School  (Parkville, Md.) teacher Ryan Twentey. Twentey teaches art, photography, and interactive media production and also serves as the school’s technology liaison. Read the full Conference Daily article.

     

    Interactive ASCD 2012 Annual Report Features ASCD Leaders

    Check out the ASCD 2012 Annual Report, entitled “Creating Solutions: The ASCD Revolution in Motion.” This interactive report features videos footage of ASCD leaders, including ASCD Emerging Leader Steven Anderson, Florida ASCD President Alina Davis, Alabama ASCD Executive Director Jane Cobia, ASCD Board Member Harriet Arnold, and Connecticut ASCD President David Cormier.

    
    

    Throughout April at wholechildeducation.org: Principal Leadership

    Principals are the key players in developing the climate, culture, and processes in their schools. They are critical to implementing meaningful and lasting school change and in the ongoing school-improvement process. Principals who have a clear vision; inspire and engage others in embracing change for improvement; drive, facilitate, and monitor the teaching and learning process; and foster a cohesive culture of learning are the collaborative leaders our schools need to fully commit to ensuring each student—and school staff member—is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

    What qualities do principals in today’s (and tomorrow’s) schools need to fulfill their roles as visionary, instructional, influential, and learning leaders?

    There are two episodes of the Whole Child Podcast in April for you to download and share. The first episode, “Leveling and Raising the Playing Field,” features school staff from Oregon’s Milwaukie High School, winner of the 2013 Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award, and is available now. On April 11, the second episode will be available. It will focus on principal leadership and include guests Kevin Enerson, principal of Whole Child Network school Le Sueur-Henderson High School in Minnesota, and Jessica Bohn, ASCD Emerging Leader and principal of  Gibsonville Elementary School in North Carolina.

    Throughout the month, read the Whole Child Blog and tell us what has worked in your school and with your students. E-mail us and share resources, research, and examples.

     

    The Best-Case Scenario

    As we review and reinforce our schools’ safety measures, we aren’t planning for the worst-case scenario that might happen; we are working to make sure the best-case scenario—where schools are learning environments that are physically, socially, and emotionally safe for students and adults—is an everyday occurrence that does happen. Read more on the Whole Child Blog.

    In February and March, we looked at what we, as educators, believe is crucial to making our schools safe—not just physically safe, but also safe places to teach and learn. Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests Joseph Bergant II, superintendent of Chardon Schools in Ohio; Howard Adelman, professor of psychology at UCLA and codirector of the School Mental Health Project and the Center for Mental Health in Schools (a whole child partner); and Jonathan Cohen, adjunct professor in psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and president and cofounder of whole child partner National School Climate Center.

    Have you signed up to receive the Whole Child Newsletter? Read the latest 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.

      

    Something to Talk About

    Most recent blog posts on ASCD EDge®

    Mostclicked stories from ASCD SmartBrief

     

    Association News

    • ASCD Announces 2013 Conference on Teaching Excellence in National Harbor, Md.—ASCD will host its Conference on Teaching Excellence June 28–30, 2013, in National Harbor, Md. The conference—which will take place over two and a half days—will focus on the topic of teaching excellence and will have more than 150 sessions tailored for educators of all levels, including teachers, teacher leaders, principals, and district supervisors. Read the full press release.
      
      
    • ASCD Announces New Spring and Summer Professional Development Institutes Supporting Common Core Implementation—ASCD announces new one- and two-day Professional Development Institutes supporting educators nationwide as they implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Read the full press release.
      
      
    • The Third Annual ASCD Whole Child Virtual Conference Launches May 6, 2013—ASCD’s third annual Whole Child Virtual Conference, entitled “Moving from Implementation to Sustainability to Culture,” will run May 6–10, 2013. The free and exclusively online event—which attracted more than 900 participants last year—offers educators around the globe 24 sessions to support their work to implement and sustain a whole child approach to education. Read the full press release.
      
      
    • ASCD Names 2013 Elected Leaders and Affiliate Awards Recipients—ASCD announced Becky J. Berg—superintendent of the Deer Park School District in Deer Park, Wash. —as the association’s new President. Berg took office at the conclusion of ASCD’s 68th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Chicago, Ill., on March 18. Read the full press release.
      
      
    • ASCD Launches Interactive 2012 Annual Report—ASCD is pleased to announce the release of the association’s 2012 Annual Report, entitled “Creating Solutions: The ASCD Revolution in Motion.” This report showcases the association’s achievements and serves as a resource discovery tool for educators who seek programs, products, and services that empower them to support the success of each learner. Read the full press release.
      
      
    • Florida Association of District School Superintendents Launches Professional Development Partnership with ASCD—At ASCD’s 68th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, ASCD and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) announced a new partnership to provide FADSS members statewide with customized professional development that will build participants’ capacity for successfully leading, supporting, and monitoring the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in their districts. Read the full press release.
      
      
    • ASCD Selects Washington State Deputy Superintendent and Maryland Teacher as 2013 Outstanding Young Educators—At ASCD’s 68th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Chicago, Ill., Joshua Garcia, deputy superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools in Tacoma, Wash., and Ryan Twentey, a photography teacher at Parkville High School in Parkville, Md., were announced as winners of the association’s prestigious 2013 Outstanding Young Educator Award (OYEA). Read the full press release.
      
      
    • Oregon's Milwaukie High School Named 2013 Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award Winner—ASCD announced that Milwaukie High School, located in Milwaukie, Ore., is the 2013 winner of the association’s Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. Principal Mark Pinder accepted the award on behalf of Milwaukie High School from ASCD Executive Director and CEO Dr. Gene R. Carter at ASCD's 68th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Chicago, Ill., on Sunday, March 17. Read the full press release.
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• Complexity: Reductionism Complexity: Reductionism

  • From: Kevin_Goddard
  • Description:

    Reductionist approaches try to isolate parts of a phenomenon or organism to explain the sum of those parts as a way to predict or replicate viable interventions. Education is not reductionistic in nature. The individual components of education do not add up to learning. Buildings+classrooms+agents+policy+curriculum≠learning. Yet, somehow, learning emerges from the complex interactions of all of these components (Bloch, 2005; Waldrop, 1992). Educational research attempts to explain the interaction of teaching or other behavior in school with specific student or school community characteristics, but scientific research and findings are contextually embedded in human networks and social interactions (Berliner, 2002). The reductionistic approaches have attempted to explain each separate factor in education and made great strides; but those theories need to be viewed through a lens of complexity and weighed against the system as a whole in order to be understood and applied.

    Existing within a certain milieu, schools are comprised of various-sized knowledge communities nested in and among each other giving the school the internal complexity to match the surrounding community. The traditional view of organizational analysis relies on this challenge of accounting for the parts within the whole of school to adapt and change as the community changes to maintain homeostasis while learning to learn as the principal seeks to understand the school in order to facilitate planning, change, and problem solving. In order to view the complex school environment, multiple perspectives or lenses must be used to view and filter school contexts (Beck, 1996; Bolman & Deal, 1997; Bruffee, 1999; Donaldson, 1998; Morgan, 1997).

    A principal can begin analysis by viewing the school system one lens at a time. As principals begin to understand the complex, ambiguous, paradoxical school within its specific context, the principal can strategically plan programs to fulfill the needs of the school. The lenses through which the principal chooses and/or combines to view a school will determine how they view the school’s nature and role over time. Because of this complexity, principals need to be able to analyze and understand their school in breadth and depth (Donaldson, 1998).

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  • 1 month ago
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• This Month’s Character Trait: This Month’s Character Trait: Hope

  • From: Kevin_Parr
  • Description:

    Returning from spring vacation to a new month I am reminded that as a schoolteacher the beginning of a new month means more than simply flipping the calendar.  It signals the time to erect another pillar of our growing character.

    Elementary school children around the nation are gathering in their schools’ gymnasiums for the monthly ritual of introducing a new character trait from Character Counts.   In many schools one of the Six Pillars of Character (respect, responsibility, honesty, caring, citizenship, trustworthiness and fairness) will be introduced with a video or skit.  Students will then in some cases make posters or banners to adorn the school walls and advertise the value of the trait.  Teachers will give token attention to the character trait in the classroom by reading a picture book or doing some other isolated activity to highlight the trait of the month.  At the end of the month the same school children will reconvene in the gymnasium to see who was selected as best demonstrating the character trait of the month. 

    Sadly, that is the state of character education, or social emotional learning, in many schools today.  In fact, this article explains these two approaches among others.  Even sadder, when presented with the idea of beginning to infuse a comprehensive social and emotional learning program into the existing curriculum many teachers at those same schools will reply, “No thanks, we are already doing that.”    

    Now let me be clear about one thing:  I am in no position and have no motives to neither endorse nor reject Character Counts as an effective character education program.  It is simply that Character Counts seems to be ubiquitous in schools, including mine.  What I do reject, however, is the method by which many schools use Character Counts as their best attempt at teaching social and emotional skills.  We can (and must) do better than simply mentioning and celebrating these virtuous traits once a month.

    In a landmark meta-analysis of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs published in 2011 the authors found that effective SEL programs include “processing, integrating, and selectively applying social and emotional skills in developmentally, contextually and culturally appropriate ways.”  Furthermore, “Through systematic instruction, SEL skills may be taught, modeled, practiced, and applied to diverse situations so that students use them as part of their daily repertoire of behaviors.”  The four practices recommended in the study create the acronym SAFE.  From the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL) summary of the findings:

    Effective programs and approaches are typically sequenced, active, focused, and explicit (S.A.F.E.), meaning they:

    • S: use a Sequenced set of activities to achieve skill objectives
    • A: use Active forms of learning
    • F: include at least one program component Focused on developing personal or social skills
    • E: Explicitly target particular personal or social skills for development

    Clearly, there is a stark contrast between a comprehensive SEL program as described in the meta-analysis and the manner in which many schools today are using Character Counts for teaching students the social skills necessary for a productive life inside and outside of school.  We as teachers must drop our “we’re-already-doing-it” attitude and start doing what students and the rest of society needs us to do—put forth a wholehearted effort in teaching social and emotional skills in our schools.  That will be cause for real celebration.     

     

    

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  • 1 month ago
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