tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89445449548021245632024-03-12T16:28:13.732-07:00The Know-it-all's Tell-allDr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-20377244183681464092019-11-06T07:33:00.000-08:002019-11-28T08:48:56.711-08:00Before You Assume a Learning Disability . . .<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I work in a small, alternative high school in rural North Carolina
where all of our students have struggled to succeed in traditional educational
settings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have anxiety disorders,
some have learning disabilities, some have experienced such severe trauma that
school has been rendered irrelevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It
is often difficult to tease out what particular obstacle is preventing any
given student from succeeding on any particular day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More often than not, it’s something
temporary—lack of sleep, an interpersonal dispute, some chaos at home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My solution is usually patience,
understanding, maybe a hug, and an extension of the deadline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, when the same type of failure continues to occur, I am
apt to worry that something more intractable or nefarious is at work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Frank<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=8944544954802124563#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
kept failing my vocabulary tests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where
nearly all my other students were getting As and Bs on them, Frank was averaging about 45%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I wasn’t even
asking them to use the words in a sentence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’re talking matching and multiple choice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1PKHLKTqUbcdZzbcuzNVC4q7z3adsIE7mQIHfHC2Rk6H7vOb_XIP1WppT0SSYXRcOGtdJz5lEi9xQdW9sz8ryuQoVoFqJWK8IkfoA_TRmBnpe54SxynjVQbXL_3K5aCMmceDmSCPu38F/s1600/struggling.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="800" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1PKHLKTqUbcdZzbcuzNVC4q7z3adsIE7mQIHfHC2Rk6H7vOb_XIP1WppT0SSYXRcOGtdJz5lEi9xQdW9sz8ryuQoVoFqJWK8IkfoA_TRmBnpe54SxynjVQbXL_3K5aCMmceDmSCPu38F/s320/struggling.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was beginning to wonder if Frank had a learning disability
or some type of processing disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
then I watched him while he “studied” the words on Quizlet (<a href="http://www.quizlet.com/">www.quizlet.com</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would stare at a flash card for a while,
then flip to the next word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This went on
for as long as I allowed the students to study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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I crouched by his desk and
said, “Frank, show me how you study vocabulary.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
pulled up the list and began looking at it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
asked, “Are you quizzing yourself in your head?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Huh?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Like,
do you look at the word and then think in your head, ‘That word means . . . whatever stuit means,’
and then flip over the flash card to see if you’re right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
look on his face was not unlike the one my dog makes when she hears my mom’s
voice coming from my phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Try
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flip that card over and look at
the definition.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Okay.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Now
flip the card back over so you can only see the word.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Okay.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
the definition?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
started to turn the card back over.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Nope!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without looking, can you remember what the
definition is?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
wasn’t paying that much attention.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Okay,
flip it back over and this time pay attention to the definition. Say it out
loud if you have to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Say it a couple of times.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Now
flip it back over to the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you
remember the definition?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yeah.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was
skeptical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What is it?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
want me to say it out loud?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
struggled to say the entire definition with accuracy, but he was close.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I want
you to do that for each of those words until you can say the definition and
know it’s right before you flip over the card.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Okay.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On his next vocabulary quiz, he passed. Not by the highest
of margins, but he passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His performance on vocabulary quizzes continued to be
erratic, depending on how much and how earnestly he studied. Still I knew he had the capacity to do the
work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I had been tempted to
attribute to a cognitive deficit was so much simpler. In 16 years of school, he had never learned
how to study for mastery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few weeks ago, I decided to see if a similarly simple
intervention might help with a different problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark is a dreadful speller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I don’t mean he leaves out or uses the wrong
letters; he leaves out entire syllables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His writing is unrecognizable as English.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had been operating under the assumption that he had poor
phonemic awareness and was fundamentally unable to spell proficiently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While students were working individually, I sat next to him
and asked, “When you were younger did anyone ever teach you about segmentation?”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“About <i>what</i>?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> "</span>When
you break a word apart into syllables and you spell the syllables.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Blank stare.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Like, take the word
‘condescending.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spell ‘con’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Eye roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“C-O-N.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“De?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“D-A?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“We’ll come back to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spell ‘Scen’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“S-E-N”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“And ‘ding’?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“D-I-N-G.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Granted, he had still spelled it incorrectly but not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> incorrectly that a reader wouldn’t be
able to discern what word he was aiming for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week, I administered a midterm exam with 21 vocabulary
words. Mark spelled 8 correctly. Of those that remained, 9 were off by 1
letter, a tenth by 2. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Three were still unrecognizable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Baby steps, people!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Baby steps.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m now in a pitched battle with a colleague over a shared
student who consistently underperforms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She wants to lay the bulk of the blame on his ADHD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does the kid have ADHD?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
that a catch-all excuse for every problem he is facing in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absolutely not. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to work with him on studying more
effectively, asking questions when he doesn’t understand something, and using
all the resources available to him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not suggesting that learning disabilities and disorders
do not exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am asserting that we are
often too quick to assume that a student <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can’t</i>
do something when the truth is that no one has yet taught them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=8944544954802124563#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
All student names have been changed.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-40536396616866599842018-02-13T07:49:00.001-08:002018-02-13T07:49:19.241-08:00What's Worse Than Assessments?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">German is remarkably
efficient at capturing complex emotions in a single word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weight gain associated with a breakup or
other emotional turmoil is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kummerspeck</i>—literally,
grief bacon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans have appropriated
the German word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">schadenfreude</i> –taking
pleasure in the misfortunes of others—I assume because it so perfectly captures
the driving force behind much of our popular culture: reality television,
tabloid journalism, the 24-hour news cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2Bn-zgVjRhbOb_oz7xc8ti52JQTPDXMoqDeE-iqoTic5YcShaOjVWo6TfOF6Qo2zcrb1qWoSRKyKNWxU5i1LcMgivWJBDDYE6D2cTb4IqQU8zVwgFgacowH9oh49WuOQulnb_Covi8wj/s1600/jackson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="620" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2Bn-zgVjRhbOb_oz7xc8ti52JQTPDXMoqDeE-iqoTic5YcShaOjVWo6TfOF6Qo2zcrb1qWoSRKyKNWxU5i1LcMgivWJBDDYE6D2cTb4IqQU8zVwgFgacowH9oh49WuOQulnb_Covi8wj/s200/jackson.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I recently learned
another German word that I feel needs to be embraced, if not by the culture as
a whole then certainly by those of us in education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schlimmbesserung</i>
is an improvement that makes things worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I entered the teaching profession in 1995 and, since that time, have
lost count of the number of times I've witnessed or been the victim of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">schlimmbesserung</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last month, a participant in one of
my beginning teacher seminars asked my opinion of a new policy in his high
school.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The faculty had been tasked with
administering common formative assessments, or CFAs, that would provide
baseline data against which they could measure student progress.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Concern arose that the students were simply
marking random answers on their CFAs, which the leadership team interpreted as
a failure to take the process seriously.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(Il)logic Model<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Before I reveal how they "solved" the problem, let’s first examine their logic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I present the following syllogism:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Students marked
random (incorrect) answers because they didn’t take the process seriously.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If students took
the process seriously, more of their answers would have been correct.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Different answers
would provide better data.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Now, this explanation
applies if, and only if, the students both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">were</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believed</i> themselves more capable
than their responses suggested, thus making their incorrect responses acts of
pure defiance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Research ethics, however,
demand that we examine all the possible explanations of the data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it possible that the students’ answers only
seemed random because they didn’t know what the right answers were?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternatively, is it possible they marked
random answers because they knew they lacked the necessary knowledge or skills
to do otherwise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Why-Dont-Students-Like-School/dp/047059196X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518534532&sr=8-1&keywords=willingham+why+don%27t+students+like+school" target="_blank">Why Don’t Students Like School?</a></i>, cognitive psychologist </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Daniel T. Willingham</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
explains that people enjoy thinking but only “if we judge that the mental work
will pay off with the pleasurable feeling we get when we solve a problem.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absent the belief that effort will yield
the dopamine rush of success, most people will give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why I no longer even attempt sudoku
puzzles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If the students didn’t
try because they either knew or suspected that their effort would not result in
a payoff, there is no reason to believe that greater effort would have resulted
in more correct answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
importantly, the administrative team ignored the very solid data their students
provided, that, at best, they lacked confidence or motivation and, at worst, were
incapable of correctly answering the questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“What forest? I don’t see any forest! There’s too damn many trees in the way!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To incentivize the
students, the principal mandated that their scores on the CFA be counted as 10%
of their semester grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">It is bad enough that those outside the profession dictate policy that is counterproductive to our students' needs. I find it inexcusable that an instructional leader would demonstrate such disregard or ignorance of the function of formative assessment. These are tools to collect data </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"> regarding a student’s progress toward a learning goal which is then</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"> used to adjust instruction.</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"> Formative assessments should never penalize students for not knowing information they have not yet been taught</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Nor are they tools for social engineering.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Even if we allow,
for argument’s sake, that the original premise was correct, and the students
randomly marked their tests because they didn’t take them seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it reasonable to then assume that these
same students will feel differently if you threaten them? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I served my time in a public-school
classroom and am therefore not unfamiliar with the many ways teenagers try to
game the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can be real asshats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That impulse
to test the boundaries and see what they can get away with is kind of what
makes them teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What separates us—the
adults—from them is our ability to resist the urge, however strong, to respond
to their impulsive, short-sighted behavior with impulsive, short-sighted
behaviors of our own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Educators do not take an
oath of office, but maybe they should and, like doctors, pledge to, first, do
no harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-87082483731771480272017-08-17T10:38:00.002-07:002017-08-17T10:49:09.661-07:00New Teachers! It's Okay to Give Less than 100%<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ask the average person
what it takes to achieve excellence in any field, and you won’t have to wait very
long before hearing some variation on the expression, “You gotta give 100%!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This attitude goes largely unquestioned. Until only a
few months ago, I wholeheartedly believed that, to be brilliant or successful, you
must be single minded and resolute. And
then a friend pointed out the simple arithmetical error in that line of
reasoning:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Make a list of all the
things that are a priority in your life,” she said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Work<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Spirituality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Entertainment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Exercise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Hygiene<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sleep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Eating<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Romantic life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Home maintenance
(cleaning, yardwork, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Good. Now, if you give 100% of your effort to being
brilliant at work, how much is left for everything else?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even if we accept the cliché
of “giving 110%,” and we hold that 10% in reserve, that leaves me spreading myself
awfully thin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Paradigms don’t fall
easily, and so I argued, “But every person I’ve ever heard of who did something
amazing said they put their all into creating that success!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“And if you do a little
digging, you’ll probably find out they were terrible spouses or cruel bosses or
absentee parents or just miserable people all the way around.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I had never considered
this. It certainly went a long way
toward explaining why every other facet of my life seemed so empty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I shared this wisdom with
a group of beginning teachers. One of
them in turn related a chilling anecdote about a colleague who had recently
passed away. At the wake, dozens of her
former students approached her children with comments about how significant a presence
she was in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After smiling through many
such interactions, one of her daughters finally said, “Well, I’m glad you got
to see that part of her. <i>We</i> never did.” In giving 100% to the job, she had nothing left
for her own children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Most of the young teachers
I work with are immensely grateful to receive permission to have a life. Others are harder to sell on the idea. It’s not difficult to understand why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Teachers are typically great
students, and great students have an annoying habit of believing that everything
they produce is either perfect or garbage.
And because there is nothing in between these two binaries, and obviously
garbage is unacceptable, they cannot stop tinkering with a lesson plan or a
seating arrangement or anything else until it is perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And suddenly it’s 7:30
pm, and you’re still at school, and you haven’t gotten to the gym, and you’re
too tired to meet up with the friend who invited you to dinner, and there’s no
time to take the dogs for a walk so you just let them out in the back yard and
you fall asleep on the sofa, and tomorrow you’ll get up and do the same thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some Uncomfortable Realities<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOLEWy5oiAoV_ImsdazdttGBdJYiwvINg2Hvc76rhctdXRbJpLGCG25uOwherYj-VFkVZSfuzduoeGb77rr0fwW7wV4v4m1LcCZMVX5DbAHvMRSMroSh-vw8U9ndSJh2oSYcsAXmzl_cD/s1600/overworked.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="340" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOLEWy5oiAoV_ImsdazdttGBdJYiwvINg2Hvc76rhctdXRbJpLGCG25uOwherYj-VFkVZSfuzduoeGb77rr0fwW7wV4v4m1LcCZMVX5DbAHvMRSMroSh-vw8U9ndSJh2oSYcsAXmzl_cD/s400/overworked.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You have to recognize and
accept that <b>your work will never be
perfect</b>. Your students are
unpredictable and there’s 25 (or 41 or 155) of them, all of whom have quirks and
preferences and intentions. Stop trying
to hit a target that will not stand still.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You should also know that
<b>the work is never done</b>. You can do this job twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week and never finish because there’s always something else you
can tweak or add or omit or polish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Only you can say when the work stops. Set a
timer when working after hours. When the
timer goes off, go home. If you’re worried about not fulfilling your
commitments, make a list of all the things you have to complete. Sort it into three categories: (1) must be
done today; (2) complete before the end of the week; (3) mid- or long-term
project. Address the items in that
order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Trust that <b>there is a huge range of acceptability that
lies between perfection and garbage. </b> “Good enough” is actually good enough much of
the time. You’ll have lots of
opportunities to improve if you don’t make yourself crazy in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Outlasting the Odds<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Teaching is an unusual
profession for many reasons, not the least of which is that the
responsibilities of a rookie on his or her first day are identical to those of
a veteran of several decades. Let that
sink in for a second. It may go a long
way toward explaining the oft-cited statistic that fifty percent of all
teachers leave the profession within the first three years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you want to last, you have to learn to prioritize, and one of those priorities
has to be you. Schedule gym time, a date with your significant other, a nap, etc. Put these appointments in your calendar and
respect them as much as you would if you had made an appointment with someone
else. Don’t treat yourself worse than
you would allow another person to treat you.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I know some
readers will remain skeptical. Only the
students matter! Fair enough, but it’s
worth noting that you cannot give what you do not have. If you work yourself to the point that you
have no energy, no joy, no humor, no love, how will you give those things to your
students?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-3501317508225394662017-05-10T08:08:00.000-07:002017-05-10T08:08:01.978-07:00When Caring for Your Students Becomes Dangerous<div class="MsoNormal">
A few weeks ago, I binge-listened to the podcast “S-Town.” Fascinating stuff. Much like the early work of <i>The Simpsons</i>, it’s three stories packed
like Russian nesting dolls. Just when you
think you’ve reached the resolution of one, another emerges. I don’t want to reveal too much, so this
set-up will necessarily be a bit vague. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNv_zQ3CWr98wGXUrG4-ES_5AfEL79feL3C_StoA3rB29a7dCN47ZCF8BO9zpaJmF9yic7edOcWkUgg-7dotc8ZMkUOiudtW083MsZ-T3_23SUxR3d6mbyk59f3rHcSu79-L_2AnAb8yXI/s1600/s-town.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNv_zQ3CWr98wGXUrG4-ES_5AfEL79feL3C_StoA3rB29a7dCN47ZCF8BO9zpaJmF9yic7edOcWkUgg-7dotc8ZMkUOiudtW083MsZ-T3_23SUxR3d6mbyk59f3rHcSu79-L_2AnAb8yXI/s200/s-town.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
In the third act, the narrator suggests that the central
character tried to save his quasi-protégé but may have realized too late that he
lacked the skill to do so. In trying, he
sacrificed himself. I could not help
identifying with him and was transported back to my days in the classroom.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I tell people I got into teaching
because I have a pathological need to feel important.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Following my first year in the profession, I
was three days into summer vacation and realized that no one needed me for the
next two months. This led to morbid fantasies where I died in my home and no
one discovered my body until the neighbors complained about the smell. I need
to be needed.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
April needed me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this
time, it was unusual to have electronic contact with students. Facebook and Twitter were still a few years
off, and Canvass and Google classroom were mere glints in some software
engineer’s eye. I posted my students’
homework and other resources on a free online service for teachers and encouraged
students to e-mail with questions about writing assignments or homework. What I
didn’t realize was that my responses were not filtered through the site; they
came straight from my home e-mail account. Once in possession of my home e-mail
address, April began IMing me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If I’m being completely honest, I
was flattered. I had no personal life to speak of, so I was grateful to have
someone to “talk” to in the evenings. It started out with the usual teenage
troubles: school is stressing me out, mom doesn’t understand me, mom and dad
fight all the time. I know what it’s like to have warring parents, so I was a
sympathetic ear. I tried very hard to assure her that, although it might seem
otherwise, her parents loved her more than they loved themselves and certainly,
by all accounts, more than they loved each other. Sometimes, she would keep me
online for upwards of an hour and a half. That began to weary me, but I
couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I didn’t want her to view me as </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">yet</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">another</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
adult who had abrogated her responsibilities to care for and protect her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Several years earlier, a nice young
man in one of my junior classes had turned up truant several days in a row. On
the fourth day, I called his mother who apologized for his absence that day. I
innocently asked, “Okay, so you know he’s been out every day this week?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Silence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I take you </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">didn’t</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> know that.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I’ve been out of town."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Oh.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She asked rhetorically, “What has
he been doing all this time?” and I heard the tremor in her voice that signaled
the onset of tears. “I don’t know what to do with him. What do I do with him?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Look, if I knew . . . this is
reason #18 I don’t have kids of my own.” She sniffed at my weak attempt at
humor—the one I used </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">every</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> time I
talked to the parent of a teenager doing the inexplicable things teenagers do.
“Let me make some calls and see what I can do. I’ll call you back as soon as I
know something.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Thanks, Deb.” I became addicted to
hearing that phrase.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Eventually, the kid went into
counseling.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">His mom called to tell me,
“He just stayed in his room the whole time he was absent. He wanted to kill
himself. I don’t know how I can thank you for letting me know about all this.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Well, if I’m ever fired, can I
count on you to organize the candlelight vigil?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This time, her laughter was real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unfortunately, instead of immediately
putting April in the hands of people who were trained to handle these
situations, as I did with Evan, I overreached and tried to do it myself. Too
late, I realized I completely out of my depth, and, even then, I persisted. I
wanted to be the one to save her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Only when her demands on my time
became intrusive did I finally ask April if I could talk to one of the school’s
social workers about her. She agreed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Things got better for a while, and
then one day she skipped math to come to my office, explaining that she
couldn’t face going to class, that she felt like she wanted to jump out of her
skin. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I was no stranger to panic attacks
and suggested she was experiencing one and that she should see a doctor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQbWm4DoAOWWOISmSG8eVlO5Fs-k6zMIjbgB39T0AxUyC6wGJpvWsifuqG7iiVubuG1dycY0kTqsr6h4yKfzlwkIrF3S0r2WdqlL57wS9z1vqQSfoKxQu77gvee6qvn4Ys0_VYtXDE5Hp/s1600/selfinjury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQbWm4DoAOWWOISmSG8eVlO5Fs-k6zMIjbgB39T0AxUyC6wGJpvWsifuqG7iiVubuG1dycY0kTqsr6h4yKfzlwkIrF3S0r2WdqlL57wS9z1vqQSfoKxQu77gvee6qvn4Ys0_VYtXDE5Hp/s200/selfinjury.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That night, April was admitted for
in-patient treatment at a mental health facility. Thus began a descent that
seemed to have no bottom. She developed anorexia and began self-mutilating. She
was medicated with anti-depressants, anti-anxieties, anti-psychotics, anti-bipolars.
She spent months in treatment facilities. Each time she was admitted, she
fought to get released, and each time she was released she longed to go back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This went on for the rest of her
junior year, her senior year, her freshman year in college. Even after I moved
away to attend graduate school, I would periodically receive e-mails and
letters from her, each a catalogue of the most recent horrors. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With time and distance, I began to recognize
my own culpability in her illness.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Riddled with guilt, I apologized to her for not getting her in touch
with professionals earlier.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She credits me with saving her
life.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I remain unconvinced.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Hubris masquerading as altruism is perhaps the
most insidious form of narcissism.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Dr. James Comer of Yale University
is famous for his assertion that no great learning can take place in the
absence of a great relationship.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Teacher
preparation programs admonish their candidates to teach the </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">whole</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> child.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even the bumper sticker and t-shirt
industries proclaim that we don’t teach [insert subject matter here], we teach
children.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">What this means in real life is
that effective teachers cannot remain ignorant of their students’ lives outside
the classroom.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Knowing the context or
cause of a child’s behavior allows you to respond to it more effectively.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The problem is that, once you know,
you can never </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">not</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> know.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And the people who become teachers tend to be
people who want to fix problems.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I mean,
it’s not called a “helping profession” for nothing.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The tricky part is determining
where the boundary between commitment and overreach lies.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I used to be the announcer for our school’s
wrestling matches and would attend the “coaches’ meeting” at the local pub afterward.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Over a beer, one of my students’ fathers
tried to ingratiate himself with me by bemoaning what a lazy student his son
was.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I couldn’t resist correcting him:
“He’s a good kid.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He’s really smart.”
Pause.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“You know, he thinks you hate
him.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The father seemed shocked, as any
decent part would be.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“No, he doesn’t.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I shrugged, “That’s what he told
me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Did my action help?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I have no idea.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Was it appropriate?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Probably not.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I saw an opportunity to give this kid a voice and jumped at it.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If the guy wouldn’t listen to his son, maybe
he’d listen to the teacher he was hitting on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">A legislator or central office
administrator reading this might attempt to “solve” the boundary problem by
creating a zero-tolerance policy for parent-teacher and student-teacher
interactions outside of school.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Such a
policy is absolutely untenable.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even if
you forego the bar, you’ll run into your kids and their families at the grocery
store, at the burger joint, in the locker room at the gym.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Some teachers are related to the parents of
their students or sing in the same church choir.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Teachers cannot simultaneously remain aloof
and get actively involved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">So, again, where do you draw the
line?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">While others may reject my answer
as irresponsible or unenforceable, I think the rightness or wrongness of your
behavior lies in its motivation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If your
endgame is the acquisition of gratitude and love from your students or their
parents, you have crossed over to the dark side.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unfortunately, as in my case, it may only be
in retrospect that you recognize your error.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-17510319829387666032017-03-31T11:42:00.000-07:002017-03-31T11:45:23.204-07:00Great Teachers are Choreographers, not Dancers<div class="MsoNormal">
My dogs know quite a few words: <i>out</i>, <i>walk</i>, <i>cookie</i>, <i>ball, </i>and <i>grandma</i> are
particular favorites. They acquired this
vocabulary through association. I held
up a biscuit and asked, “Who wants a cookie?” and, because everyone wants a
cookie, they quickly learned to associate that word with the snack they enjoyed
so much. It is important to note that the
<i>concept</i> of a cookie preceded their
acquisition of the word “cookie.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In much the same way, very young children acquire vocabulary
by pointing at things and making some sort of questioning vocalization. Parents then give them a label for the
thing. “That’s a doggie! Can you say ‘doggie’?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At age three, my nephew scored off the charts verbally in large part
because my sister and brother-in-law brought him to museums and aquariums and
gave him picture books, exposing him to myriad items for which he desired
names. He could
discern a backhoe from a bulldozer and a stegosaurus from . . . some other
dinosaur. Ask him. I’ve forgotten most of that stuff.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In school, we tend to approach vocabulary in reverse. We first offer students a new term—adjective,
velocity, transpiration—and afterwards show them examples. Without a mental model to anchor the
terminology, vocabulary has nothing to hold it in working memory. Students forget the words and what they mean. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes we give them several related terms at the same
time: conduction, convection, and radiation; comparison and contrast;
associative, distributive, and commutative.
Again, without some mental model that allows them to keep each term
separate, they conflate them. If you’d
like to see the truth of this, ask a random third grader to tell you the
difference between narrative, persuasive, and expository writing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have become convinced that a better way to introduce
content-specific vocabulary is to provide the examples first. Let students figure out what the distinguishing
characteristic is and <i>only then</i> give
them the academic language.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a recent seminar, a young teacher mentioned that her
students struggled to correctly identify common written organizational strategies:
chronological, process/sequence, etc. I
pulled together several bundles of paragraphs, each on a variety of topics but
organized the same way. Without any
preliminary instruction, I gave groups of teachers a single bundle and asked
them to figure out their commonality. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I checked in with the teacher whose classroom struggle
had prompted the activity, her group had correctly identified their paragraphs’
structure as problem-solution. She said,
“I like this so much! Instead of me
telling them what it is, it’s like I’m drawing it out of them!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I grinned for two reasons.
First, I love it when teachers see value in an activity I have offered
them. Second, she had unwittingly excavated the
etymology of the word “education,” which comes from the Latin <i>educere</i>, meaning “to draw out.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I often hear teachers lament, “Our kids don’t have any
background knowledge!” when they merely lack <i>content-specific</i> background knowledge. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Knowing this, we are probably best served by determining
what <i>general</i> knowledge can be brought
to bear on our content. Students may not
think they know anything about thermodynamics, but they can tell the difference
between a large container of water that won’t scald them and a small container
that will. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of giving them the scientific terms <i>heat</i> and <i>temperature</i> and then letting them perform the lab, why not let them
perform the lab first? Let them explain
what happened in their own words: “That big pot of water changed the
temperature more than that little one with the boiling water, ‘cuz there was
more of it, you know, so it, like, had more, I don’t know, like, power.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Power, nice! In
science, we call that ‘power’ <i>heat</i>. Why does the big pot have more <i>heat</i>?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because there’s more water in it!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Specifically, there are more water <i>molecules</i> in it. So, <i>heat</i> is the sum of all the molecules
together.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoLObULdQ_54LsWUAhQMnAfZkulMUzKC8taSk6FKA1s6_aCaCZy3aB5qCafuksO9QWEYBSDJb-Abwo67XXHA7CssxZcSQv7nx2kRYKeZcRH84ZNyjyHk-PcznSIJckdtHXhloYWLgotfX/s1600/IMG_1166%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoLObULdQ_54LsWUAhQMnAfZkulMUzKC8taSk6FKA1s6_aCaCZy3aB5qCafuksO9QWEYBSDJb-Abwo67XXHA7CssxZcSQv7nx2kRYKeZcRH84ZNyjyHk-PcznSIJckdtHXhloYWLgotfX/s320/IMG_1166%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The teacher I
mentioned earlier put together a series of activities to engage students in
recognizing text structure. In addition
to having them identify the common organization of several different
paragraphs, she created puzzles with each sentence of a paragraph on separate pieces. Students who placed the sentences in the
correct order could more quickly assemble their puzzles. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I checked in with her recently to see how her students were
handling the concept of text structure and organization. She shared, “I had one student in particular say that he finally gets relationships
between sentences.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the course of my career, there
were many days when I worked so hard in class I felt I should be wearing tap
shoes and a sparkly outfit. When the
bell rang, I was bathed in sweat and physically exhausted. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wJ73KEphfW9D2moiExPTJNqiVSOCe_eCvH-l1a5_BOgfbNw7a8hzUEwypx4BwCImYiPaQZ52wRuVnZtKiefaPkVq9nZGHlxvFPkSybkz9maG8KCE896k7FVid0VzoWPfkKJNSJSPBXCZ/s1600/choreographer+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wJ73KEphfW9D2moiExPTJNqiVSOCe_eCvH-l1a5_BOgfbNw7a8hzUEwypx4BwCImYiPaQZ52wRuVnZtKiefaPkVq9nZGHlxvFPkSybkz9maG8KCE896k7FVid0VzoWPfkKJNSJSPBXCZ/s320/choreographer+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Great
teachers are choreographers, not dancers.
You plan the moves that will bring the results you desire, but it should
be your students who execute them. It’s
a more sustainable tack for you, and it is likely to lead to more learning for
them.</div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-50943621693566374452017-03-29T06:13:00.000-07:002017-03-29T06:19:44.017-07:00Why Won't My Students Talk to Each Other?<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier this week, I observed two classes, both taught by
the same teacher, both sophomore English, both academic track. The teacher was a recent attendee at a
seminar where I had introduced a variation on the <a href="https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/bring-socratic-seminars-to-the-classroom" target="_blank">Socratic seminar </a>called
<a href="http://www.instituteofplay.org/work/projects/print-play-games-2/socratic-smackdown/" target="_blank">Socratic Smackdown (MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY!)<o:p></o:p></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first block, which ran from 7:15. until almost 9:00 a.m.,
was highly engaged, the second block not so much. Given everything we’ve seen lately
about how teenagers need more sleep, these results seem counterintuitive. If any class should be disengaged, it’s the
one that is still asleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
As a closure activity, their teacher asked for feedback on
their discussion, and several students mentioned how awkward the whole ritual
felt. When the teacher asked them to dig
deeper into the cause of this awkwardness, one young lady claimed, “We don’t
know each other!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The teacher countered that they had been together for eight
weeks, the implication being that they should know each other by now, and the
student responded, “Just because we’re in class together doesn’t mean we talk
to each other!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was immediately transported back to May 1996, the spring
of my first year of teaching. We were
discussing <i>Of Mice & Men</i>, and one
student made an excellent point to which another student said, “I agree with
the boy by the window…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was horrified.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The boy by the window?!
That’s Justin! You’ve been in
class together for eight months! How do
you not know his name?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem is real and, while we didn't create it, it is in our best interests to solve it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Difference
Between Regular and Honors<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve heard more than a few teachers claim, “I could probably
do that with my honors kids, but my regular kids just can’t handle it.” The implicit assumption here is that honors
students, by virtue of their superior intellects or work ethics, are more fitted to academic
discourse than their less academically gifted peers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d like to propose an alternative explanation. Honors students take honors classes, which
are fewer in number than the—call it academic, call it regular, call it what you will—middle track. As a result, honors students tend to be in
many more classes with the same people over the course of several years. They may not like all of their peers, but
they know what to expect from them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By contrast, average students may have a completely new set
of peers every period of every day every year, giving them limited opportunity to build relationships. Consequently, they lack the trust in each
other that allows them to share ideas.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In addition, there are very real social barriers that teachers
ignore at their own peril. As they get older, student bodies separate according
to a series of unwritten and unforgiving laws that dictate where they can and
cannot eat lunch, who they can date, whose parties they can be invited to, what
extracurricular groups they can join, and how
enthusiastically they are allowed to contribute in class.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless a teacher has only students from a single social
caste in his classroom, he will have to spend some time breaking down the
barriers between students before they will collaborate successfully. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Building Classroom
Relationships</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_61q10mcpB2-mfyYKNMr9YZ_yj8xIZCCe6a4GbfvmtUxnigeOc4u6CtGsoMBotvOgmeObisDlvmdjzZWWC18kmB8oClcX8q9gJyKp8NbS4tnCT_M67d_SLtL1QyEy98J86ztDc10EQeD/s1600/student+group+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_61q10mcpB2-mfyYKNMr9YZ_yj8xIZCCe6a4GbfvmtUxnigeOc4u6CtGsoMBotvOgmeObisDlvmdjzZWWC18kmB8oClcX8q9gJyKp8NbS4tnCT_M67d_SLtL1QyEy98J86ztDc10EQeD/s320/student+group+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<b><o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For several years, I taught a class for at-risk
seniors. One year, two young men--one
was a very Caucasian athlete, the other a very Latino gang member—nearly came
to blows a few times during class, convinced that they were mortal
enemies. I initiated a regimen of team building
and class building exercises that would enable them to learn a little low-risk
information about each other and discover some common ground. Eventually, they stumbled upon the fact that
they both liked girls and getting high. I’ll
grant you, I may have created problems for authority figures elsewhere in the
community, but, as far as my class concerned, those two were no longer the
source of any behavioral issues (and promised not to get high before or during
my class).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want students who don’t know each other to work
collaboratively, you must first help them break down those social
barricades. Assign them an activity that
requires them to find out something about each other. For example, while you take attendance, ask
each student in a small group to speak for 30 seconds on any of the following
topics:<span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>What did you do last weekend/what are your plans
for this weekend?</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?</span></li>
<li>If you had $1,000,000 but only one day to spend
it, what would you do?</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If you could talk to one of your relatives who
is no longer here, who would it be and what would you talk about?</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are a number of books with discussion prompts like
this. Ones that leap immediately to mind
are <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Questions-Conversation-Starters/dp/031024420X/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=A5FQ0SYXXCTHT44B58TZ" target="_blank">The Complete Book of Questions</a> </i>and <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Questions-Game-Life-Evelyn-McFarlane/dp/0679445358/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0679445358&pd_rd_r=SKM2GXVASRDHBYWQB6AA&pd_rd_w=nYG4w&pd_rd_wg=XcWal&psc=1&refRID=SKM2GXVASRDHBYWQB6AA" target="_blank">If . . . (Questions for the Game of Life),Volumes 1-3</a></i> . There are also quite a few websites that ask people to
choose between two unpleasant options, e.g. “Would you rather change your last
name to Hitler or give up chocolate for the rest of your life?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Realize that not all the material in these resources is necessarily
safe for school, so use some judgment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Other Activities</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A Google search using the generic term “class building
activities” yielded half a billion hits; there is no shortage of material out
there. I prefer tasks that enable the sharing
of personal information over those that merely ask students to complete a
physical challenge. Any activity that
requires a significant amount of physical contact or closeness should be viewed
with extreme skepticism, but use your own comfort level as a guide. If you wouldn’t want to participate in the
activity, don’t foist it onto your students.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Bottom Line<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do some type of team building or class building activity
three times a week—more if your students need it—and you will be amazed at the
change that occurs in their willingness to participate and to support each
other. Students may resist initially, so
I recommend that you participate in these activities and share information
about yourself. You are part of the
team, and they need to know they can trust you as much as they trust each
other.<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-83694655249386577022017-02-22T15:00:00.005-08:002017-03-13T14:02:45.258-07:00When a student dies<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A former student of mine died last week. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I realize that declaration is utterly lacking in
finesse. So was Brandy’s death. On Monday morning, she was alive, and by
Monday afternoon she wasn’t. No lead-up, no warning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The default response of almost everyone close to her has
been <i>But I just talked to her…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>yesterday, <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>this morning, <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>last night. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Like the execution of Ned Stark, the first time this
happens, we are utterly unprepared, and the feelings that arise are equally
unpredictable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When I was 17, a classmate died in a farming
accident. We learned about it on
Saturday night during a basketball game.
Friday he was at school. Saturday
afternoon he was dead. I had harbored a
bit of a crush on him and was shocked and saddened by his passing. For weeks, I would forget that he was gone
and turn toward his locker to tell him something during passing period. I’d quickly realize my mistake and look
around to make sure no one had seen me. I
have no better word to describe what I felt in those moments than jealousy. In dying, he had attained an understanding of
something that I could not comprehend, and I wanted to know what he knew. I just didn’t want to die to get it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At 38, Brandy was among the oldest of my former
students. She was smart, acerbic, prone
to sarcasm, reliable, funny. She was one
of the many kids who found a place to belong in the school’s theater
department. As costume crew chief, she was
my right hand for at least a half dozen shows.
In fact, she showed me the ropes when I was first hired. She introduced me to my first Dairy Queen
Blizzard. She also introduced me to her
older sister, who is my best friend. If for
no other reason, I am eternally in her debt for this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3aa_No3_IiBHc4jJr8SWObawpDejxemOy0Mg7h_LAI7w8BKDK82OSsFphPR1k6v3itolcUNgupcYxtb2y7axemcX4dqQgEikp76gckBzvOBLtV0GGZ_SPoK5n_9vjXTV07DeF4tKEgj1/s1600/brandy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3aa_No3_IiBHc4jJr8SWObawpDejxemOy0Mg7h_LAI7w8BKDK82OSsFphPR1k6v3itolcUNgupcYxtb2y7axemcX4dqQgEikp76gckBzvOBLtV0GGZ_SPoK5n_9vjXTV07DeF4tKEgj1/s320/brandy.jpg" width="320" /></a>Although I never discussed this with her explicitly, I
don’t imagine that high school was particularly comfortable place for
Brandy. She did not possess the currency
that is valued in high school. She was
not bubbly or athletic or cute and cuddly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And that’s what makes her death all the more heart
breaking. From my limited perspective,
it seems that it is only recently that she began to embrace all the
possibilities open to her. She had
started a new job that was both emotionally fulfilling and potentially
lucrative. She began distance running
and taking cool vacations. There was so
much she seemed poised to attempt. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I don’t know how the rumor got started that high school
is the best time of your life, but it’s time we put it to bed. There’s a reason they refer to graduation as
Commencement. When high school ends,
that’s when the good stuff begins:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The careers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The loves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The houses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The pets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The hobbies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The hair colors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There’s an S on the end of each item on that list. Do you honestly expect to want forever what
you wanted when you were 18?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Some years ago, I attended a funeral for a 21-year old
who was killed in a motorcycle accident.
The priest was given the unenviable task of imbuing this tragedy with
some meaning that might comfort this young man’s family. The refrain he kept returning to was how wonderful it would be to remain 21 forever.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The sermon came from the same well-meaning place as the
fatuous remarks with which you are inundated whenever an inexplicable tragedy
strikes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“She’s with God
now.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You know, you can still talk to her, right?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It’s all part of God’s plan for you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I reject all of these.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I have another former student, Linda, also in her
thirties, who has metastatic cancer. It
is in her brain. It is in her
spine. She has a three-year old son who has never
known his mother when she was not sick.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You cannot make me believe that God needs this woman more
than her son does.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I don’t think we are supposed to find comfort or meaning in
a young woman’s death. In fact, such
events should make us profoundly <i>un</i>comfortable. The only useful purpose they serve is to shock
us out of our complacency, to remind us that life is fragile and temporary,
that today is a gift, and tomorrow is far from guaranteed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Since being diagnosed, Linda has completed her PhD in
musicology, become a much sought-after author of concert program notes, begun a
popular and <a href="https://notanothermusichistorycliche.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">highly respected blog debunking myths about classical music,</a> and
continues to be a wife and mother. Occasionally,
she’ll post on Facebook that the chemo slowed her down that day and,
consequently, she was only able to finish <i>two</i>
of the four writing projects she wanted to get to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Let’s stop looking for meaning in death. Rather, let us allow the constant threat of
it inspire us to lead full and intentional lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-79838788394994619422017-01-20T10:50:00.000-08:002017-01-20T10:50:55.026-08:00What Exactly Does the Inauguration Have to Do with Becoming a School Principal?<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not quite sure how it happened, but somewhere along the
way people began seeking me out as a mentor.
They ask me for career advice. Me?
All the time! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not being falsely modest when I say I don’t really know
why. My own career was built on a
foundation of poorly researched choices, chutzpah, and desperation. If not for a few instances of tremendous serendipity,
I’d be living in the basement of my sister’s house and hoping to score an ACT tutoring
gig at a store front in a strip mall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seriously. I got my
first teaching job totally by accident. The
names of most of Chicago’s suburbs are compounds of a limited number of natural
phenomena. There’s <st1:city w:st="on">Forest Park</st1:city>, just west of the
city, and Park Forest to the south; Lake Forest on the north shore and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Lake</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>
to the southwest. As a city dweller who didn’t drive, I had neither reason nor
interest in learning these nuances, so I confused the names of a prestigious
north suburban school district with a slightly less glamorous one to the west. Glenbrook’s loss was Glenbard’s gain. And mine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I digress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I work with a lot of young teachers, and, I suppose because
my terminal degree is in educational administration and policy, they often ask
me for advice about becoming administrators.
First, I explain that I have little interest in either administration or
policy. My degree is a function of the department
that employed the person who was chairing my dissertation committee—another poorly
researched choice that eventually worked itself out—and that my interests lie
in teacher quality and efficacy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This rarely discourages anyone from continuing to solicit my
opinion. So here’s what I tell
them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wait five years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of you probably think that I’m alluding to the folk
wisdom that it takes five years to become a teacher, that, if expertise is in
large part a product of experience, five years is the minimum amount of
experience needed to quality as an expert. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s not why I tell them to wait.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTn6d634-SRUcz3CvI_kdV2bwP5NZ-4kzDwcchY3hpd8x1OkauRZu65E7img5cYq4OCLU7KtWVTOfQ2O9VQe-uIdzJ1yZ7H_sHxIdRN4tsvtaL7WvaZJ0k2b5pFtQrf6-Y7W6s4AmHYhg/s1600/kennedy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTn6d634-SRUcz3CvI_kdV2bwP5NZ-4kzDwcchY3hpd8x1OkauRZu65E7img5cYq4OCLU7KtWVTOfQ2O9VQe-uIdzJ1yZ7H_sHxIdRN4tsvtaL7WvaZJ0k2b5pFtQrf6-Y7W6s4AmHYhg/s320/kennedy.jpg" width="320" /></a>A good administrator has to have lived through at least one
cycle of state and national elections. You have to experience firsthand overhauling
your curriculum in an effort to comply with one administration’s policy only to
be asked by another to dismantle and rebuild it four years later. You need to feel the heartbreak that occurs
when, after buying into a paradigm shift and working for two years to
transition your practice to meet it, you are betrayed by the same people who
pitched it to you in the first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometime in the late 1990s, the state of Illinois adopted a
new certification process. Teachers had
five years to assemble evidence of their continued professional learning. Hard copies of this evidence—transcripts,
certificates, programmes, etc.—would then be submitted to the Illinois State
Board of Education where, presumably, someone’s job would be to verify that
every certified teacher in Illinois had attained the necessary number of
credits.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are approximately 130,00 teachers in Illinois. If each of them submitted only five
artifacts, the ISBE headquarters would collapse under the weight of nearly ¾ of
a million documents. Well, that’s what I
was counting on anyway. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For many of my younger colleagues (and, sadly, some of the
older ones), this process was a source of tremendous anxiety. I overheard more than a few panicked phone
calls attempting to track down a certificate of attendance for a conference they’d
attended six months earlier. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I collected nothing—just waited. I’d been around long enough to know this wasn’t
going to happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it didn’t. When the first few portfolios starting
arriving in Springfield, those tasked with implementing the policy suddenly
realized that lacked the time, the manpower, and the will to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know what replaced it. Presumably something equally superficial but
less bulky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most important jobs a principal must do is to
serve as a buffer between her faculty members and the continuous barrage of stupidity
bombarding them. A principal may not be
able to excuse teachers from external mandates, but he can help them discriminate
between tasks worth doing well and those worth doing well <i>enough</i>. Great principals
encourage their people to put their time and energies into executing policies
that are meaningful and stand a chance of sticking around. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other stuff they let them half-ass. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But until you’ve been in the classroom at
least five years, it can be hard to tell the difference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-35308730194001800202017-01-05T05:57:00.000-08:002017-01-05T05:58:30.575-08:00Pride Goeth Before a Fall (or Does it?)<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Recently, I became concerned that
my point of view as a blogger was too ill-defined. Without a unique niche, I’m just one more
self-proclaimed educational expert yammering away in cyberspace, and God knows,
we have enough of them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This concern got me to thinking about
a night fifteen or so years ago, following one of many break-ups that everyone
but me saw coming. My friend and I were
about four inches into a bottle of something brown. She looked at me, a bourbon-glazed twinkle in
her eye, and suggested that maybe God’s plan was for me to serve as a horrible
warning to others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I don’t remember much from that
evening but I remember that comment. I
like it. It gives my screw-ups
gravitas. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
If this is, in fact, my cosmic destiny, it seemed appropriate
to blog about my education-related failures.
In addition to providing some <i>schadenfreude</i>-induced laughter, I hope
some struggling teachers can take shelter in them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“See how badly I screwed up?” they
beckon. “I bet you didn’t screw up this
bad! And even if you did, look what a
great career I’ve had despite my shortcomings!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Over time, I’ve learned that the
worst case scenario rarely happens. And
when it does it’s usually not as bad as you think it will be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This prologue will precede every post in this particular series.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
I make no secret of my disdain for movies about teaching. This contempt developed over time as I came
to understand that real teaching bears little resemblance to the pabulum
peddled by Hollywood. Even documentaries
must be viewed with a generous dose of skepticism, as their version of the
truth is circumscribed by the political or ideological bias of the filmmaker. I have been unable to get all the way through
<i>Waiting for Superman</i>, frustrated as I
am by what I feel is David Guggenheim’s rather simplistic implication that
charter schools are the solution to every problem facing urban American
education. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
Back in the day, though, that film would probably have impelled me to
join a charter school network. Then I
would have sent a letter and headshot to Guggenheim in the hopes that he’d put
me in his next film. I wanted to be the
kind of teacher people made movies about.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
In fact, I had a particular scenario in mind, culled from a small volume
called <i>The First Year of Teaching: Real
World Stories from America’s Teachers</i>.
In one vignette entitled “Don’t Waste Your Time with Those Kids,” a
newbie is assigned to a class of self-described “retards” and can’t seem to
corral them. On Day #2, she reveals to
the students her own struggle with dyslexia and forbids them to label
themselves stupid. They <i>immediately</i> improve. They even coax her into drilling them in
grammar because “people still think [they’re] stupid because [they] don’t talk
right.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
The students know she is getting married over the summer, but they are
poor and can’t afford to buy her flowers. They take the initiative to solicit
donations from floral shops and funeral parlors, literally <i>filling</i> her room with flowers. The student who spearheaded the
operation tells her, “Period 2 got you roses, and Period 3 got you a corsage,
but we love you more.” She bursts into tears.
She gets married, all the kids graduate, six earn college scholarships,
and everyone lives happily ever after. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
That was the sort of first year I expected. Nothing less than slavish devotion from my
students —including but not limited to a roomful of flowers—would do. I had no reason to expect otherwise. Everything I’d ever read or seen assured me
that if I worked hard enough and cared <i>deeply</i>
enough, this would happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
On my last day of student teaching, I received numerous cards, a bouquet
of flowers, a bottle of really excellent perfume, and a necklace and earrings
set. One young lady sang “How Do I Say Good-by
to Yesterday,” reducing me to heaving sobs. Being a Super Teacher was even better than I
had hoped. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
And so <i>easy</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
I found a job
teaching English and theater in a western suburb of Chicago and fully
anticipated that, by the end of my first year, Oprah would be optioning the
rights to my life story. At 7:20 a.m. on
my first day, I went to the ladies’ room, touched up my make-up, and fluffed my
hair so that I might look perfect when, at 7:30, I positioned myself at the
podium and greeted my Senior Composition class. Around third period, with my first section of freshmen,
things began to unravel. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
I have an acting
background and an undergraduate degree in theater. As a result, I am highly sensitive to
audience reaction. I could feel that something was off. They were grinning, but
the grins didn’t seem to match the timing of the jokes. I couldn’t put my
finger on the problem and was beginning to feel uncomfortable, so I finished my
introductory shtick and suggested they talk quietly until the bell.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPGMjsHn3YSLrk-VW7GmxEqUZ1WY6vQj8yXXkyxmqAUwh2uPKB0tq0s6LBmh3aas8I9xkDgX9rOsdvlyHxK7CQFUqCOYG-oJorg4mRESe1pLliFcXd4jx0LZcobmafshmd0uhiD5c-iZE/s1600/embarrassed+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPGMjsHn3YSLrk-VW7GmxEqUZ1WY6vQj8yXXkyxmqAUwh2uPKB0tq0s6LBmh3aas8I9xkDgX9rOsdvlyHxK7CQFUqCOYG-oJorg4mRESe1pLliFcXd4jx0LZcobmafshmd0uhiD5c-iZE/s320/embarrassed+face.jpg" width="320" /></a> “Don’t you want to collect these cards?” I had passed out
index cards and asked them to write down their contact information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Oh, yeah. Pass those up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I walked along the front row collecting stacks of cards
and eventually was handed one with a piece of paper folded on top of it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
“Oh. My. God.” I
inwardly smirked. “Someone has a crush
on me already and has passed me a note?!“ With a shiver of anticipation, I unfolded the
paper and read: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
X Y Z<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
I looked down
and, sure enough, my fly was wide open. And had been since about 7:20 that
morning. It was now a little after 10.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
I quickly ran
through my options. I could burst into tears, flee the building, get in my car,
and never come back. I could find a way to make this their fault, get really
angry, and start yelling. This is how we dealt with anxiety in my family. Or I
could react the way I hoped my own teacher would react if I were sitting in one
of the little desks. I started laughing hysterically and zipped up. I didn’t even turn around. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
Given these
humble beginnings, you might expect me to surrender my Super Teacher
aspirations. Instead, that incident reinforced them. Third period was, hands down, my best class
that first year. They liked me. I did relatively little screaming at
them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
If I could turn
that sow’s ear into a silk purse what couldn’t I do? Clearly, I was destined to
be the hippest, the smartest, the bestest teacher in the history of education. The idea that my career would be anything
less than spectacular was unconscionable.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
Of course, that
was just the first day. The real
teaching had yet to begin, nor was I in any way prepared for what real teaching
entailed . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Deb
Teitelbaum, PhD is a faculty member at the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching
in Cullowhee, NC, and focuses on beginning teacher support and secondary ELA
instruction.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-75583729556437582112016-12-21T06:57:00.002-08:002019-11-21T06:28:05.826-08:00A Timely Reminder: The Holidays are not Joyful for All Your Students<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
When I posted this essay last year, I was unprepared for how widely it would be shared. Clearly, it filled a need I didn't realize was so great. As we approach the holidays, it seemed wise to bring it out of retirement for the benefit of those to whom this is new information and for those of us who sometimes forget.<br />
Sometime around
the third or fourth year of my career, I was asked to teach a course called <i>Senior English</i>. This was a semester long class for students
who needed an additional half credit of English to graduate, mostly seniors on
the five- and six-year plan. In addition
to books smarts (which some took great pains to hide) they were wiser than they should have been at that age. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Calvin wrote an essay about being stopped by the cops while carrying more than an ounce of dope. The moral
of the story, it turned out, was, “Always keep some juice in your glove
compartment in case you have to eat your $#!+.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
That was tame
compared to Betsy, who, through a series of misguided choices that snowballed, found
herself serving at the pleasure of a dope dealer boyfriend who gave her room
and board in exchange for pimping her out. And this, of course, was preferable
to life at home with her abusive father. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
And then there was
Perry. Perry’s parents were cocaine addicts. By the time he was six, he knew
how to get himself ready for school and on the bus because his parents were
incapable of doing it for him. At age 13, he found his father’s cocaine stash.
By 15, he was addicted to heroin. One thing led to another, and he found
himself facing an attempted murder rap. Now on probation and hoping simply to
be a normal teenager, he couldn’t understand how the stoners always knew to
target him: “I swear to God, Ms. T., I wasn’t at this school twenty minutes
before somebody asked me if I wanted to get high.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
In January, after
the kids returned from winter break, Perry began falling asleep in class, not
doing his homework. I feared he had begun using again and kept him after the
bell one day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“What’s going on,
dude?” I chirped, trying not to sound judgmental.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“I’m sorry. My
mom’s boyfriend tried to pick a fight with me over break. I think he wants to
get my probation violated. So I’m living with my brother in the city.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Perry was taking a
commuter train from Chicago to the western suburbs, a trip that required him to
get up at four in the morning. He wasn’t using; he was just exhausted from the
effort of trying to be a normal kid. In mid-explanation, he grinned and said,
“See what my girlfriend got me for Christmas?” and held up his arm to show me
his watch. The metal band hung nearly an inch slack on his too slender wrist,
but he glowed with pride.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“Wow—I think she
kinda likes you!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
He chuckled shyly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“Are you going to
be doing that commute for the rest of the year?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“I don’t know. I’m
trying to get enrolled in Gordon Tech.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“Okay, well, keep
me in the loop, okay?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
What else could I
say? Perry probably would have desired it otherwise, but circumstances had
rendered my class a very low priority. I
let him sleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
That same January,
three different students told me tales of constructive eviction from their own
homes. I had grown accustomed to disdaining stepfathers and mothers’
boyfriends. Not until this time did I begin to blame the mothers themselves. With
no children of my own, I tried very hard not to judge the parenting of the
adults in my students’ lives. Intuitively, though, I knew that while I had
often accepted the company of some fairly worthless men, I had yet to meet the
man for whom I would sell out my own flesh and blood. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I
share all this as a public service announcement. Both new and experienced teachers may benefit
from being reminded that some of our students have spectacularly bad parents. If your child has asthma, you should probably
forbid smoking in your home. If you have
young children who should be asleep by nine, the late-night partying needs to
take place somewhere else. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
At worst, many of
our students spend the so-called holidays with people who should not be allowed to own a pet, much less raise a
child. The TS in PTSD stands for traumatic
stress, and it doesn't just affect soldiers. It can result from being beaten by someone three times your size or
threatened with homelessness. Under
chronic stress, the brain has two options.
It can <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">completely </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">shut down, resulting in the student who will not respond, who shrugs off our attempts at communication. Or it can remain perpetually vigilant. These
are the students are always angry, ready to fight you or their peers or the
cops or whomever they perceive as a threat. </span><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
This winter,
please recognize that some of your students may have spent two weeks in what amounts to a battle zone. Don’t be surprised when
they manifest bad behavior upon their return to your classroom. And try not to compound the problem by being harsh with them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
No matter how unreasonable their behavior seems to you, it makes sense to them. You don’t need to know the specifics of their
situation to give your kids the benefit of the doubt, to remind yourself that
no child wakes up in the morning and asks, “How can I screw up my life today?” Make an effort to be the calm, trustworthy, reliable
adult they absolutely need at this time. <o:p></o:p>As Eric Jensen wrote, “If yelling worked, the kids from the worst families would be the best behaved.”<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdefN2b_TKCHNDhk_boqBvPnbRAZZLMAg2Vsu-Yki0JBRHcxvvCU0h1rIiiZMyOL2RN37tv7hVZl00-mtMHzC3b50kdLkYviCRR3iIHHg6x8cLInzCACdo5WZkgMRfhY1MQx38TYOKHX2/s1600/angry+child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdefN2b_TKCHNDhk_boqBvPnbRAZZLMAg2Vsu-Yki0JBRHcxvvCU0h1rIiiZMyOL2RN37tv7hVZl00-mtMHzC3b50kdLkYviCRR3iIHHg6x8cLInzCACdo5WZkgMRfhY1MQx38TYOKHX2/s200/angry+child.jpg" width="200" /></a>One more thing I think needs to be stated explicitly, although I wish it didn't: all the students I wrote about here were white. No race or ethnicity has a monopoly on dysfunction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Here’s hoping 2018 is a better year in every way!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Deb Teitelbaum, PhD, is the author of <i>Shut up! A Quick & Dirty Guide to Decreasing Teacher Talk and Increasing Student Talk in the Classroom</i>, available on Amazon. She currently teaches English in an alternative high school in rural North Carolina. You can find her on Twitter @debteitelbaum, Youtube, and her Facebook page, <i>Teaching Up! </i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
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<br />Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-83485393942520150162016-10-11T07:04:00.001-07:002016-10-11T07:04:44.849-07:00What if I told you there were no U.S. schools?<div class="MsoNormal">
Among the sticks used to beat teachers in this country is
the perception that U.S. students are less educated than their international peers. Those who make this claim usually cite the findings
of large international assessments, such as the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/timss/pdf/naep_timss_pisa_comp.pdf" target="_blank">TIMSS or PISA</a> studies, that
show the mean score of American students well below those of other
industrialized nations. Here’s the
problem, though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From an instructional standpoint, there are no <i>U.S.</i> schools. There are no <i>American</i> students.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Whaaat?!” I hear you
cry. “Of course we have U.S. schools.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, we don’t. We have
a <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/gtep/gtep2012.pdf" target="_blank">Department of Education</a>—a fairly recent addition to the Presidential cabinet. With the smallest staff but third largest
budget of any cabinet-level department, it is empowered to lead the dialogue
about education and disperse funds for various programs and grants. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, you might be thinking, “Doesn’t receipt of those funds entail
some sort of compliance measure or attainment of some standard?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the answer is, “Mmm...meh.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s take a recent and well-publicized example, the <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html" target="_blank">Race tothe Top</a> program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Among the stipulations attached to the
receipt of these funds were the adoption of common standards and the use of high
quality common assessments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Had these stipulations been enacted, we might be on the road
to having U.S. schools. Instead, they
became plot devices in a political drama that pit the liberal/tyrannical Obama administration
against states with conservative/freedom-loving legislatures. Those states voted essentially to renege
on the terms of the deal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of the decisions about the enactment of teaching and learning are made
at the state or district level. That is
why, in some states, science teachers must present the argument for intelligent
design along with evolution or why other states use textbooks that refer to
African slaves as imported workers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The difference between the states becomes unmistakable when
their international achievement scores are disaggregated and each state’s results
are presented separately.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo4GoaXxVzDuRilsbpHr16uhia6vuzk1qmwDhTHNzMpbgTILRZTJE5rc8BharmiFHhP-tECFcZ0omDtfOPtJiJk_4pluaKRCY5M1YyF3zcPUPeZOaZ7jbg3OH4_oKOxJTR-ZPJP5ax_B6/s1600/scores.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo4GoaXxVzDuRilsbpHr16uhia6vuzk1qmwDhTHNzMpbgTILRZTJE5rc8BharmiFHhP-tECFcZ0omDtfOPtJiJk_4pluaKRCY5M1YyF3zcPUPeZOaZ7jbg3OH4_oKOxJTR-ZPJP5ax_B6/s320/scores.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The graphic seen here
is taken from <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/studies/pdf/2013460.pdf" target="_blank">U.S States in a GlobalContext: Results from the 2011 NAEP-TIMMS Linking Study. </a> It reveals that in eighth grade mathematics, Massachusetts
students, on average, are outscored <i>only</i>
by students from South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also noteworthy is the success of many states in comparison to
Finland. Until this three-ring circus that
constitutes our Presidential election eclipsed everything else, I couldn’t pull
up my Facebook feed without reading about the idyll that is is Finnish
education. According to the NAEP-TIMSS
data, though, more than half of the states in this country, including several
of the most populous, outscore Finnish students in math at the eighth grade
level.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I know that test scores do not provide a complete
picture of a school system. However, test
scores are the preferred metric of those who criticize “American” schools. By and large, these are the same people who shriek,
“Government overreach!!” in response to any effort to ensure that students in
one state receive the same quality of education as students in another. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This year will mark my 21<sup>st</sup> as an educator, and I
am officially tired of defending my profession.
Alexis de Toqueville asserted that, in a democracy, people get the
government they deserve. Perhaps in a
confederation of quasi-independent states, they get the education systems they
deserve as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-17745641102611416452016-08-22T08:56:00.000-07:002016-08-22T09:02:41.699-07:00You may have rigorous expectations, but do your students?<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been sweating over the agenda for a workshop on
teaching English II—sophomore English for you civilians. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz58JjMPEekwJeuSi_gDN1EMQch0L6WmggqQF8AkGD8IMvsb_yZ6tLkeO0EppX_qhXgvMThxnDNZuRTdozlrTjfCmLAPvaBFeOyxwDRTebtnsYZkTKnlkKz9FmLywL2evnk06tTVEp5uM3/s1600/Rigorous-Reading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz58JjMPEekwJeuSi_gDN1EMQch0L6WmggqQF8AkGD8IMvsb_yZ6tLkeO0EppX_qhXgvMThxnDNZuRTdozlrTjfCmLAPvaBFeOyxwDRTebtnsYZkTKnlkKz9FmLywL2evnk06tTVEp5uM3/s200/Rigorous-Reading.jpg" width="161" /></a>I’ve read Fisher & Frey’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rigorous-Reading-Comprehending-Complex-Literacy/dp/1452268134/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471880609&sr=1-1&keywords=rigorous+reading" target="_blank"><i>Rigorous Reading.</i> </a> Twice. I’m
going to have the teachers practice creating all six levels of text-dependent
questions. I’ve got a great heuristic device
for analyzing poetry. I’ve got another
for analyzing character<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8944544954802124563#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For our opening activity, I’m going to ask them to deconstruct
the end-of-course test using an activity called <a href="http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/list_group_label" target="_blank">List-Group-Label</a>, once again
tapping my current favorite professional book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Making-Thinking-Visible-Understanding-Independence/dp/047091551X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471880650&sr=1-1&keywords=making+thinking+visible" target="_blank">Making Thinking Visible</a></i>. I
want the teachers to see that higher order thinking skills are not antithetical
to the test. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BCwc2sInIn048tSy-wlaCN7WHMD_FQgUQX7qmaJ0amY1KBu-1MG9s3-GgH9NA_x4pobtYnTC2iOIKT6r6O5nC_gigUFob5Tg4XzYkNnkgTumzbTdY_opm3QU40FyYI2q4nsBdIc_ahDE/s1600/floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BCwc2sInIn048tSy-wlaCN7WHMD_FQgUQX7qmaJ0amY1KBu-1MG9s3-GgH9NA_x4pobtYnTC2iOIKT6r6O5nC_gigUFob5Tg4XzYkNnkgTumzbTdY_opm3QU40FyYI2q4nsBdIc_ahDE/s200/floor.jpg" width="200" /></a>To drive this point home, I even selected the wood floor
background for my PowerPoint slides. It’s
visual metaphor: the EOC represents the floor, the least our students should be
able to do. If we teach to the ceiling,
the floor will take care of itself.
Clever. I know, right? </div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So why am I sweating?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They say that nothing is idiot-proof to a sufficiently
motivated idiot.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I taught high school English for eleven years, and I was
clever even then. I had nifty heuristic
devices and graphic organizers and catchy expressions. And they were all very effective…for the students
who gave a damn. Nothing is student-proof
to a sufficiently apathetic student.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
When I was a student, I didn’t care about math. Despite that fact, I did fairly well in it
because I could plug-and-chug. Teach me
the algorithm, and I’ll know when I have the right answer. I was far less successful in any math class where
I had to figure out which algorithm to use or—God forbid—create my own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Close reading, like theoretical mathematics, is not merely
an intellectual act. It is a
manifestation of the desire to understand.
Before students can successfully read between the lines, they must believe
that there’s something worth finding there.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am an ethical person.
I no longer provide after-school professional development because it
doesn’t work and, frankly, it’s inhumane.
I need a minimum of three hours and teachers who are not already
exhausted. It is not enough for me to
present the material; I want teachers to use it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the first time since arriving at my current employer, I’m concerned
that teachers may not be able to implement what I give them. I can’t in good conscience craft a
presentation on how to effectively teach English II without including some
instruction on how to build the will of the students to engage with the material. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, to be quite honest, I'm not sure I know how to do that. I'm not sure I ever did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I'll keep you posted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8944544954802124563#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Big ups to Denise Sawyer of Lee Early College in Lee County, NC, by the way,
for her assistance in pulling these materials together.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-71127181338952553742016-08-09T08:38:00.000-07:002016-08-09T08:38:09.700-07:00What if there's no prior knowledge to activate<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> Activating students’
prior knowledge</i> is one of those edu-speak phrases so often repeated that it
has in many ways lost all meaning and functions only as a square on satirical faculty
meeting <a href="http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/04/04/the-official-faculty-meeting-bingo-card" target="_blank">bingo </a>cards.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The intention is good. New information can be more readily understood
and remembered if it can be assimilated with material that already resides in
long-term memory. For example, if I
needed directions to somewhere in downtown Durham, NC, I would ask where it was
in relation to <a href="http://www.fullsteam.ag/" target="_blank">Fullsteam Brewery</a>. I have a very clear mental image of that area
and can easily build onto it, despite my nearly tragic lack of directional
sense. I once missed the entire state of
Virginia. True story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Unfortunately, the places with
which I am that familiar are very few, and my map reading skills are purely
theoretical. When I first moved to
Athens, GA, from Chicago, I needed to buy a shower curtain, so I called the
local Target store and asked for directions. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The clerk asked, “Do you know
where the mall is?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I said, “No.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
She tried again, “Do you know…” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I said, “Let me save you some
time. I’ve lived here about sixteen
minutes. I don’t know where anything is.” We eventually worked it out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The prior knowledge activation
technique that I hear used most often is to ask students, “What do you know
about ______?” And t<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">he problem is that many of our
students don’t know anything about the topic.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Asking them, “What do you know about Ancient Egypt?” is analogous to
asking me where the mall is.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Actually, it’s worse. I absolutely knew that I had <i>no idea</i> where the mall was. Our kids often think they know things when in
fact they don’t or the things they know are complete fiction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
According
to <a href="https://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/secondary/math/download/file/How%20the%20Brain%20Learns%20by%20David%20Sousa.pdf" target="_blank">Dr. David Sousa, author of How theBrain Learns among other titles, we tend to remember best the first and last things</a> presented to us in a learning session. That means students need to receive only correct
information initially. The use of the
above technique or the much-beloved <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/chart-a-30226.html" target="_blank">KWL </a>chart may explain why students give those same wrong answers on the end-of-unit
test, despite weeks of instruction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkrKwykmjjsx_W2EEv06mIfI0FdgczKANgDIvYAjoLAgD_XB_HOV41-XOr96nWm1OaYokNLLlvotueIqrjxwhAUKSjeOWsii9D5z4nPSIDi80_cCHIyhhhCHyt1v8Ott24lZR4-lwrekx/s1600/anubis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkrKwykmjjsx_W2EEv06mIfI0FdgczKANgDIvYAjoLAgD_XB_HOV41-XOr96nWm1OaYokNLLlvotueIqrjxwhAUKSjeOWsii9D5z4nPSIDi80_cCHIyhhhCHyt1v8Ott24lZR4-lwrekx/s1600/anubis.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--> It
may be more useful to plan your lessons with an eye toward creating a schema,
as opposed to activating prior knowledge.
Consider, for example, Ancient Egypt.
Rather than asking students what they know, present them with an image
like this one. Better yet—give them an
assortment of images. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Now ask them simply to observe: “What
do you see?” This can be done individually, in small groups, or as a whole
class. Make certain to limit students’
contributions at this point to what is objectively present in the image. No interpretations or value judgments just
yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
When students have exhausted
their observations, ask them, “Based on what you see, what do you think is
going on?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Finally, ask students to consider
what questions persist for them. “What
are you still wondering about?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This activity, called
See-Think-Wonder, is taken from the superb book </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Making-Thinking-Visible-Understanding-Independence/dp/047091551X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470753371&sr=1-1&keywords=making+thinking+visible">Making
Thinking Visible</a></i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">, I like that it allows students to craft an accurate mental framework on which to attach the material they will be studying. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Later in the unit, the teacher can refer back to the images rather than spending a great deal of time explaining a concept.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> Because the students were allowed to ponder the images for a considerable amount of time, they are apt to be remembered and serve as useful shorthand. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Perhaps more importantly, it presents academic material as a puzzle to be
solved.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Cognitive psychologist Dan
Willingham, author of </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Why Don’t Students
Like School?</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">, explains that people like puzzles and will keep at them
provided they believe they have a reasonable chance of success. If you have
ever persisted at a difficult crossword or Sudoku, you know this is true.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-43894476377561969992016-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:002016-02-03T09:30:52.909-08:00Teachers of Teachers are Teachers<div class="MsoNormal">
Around October of my first year of teaching, I experienced an
overwhelming depression brought on by what seemed the inescapable truth that my
work simply did not matter. My students
would succeed or fail despite my efforts.
New teachers typically cite this belief as their primary reason for
leaving the profession.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Déjà vu struck last week.
I left work Friday afternoon convinced that the individuals under my
tutelage would flourish or founder despite my efforts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am no longer a classroom teacher. Instead, I provide professional development
programs for P-12 teachers. Sometimes
these programs take the form of weeklong workshops. Occasionally, they look like the more typical
“drive-by” PD— a few hours after school or on an early release day. Most recently, I’ve been helping individual
schools identify their instructional challenges and then tailoring PD to those
needs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Twenty years in education, nearly half of it with adult
learners, has led me to the conviction that there is no such thing as Adult
Learning Theory. While adult brains may have
better impulse control and somewhat longer attention spans, they also have much
more deeply ingrained habits of mind than children. Encouraging a new way of thinking about a
difficult topic is exactly as difficult in adults as it is in children—more so
if you first have to supplant an old way of thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I begin most workshops with an injunction against blaming
the students. To do so is to accept an
external locus of control, to concede that nothing in your classroom is in your
power.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I struggled with my frustration with the
lack of progress I was seeing in the teachers I work with, I returned to this
idea. If my students weren’t making sufficient
progress, I would change my teaching practices to address that. What, then, was I doing wrong as an educator
that was preventing my teachers from progressing? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When teaching a new and sophisticated concept to children or
adolescents, I know I must provide multiple opportunities for them to engage
with the material before they will feel confident in their understanding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, why would I expect an adult to make the shift from teacher-centered
to student-centered instruction based on a single modeled lesson?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When teaching complex processes to children and adolescents,
I break it down into discreet steps and teach each explicitly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why, then, should I be surprised that the teachers I work
with didn’t do any of the things that must precede a student-centered classroom,
things I not only had not taught but had not even identified?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When working with children and adolescents, especially those
with troubled academic pasts, no learning will occur until you establish a
mutually respectful and caring relationship with each student. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My group e-mails weren’t doing the trick? Shocking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went back in on Tuesday with a renewed internal locus of
control: what can<i> I</i> do differently to
help these educators be more effective?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat in on a first grade reading class and saw that, although
most of the students were eager to participate, the teacher was calling on
only one student at a time. As a result,
students were either shouting out or checking out. Both problems could be remedied if the
teacher used more student-to-student interactions, but the children didn’t know
how to engage in an academic conversation.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With her blessing, I’ll be modeling that skill both for her
benefit and theirs on Thursday. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Discreet steps.
Multiple exposures. Personal relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll let you know how it goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-16099726272897186092016-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:002016-01-27T14:43:20.652-08:00I Don't Need a Buddy--I Need You to Do Your Job Better!<div class="MsoNormal">
A friend once asked me whether New Yorkers were as rude as
everyone said. I explained that in my experience New
Yorkers were not necessarily rude. They just didn't go to any great lengths to make you feel good about yourself. To illustrate the point, I described wandering
around Greenwich Village with a UNC classmate one spring break, looking for a place to
have dinner. I ducked my head into a
shop and asked the woman running the place, “Could you point me to Little
Italy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without breaking eye contact or uttering a word, she
extended her left arm and pointed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No, seriously,” I prodded.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Seriously,” she insisted.
“Keep walking in that direction and you’ll run right into it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She was right. She
was tremendously helpful, just not very friendly. But here’s the thing. At that moment, I didn’t need a friend. I was already with a friend. And my friend and I were really hungry. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a woman who works in education and lives in the south, more
and more, I find myself wishing for a little more of that businesslike efficiency
and a little less flaccid friendliness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Efficient: Calling <u>one</u> teacher into your office and
saying, “The last time we met, I asked you to get your lesson plans to me by
3:00 pm on Fridays, and you haven’t been doing that. If you miss another deadline, I will have to
reprimand you formally. ”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flaccid: Calling the
entire faculty into a meeting and explaining, “Some of you haven’t been getting
your lesson plans in on time. We really
need you to do that. Okay?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Efficient: Encouraging—nay, demanding—that employees interact
with each other as adults, that they stop gossiping and take their complaints
to the source of the complaint, not to you.
When Employee X comes to your office and says, “Employee Y hurt my
feelings yesterday,” your response is, “I think you should talk to Employee Y
about that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flaccid: Enabling behavior from adults that you would not
tolerate in children. When Employee X
comes to your office and says, “Employee Y hurt my feelings yesterday,” your
default is, “I’ll talk to her. Okay?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That word—okay?—like you’re asking permission to lead!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wonder sometimes if part of the reason little ever changes
in education is that we’re all so damn busy trying not to hurt anyone’s
feelings. So we allow incompetent people
to serve on essential committees because we don’t want them to feel left
out. And we neglect to document
behaviors because it would make everyone uncomfortable. And we pretend we don’t see bad teaching or abusive administrators. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why?!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because someone might get mad? Or get their feelings hurt? Or not feel affirmed and fuzzy?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps my upbringing was too no-nonsense but it seems to me
that people’s self-esteem should result from their having done something
worthwhile, not because everyone else is in a conspiracy to protect them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismmaTTiisCJ46_1L4dMqeJnzjuv5uxXL6DRUNT-Y5Ac6qZav7X4ihyphenhyphenmBJOqy4W4GaLmo2tdhlpzeg73paKxWktD7ON1Hn30eKzm0AvzJNcetvtfQug0fWI2RBAyUWWw4gQPyu9RbdGypi/s1600/kimmy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismmaTTiisCJ46_1L4dMqeJnzjuv5uxXL6DRUNT-Y5Ac6qZav7X4ihyphenhyphenmBJOqy4W4GaLmo2tdhlpzeg73paKxWktD7ON1Hn30eKzm0AvzJNcetvtfQug0fWI2RBAyUWWw4gQPyu9RbdGypi/s200/kimmy.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the pilot episode of <i>The
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt</i>, Matt Lauer asks one of the rescued girls how she
ended up a victim of kidnapping and, presumably, rape. She explains, “I didn’t want to be rude so…
here we are.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not suggesting we stop being kind to each other or that
we take no notice of our colleagues’ feelings.
On the other hand, the behaviors I’m describing are not kindnesses. They
are duplicitous, cowardly, and, frankly, an abdication of our responsibility to
the children we’re supposed to be teaching.
It’s certainly not kind to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-4171498861650496332016-01-16T11:22:00.000-08:002016-01-16T11:23:10.870-08:00Making a Murderer: How Did So Many People Miss the Point?<div class="MsoNormal">
Typically, I blog on education-related topics, but today I’ll
be shifting gears a bit. Like almost
everyone in the county, the Netflix series <i>Making
a Murderer</i> consumed a significant chunk of my time recently. Of all the things that appalled me about the documentary,
what I found particularly infuriating was the amount of activity it engendered
in the snarkosphere. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I read several blog posts that I suppose were intended as
observational humor about such banalities as how unattractive Dolores Avery is,
how unfashionable her clothing was, how moronic her phone conversations with
Steven were. And the more I read, the more
I seethed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s be clear. The
Avery family is white trash. They are
poor. They are uneducated. They are physically unattractive. They’re the kind of folks who think nothing of
tossing a tire on a bonfire. You would not want them as neighbors. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyrRmUlUYweUKr1JDtemwTA-JVIJuUsP0FW844d58xrsDQRVZWTqKKwkSQi9lLMYpJhT_xLuyakm-1sfdN4FLY3lId87wkx6VX8fwP6zapVlgKJ6UQo0ksnT67-pjU-EP2wJ43Fy1PLy0/s1600/duck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyrRmUlUYweUKr1JDtemwTA-JVIJuUsP0FW844d58xrsDQRVZWTqKKwkSQi9lLMYpJhT_xLuyakm-1sfdN4FLY3lId87wkx6VX8fwP6zapVlgKJ6UQo0ksnT67-pjU-EP2wJ43Fy1PLy0/s200/duck.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlALBfNxIbUSloZ0bPsc3ImBwgu-fzM8fohVROIg-6GmVyjCdvdCLQX-313PMfDLKkWXmzmNJbKPAZ7dSWmk4Zmvl-xOUR457eXe504-lUjOcvoBbUtuC1UD5Eld4O2gQ2Dya0_BExbSk4/s1600/sons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlALBfNxIbUSloZ0bPsc3ImBwgu-fzM8fohVROIg-6GmVyjCdvdCLQX-313PMfDLKkWXmzmNJbKPAZ7dSWmk4Zmvl-xOUR457eXe504-lUjOcvoBbUtuC1UD5Eld4O2gQ2Dya0_BExbSk4/s200/sons.jpg" width="200" /></a>They’re not clever and cuddly white trash, like the gang on <i>Duck Dynasty</i>. And they’re not sexy, dangerous white trash,
like <i>The Sons of Anarchy</i>. They are reality trash, not reality TV trash.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s kind of the point.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Civil rights are not the sole province attractive, educated
people. You don’t even have to be a
particularly nice person to have civil rights.
They are not something you earn; they are simply something you <i>have</i>.
That’s why they’re called “rights” and not “privileges.” The Constitution exists to protect everyone’s
civil rights, even those of the trashy and ignorant. In fact, I would hazard
that the trashy and ignorant need the Constitution more; the wealthy and the
educated know how to advocate for themselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you watched all ten episodes of <i>Making a Murderer</i> and failed to absorb that, you are part of what
is wrong with our justice system.<o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-81208573329420860622016-01-05T08:42:00.000-08:002016-01-05T08:42:15.051-08:00Ask This, Not That<div class="MsoNormal">
As 2016 begins, many of you may have resolved to eat
healthier or exercise more. My Facebook
feed is plastered with recipes for things like Swiss chard wraps and fat-free, dairy-free oatmeal
cookies.<a href="file:///C:/Users/NCCAT/Documents/Tumblr%20posts/The%20problem%20you%20see%20is%20very%20often%20NOT%20the%20problem.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> A particularly popular phenomenon at this
time of year is <i>Eat This, Not That</i>, a
web presence that shows people how to swap calorie dense foods for lower
calorie “equivalents.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this same vein, I decided to create a post for teachers
who have resolved to get their classrooms in shape this second
semester. Very often, the problem you’re
trying to correct is actually a symptom of a more important problem that you
may not have even considered. So, ask this, not that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Don’t ask, “How I can
raise homework completion rates?”</b> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ask instead:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why do I assign homework?
If I took out their homework grades, would some of my failing students
be passing? Do I give my students timely and meaningful feedback on their
homework, or do I just collect it and pass it back periodically? Would I want
to do this homework if I were one of my students? Could I get better results if I had them do
the homework in class and the classwork at home (flipped instruction)? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Don’t ask, “How can I
get my students to follow directions?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ask instead:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do I wait until all my students are looking at and listening
to me before I deliver instructions? Do
I give instructions while simultaneously passing out papers or checking
attendance? If I’m not paying attention
to myself, why would the kids pay attention to me? Do I give lengthy instructions with multiple
steps? Do I craft my instructions with
concision and precision? Do I explicitly check for understanding when I’ve
finished my instructions, or do I just ask, “Got it?” and move on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Don’t ask, “What
behavior modification system can I implement so my students stay on-task?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ask instead:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do my students understand what they’re supposed to learn
from this work? Will they know when they
have learned it? Is this work
sufficiently challenging? Is it too
challenging? Is there a real upside to
finishing the work on time or a downside to not finishing? Would I want to do
this work if I were one of my students?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may not like the answers to a lot of these questions. The good news, though, is that if the problem lies with you, so does the solution.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy New Year, everyone!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And remember—breathe in, then out. Repeat as necessary.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Deb<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/NCCAT/Documents/Tumblr%20posts/The%20problem%20you%20see%20is%20very%20often%20NOT%20the%20problem.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
I made this recipe, and the cookies were absolutely dreadful! Just sayin’.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-27848440515267764182015-09-04T10:32:00.000-07:002015-09-04T10:32:15.130-07:00Some Possibly Uncomfortable Truths About Cooperative Learning<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week, I conferred with a new teacher who was struggling
to manage the behavior of her class of fourth graders. For a variety of reasons, these children have
not yet developed the ability to self-regulate, so, when released from direct
instruction, their immediate impulse is to <i>flee</i>
from the assigned task to anything else.
This impulse was aided by the fact that the teacher had placed their
desks in clusters of five.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I suggested that cooperative groups might not be the
most productive arrangement for her students, she looked shocked—for about a
second—then audibly exhaled and said, “Thank you!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For some time now, teachers have been served a pretty steady
diet of cooperative learning Kool-aid, and I feel it necessary to clear up some
misconceptions. Lest anyone think I’m simply
a curmudgeon with a fetish for desks in rows, let the record state that, for five
years, I served as a trainer in Kagan-style cooperative learning for my school
district. I believe in the value of
effective cooperative grouping. The
operative word being “effective.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Truth #1: Sitting
together does not necessarily lead to working together. </b> In my observations, the most common scenario I witness is the teacher’s
request that students “work together to finish this problem/ worksheet/
paragraph/ etc. In most classrooms, what
happens next is that a high-achieving, grades-oriented student in each group takes
over the task. I was this child (I am
this adult). This student will not risk allowing
others to contribute, and those others are more than happy to surrender to the
grade-grubber’s superior will. In the
absence of a high-achieving, grades-oriented group member, students will engage
in a dizzying number of stall tactics that may include but are not limited to sharpening
pencils, flipping pages randomly and/or accidentally dropping the book several
times, asking to go the bathroom, requesting clarification of the task (this
after 10 or 15 minutes have elapsed), and conversing on topics of greater
personal relevance, interest, and facility.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Truth #2: Just because
students are engaged does not mean they are learning.</b> That said, it is important to recognize that when
students are <i>not</i> engaged, they’re <i>definitely</i> not learning. However, teachers must consider whether and how
collaboration contributes to learning goals.
Often the answer is “not at all.”
Students may enjoy the opportunity to talk to each other while working,
but unless this talk is focused on building content knowledge or skill it is
not helping them academically. Yes, yes!
Some students need to build social skills, but simply placing four kids in a
group will not make that happen any more than placing four cats in a bag will. My experience is that the students who most
need help with social skills either shut down or become hostile when forced to
work together. Most groups—whether children
or adults—require a protocol of some kind to enable them to distribute responsibilities
equally.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Truth #3: The “real
world” analogy we keep using to justify group projects is completely specious. </b>My significant other is the director of a
team of software engineers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">His team is made up of individuals hired
specifically for their skill in writing code. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The team knows he is in charge. He has more experience and holds
institutional authority over them. As
their director, he can request status reports to keep track of how the work is
progressing, reprimand any team member whose work is lackluster, and recommend
the firing of team members who consistently fail to perform. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Tasks are assigned to take advantage of team
members’ strengths. If they want to
shore up their weaknesses, they do so on their own time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In the end, the only thing that matters is that
the product is completed on time and according to client specifications. </span></li>
</ul>
Contrast those givens with the
typical school project group.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Because the material is new, by
definition, no one is an expert. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Likewise, no one in in charge. Even groups that are assigned a team captain
succumb to the realities of adolescent social dynamics. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The goal of school activities is to help
students get better at what they do not already know how to do. If the activities tap only students’
strengths, they will not lead to learning.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The learning process should be more important
than the product. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, I realize it is a poor leader who tears ideas down without providing
alternatives. But it's Friday, and I'm tired. I’ll get to that in my
next post.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember to breathe in and out (repeat as necessary),<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Deb <o:p></o:p></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-49367579155053875452015-09-02T10:14:00.002-07:002015-09-02T10:14:24.426-07:00You are the Grown-up<div class="MsoNormal">
During a recent classroom observation, I experience
particular annoyance with a group of students who seemed <i>ostentatiously</i> inattentive during instruction. At very long last, the teacher gently
requested that they stop talking while she was talking. Unsurprisingly, the request was not honored.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In our post-observation conference, I asked her, “Did you
notice they were talking before you said anything to them?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“A little bit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why didn’t you say something the first time?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t want to be mean!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I asked her, “If you were a parent, and your three-year old
wanted to switch to an all-candy diet, would it be mean to refuse?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why not?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because it’s not good for them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Right. And it’s not
good for your kids if they don’t listen while you teach.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She thought about it, nodded, and then admitted, “I guess I’m
just afraid of what they might do if I try to make them behave.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an attempt to establish some common ground, I shared with
her that in the early years of my teaching career, I was often intimidated by
the more confident students. They
triggered a lot of old anxieties from my own high school career. I confessed to Kiley, “I wasn’t very popular
in high school.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I was bullied in high school.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And there it was, the source of the problem. Kiley was regressing in her own classroom,
turning back into the shy, frightened 14-year old who was taunted by her classmates. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many of us go into the profession without realizing how much
adolescent baggage we carry with us. And
if we don’t make ourselves aware of how our past impinges on our present, we
can buy ourselves all manner of trouble.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For myself, teaching was a way to rewrite my teenage
experience and cast myself as one of the popular kids. The high-water mark of my career had to be
the day I walked past a few members of the men’s chorus, and they spontaneously
broke into a four-part harmony rendition of <i>Oh,
Teitelbaum!</i> If forced to choose, I
suppose I’d rather be respected than liked, but I <i>liked</i> being liked. And that
led me to make choices that were very much not in my students’ best interests.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When working with beginning teachers, I counsel that most
behavioral problems stem from a single issue: the students' lack of respect for
them. “You are the grown-up now!” I
explain. “Even if you don’t feel like a
grown-up—<i>especially</i> if you don’t feel
like a grown-up—you need to fake it until you do. Put your hair in a bun, slip on a pair of
high heels, and stand in front of the mirror saying ‘I am the grown-up. I am the grown-up. This is what I look like when I say, “I am
the grown-up,!”’” Of course, it is difficult to be a successful grown-up if you’re
still fighting adolescent wars. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first step in any recovery program is to acknowledge you
have a problem. To do that, you have to
become aware of the problem. I think it would be good practice for every young middle and high school teacher to write their autobiographies, giving
particular attention to those aspects of their educational experiences that
were not pleasant, not successful. In
this way, we can begin to identify hot buttons and subjectivities that might
otherwise remain shadowed, subverting our best efforts to make school better
for those we teach than it was for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember to breathe in and out, (repeat as necessary)--</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Deb</div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-10467153154244770742013-12-22T07:39:00.001-08:002013-12-22T07:45:25.803-08:00For K-12 Educators Thinking About Gettting a Doctorate . . . Recently, a number of my friends and colleagues have either mentioned their intention to pursue a terminal degree or have asked my opinion about such pursuits. It seemed appropriate and useful to take a moment to offer my, albeit limited, perspective on the issue. I made several mistakes and would like to do what I can to save you from the more heinous of them.<br />
<br />
<strong>#1: Determine if the degree is necessary for what you want to do</strong><br />
I thought I wanted to be a faculty member in a teacher preparation program, and every posting for these positions required an "earned doctorate." What I didn't realize is that being a college faculty member is not necessarily the same as being a teacher of teachers. Academia lives largely in the world of theory, and my interests were specific: this teacher with this student at this time. What I really wanted to be was an instructional coach. I might have been able to pursue that career path without the degree.<br />
<br />
<strong>#2: Know the difference between a PhD and an EdD</strong><br />
Speaking very generally, an EdD is a practitioner degree. It deals largely with issues of local, state, or national educational practice, administration, or policy. Those who pursue such degrees are often teachers or administrators who are seeking promotion to a principalship or a superintendency. EdD programs tend to be more user-friendly in terms of scheduling--a lot of night and weekend classes--because they realize their constituents have challenging, full-time jobs. A PhD is a research degree. By the completion of a PhD, the recipient is expected to be an expert in some small facet of education. The PhD is generally a more theoretical researcher. The "best" research is that which can generate a theory which applies to multiple cases in multple contexts. In academic circles, some PhDs turn their noses up at those who hold EdDs, although this attitude may be tempered by the prestige of institution that issued it. The general public doesn't know the difference, and either degree entitles you to be addressed as Dr., which, let's face it, is all many of us really care about.<br />
<br />
<strong>#3: Realize that, whichever degree you choose, you will have to read A LOT</strong><br />
I have included this in deference to my friend Elizabeth Nogan Ranieri. The majority of your expertise will not be gained through coursework but through the dissertation process, and the first part of writing a dissertation is the dreaded literature review. A thorough literature review requires that you read every piece of research that has been conducted in your area of interest, minimally, over the last ten years. Depending on the topic, you may also have to got back a hundred year to read "foundational" literature. This can be a long and tedious process, but it is essential. What you're trying to do is 1) become an expert and 2) uncover the gap(s) in the research that your dissertation will, in some small way, fill. This process may take years. I'm not speaking hyperbolically; that is how much reading you have to do. And almost none of it is particularly interesting. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbe0OpqmYhhV-ow8zynMeZDoAWDbsfaIptJ87qf2lzq-y-uXXZwUfsr_kMUAe31M6TdwMCAPu2i2ayDjo5xdq7mQyqWiMXm0as6HVqODX_bB-u-QluoITeLdmtF9C8hrDc8UHJ4u8TxnY/s1600/glatthorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbe0OpqmYhhV-ow8zynMeZDoAWDbsfaIptJ87qf2lzq-y-uXXZwUfsr_kMUAe31M6TdwMCAPu2i2ayDjo5xdq7mQyqWiMXm0as6HVqODX_bB-u-QluoITeLdmtF9C8hrDc8UHJ4u8TxnY/s320/glatthorn.jpg" width="320" /></a>This is a picture of my dog, Daisy, who had the same response to Alan Glatthorn's book that I did. Coffee will not help. You will have to begin jabbing yourself in the thigh with the business end of a pen to stay awake during much of this reading. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong>#4: Choose your school wisely.</strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If you only want the degree to be in compliance for a job for which you are already qualified, you can select the least expensive, least intrusive option. There are lots of online EdD programs. If, however, you are looking to take away from this experience more than a diploma, you need to do a little advance work. Picking the right program is less about choosing a school than choosing a mentor. Find out who the experts are in your field of interest. You do this by reading many books and articles. Eventually, a few authors will emerge who appear to share your world view. Now find out where those people are employed. Hopefully, they're faculty members at accredited universities. Now write to those people and ask them how interested they might be in mentoring you. It's quite possible the answer is "not at all." That was Howard Gardner's response to me in a nutshell. Better to find that out before you matriculate. It's also possible that they're such rock stars that they're never actually at the university. Again, better to find out before you go. Spend six months to a year doing this research. You'll thank me later.</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong>#5: Talk to other graduate students</strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Let's say you've narrowed your choices down to Universities A, B, and C. Visit each. Ask if you can meet with your would-be mentor's team of graduate assistants. If your mentor cannot make this happen, that's a red flag. If your mentor is only willing to let this happen in his or her presence, that is also a red flag. If you can get a students-only meeting, ask some hard questions about how your future colleagues are treated by their mentor. </div>
<ul>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Does s/he encourage youto publish without him or her?</div>
</li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Does s/he insist on having first authorship on every publication? </div>
</li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Does s/he invite you to co-present at conferences?</div>
</li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Does s/he introduce you to people who might be able to offer you a job in the future?</div>
</li>
<li>Does s/he make unreasonable demands on your time, like calling meetings on Sunday mornings that last for six hours?</li>
</ul>
If you notice long pauses before anyone answers, that's a red flag. Although the stories can be exaggerated, it is not unheard of for university faculty to treat their research assistants like chattel.<br />
<br />
<strong>#6: Be prepared to leave</strong><br />
Unlike undergrad, success in a doctoral program requires more than maintaining your grades. You also have to fit in with the priorities and expectations of the people to whom you report. You can have a 3.98 GPA and still be asked to leave the program. Alternatively, you may decide to flee the program. If you've done your research, this is less likely to happen, but, as Robbie Burns noted, even the best laid plans "gang aft agley." Rent, don't buy.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned at the outset, this is based solely on my experiences. I welcome additional and alternative views. And, for what it's worth, although <em>getting</em> it was a fairly miserable experience, I am very happy to <em>have</em> the degree.<br />
<br />
XOX,<br />
Deb, The Know-it-AllDr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-81485283383107635792013-12-15T11:15:00.002-08:002013-12-15T11:20:19.940-08:00More Homework MemePaul Cancellieri, my new colleague, co-presenter, and the dude who occasionally occupies the office next to mine, tagged me in the latest meme to strike the blogosphere: #MoreHomework. I appreciate the chance to share more about me, and perhaps enhance my connections. Now, I have to do three things:<br />
<br />
First, I need to share 11 random facts about me that you probably don’t already know. Here goes:<br />
<ol>
<li>I have never been outside of North America. This is a source of tremendous embarrassment to me.</li>
<li>I get lost a lot, whether walking or driving. My sense of direction is so bad that I once accidentally ended up in Tennessee and another time missed the entire state of Virginia. This explains to some extent my reticence to travel overseas. Bad enough being lost in a place where you <em>do</em> speak the language.</li>
<li>I am extremely domestic. I take immense pleasure in cooking, cleaning, and folding laundry. My linen closet is a thing of beauty. </li>
<li>My not-so-secret desire is to be a chanteuse like Michelle Pfeiffer in <em>The Fabulous Baker Boys</em>---including singing "Makin' Whoopie" in a red dress on top of a grand piano. Karaoke is an acceptable although imperfect substitute.</li>
<li>I love animals. When I was about five, I dragged a stray dog into the house by the collar and claimed, "See what followed me home, Mommy? Can we keep him?" Mom was not convinced, and the dog was released. As a substitute, I adopted an ant. It disappeared from my hand somewhere in the grocery store. I now have two dogs and two cats and have to avoid all adoption events because I will take them all home.</li>
<li>There are a few things that <em>always</em> make me cry: audio of Dr. King delivering the "I Have a Dream" speech, the final chapter of <em>Of Mice & Men</em>, the ending of <em>It's a Wonderful Life</em>, and Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. </li>
<li>I appear incapable of sustaining a long-term romantic relationship. Opinions vary as to the reason for this. My well-meaning friends claim that I intimidate men. My religious friends say it's all part of a plan. My dark side says I'm inherently unlovable. </li>
<li>I considered going into stand-up comedy until I saw Christopher Titus in concert. He was absolutely brilliant, and I decided that if I couldn't be that good (and I couldn't) I would not bother.</li>
<li>I am a workaholic and a perfectionist. I don't like presenting anything to the public unless I think it represents the gold standard of whatever genre to which it belongs.</li>
<li>I love unusual words. This explains in part my devotion to David Foster Wallace.</li>
<li>I am to regional accents what tofu is to spices. I pick up the verbal idiosyncracies of wherever I happen to live. For ha-has, sometimes I'll put on a foreign accent for the evening. I once convinced a guy in a bar that my name was Simone, and I was an exchange student from Paris.</li>
</ol>
Next, I am expected to answer 11 probing questions posed by Paul.<br />
<ol>
<li>If you could teach anywhere in the world (other than your current location), where would it be? <em>Well, I don't want to teach overseas (see items #1 and 2 above). I'd probably opt for a hard-core inner city district like Baltimore or DC.</em></li>
<li>Superman, Batman, Spiderman, or Green Lantern? Why? <em>I reject the options and choose Wonder Woman. She demonstrates that beautiful, sexy women can also be powerful. Plus, there is nothing about her uniform that I don't like.</em></li>
<li>What is your favorite comedy movie of all time? <em>Tootsie. Dustin Hoffman was utterly brilliant in both roles.</em></li>
<li>Would you rather have the super power of invisibility or flying?<em> Definitely flying. If I were invisible, I'd be concerned that I'd accidentally overhear an unflattering comment about me that the speaker would have the good manners to say only behind my back if I were visible.</em></li>
<li>If you could drink milkshakes with any person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be?<em> I would have pretzel-salted caramel milkshakes with Dorothy Parker.</em></li>
<li>Favorite dipping sauce? <em>Depends on what is being dipped, but if I have to limit myself I'll go with a pesto mayonnaise.</em></li>
<li>What one quality is your greatest asset? <em>It's either my sense of humor or my honesty, although both have gotten me into trouble inadvertently.</em></li>
<li>Put in order of most awesome to least: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Lone Ranger, Walker Texas Ranger, Galaxy Rangers, Army Rangers. <em>I've never heard of Galaxy Rangers. Army Rangers, Lone Ranger, Might Morphin Power Rangers, and Walker Texas Ranger. Walker would be rated higher if he had been played by someone other than Chuck Norris. I simply can't stand that guy.</em></li>
<li>What is the best way to reduce the number of school shootings in the United States? <em>I suggest something similar to what Everett Koop did to discourage smoking. He didn't attempt legislation; he made it socially unacceptable to be a smoker. As a county, we need to figure out how to make violence less sexy. For a start, the news media could stop covering these shooting with such obscene joy. School remains one of the safest places for children , but you can't get new viewers by telling them that their kids are more likely to die because of their bad driving than in a school shooting. </em></li>
<li>What mobile app do you use the most often? <em>My name is Deb, and I am addicted to Candy Crush.</em></li>
<li>On a scale of 1 to 10, how dope do you dance The Robot? <em>What is this--1978? </em></li>
</ol>
Now, I come up with 11 questions for others to answer.<br />
<ol>
<li>What is the worst piece of advice you ever received?</li>
<li>What weekly household chore or errand would you pay someone else $100 to do?</li>
<li>If you ran in circles where it was not only accceptable but expected to give your child a ridiculous name, what would you name your child?</li>
<li>New York or Chicago style pizza?</li>
<li>Describe a turning point in your life.</li>
<li>What is the least erotic behavior that your significant other could engage in that you would consider "cheating"?</li>
<li>What major life goal do you anticipate accomplishing in the next five years?</li>
<li>On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to celebrate New Year's Eve?</li>
<li>If you could change one of your physical features, what would it be?</li>
<li>What do you wish people asked you more often?</li>
<li>Make up a new way to acknowledge that someone has sneezed (Note to <em>Seinfeld</em> fans: "You are soooo good-lookin'" is already taken.")</li>
</ol>
<br />
Here are the 11 bloggers I nominate to continue the More Homework meme.<br />
<ol>
<li>Camron Jalayerian (@iamcamronj)</li>
<li>Denise Kiernan (@denisekiernan)</li>
<li>Rebecca Gholson (@rsgholson)</li>
<li>Matt Duffy (@mattjduffy)</li>
<li>Mike Else (@professorkliq)</li>
<li>Elizabeth Beck Wiggs (@e_wiggy)</li>
<li>Nick Davis (@sandiegonick8)</li>
<li>Ted Lyde (@tedlyde)</li>
<li>Jeanette Rogas (@runnindwnadream)</li>
<li>Toby Gray</li>
<li>Chrissy Wojdyla (@chrissawoj)</li>
</ol>
<br />
Here’s how it works:<br />
<ol>
<li>Acknowledge the nominating blogger.</li>
<li>Share 11 random facts about yourself.</li>
<li>Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.</li>
<li>Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer.</li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5;">List 11 bloggers, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5;">Post back here with a link after you write this. Go on, you have homework to do.</span></li>
</ol>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-66150313870224348412013-11-25T10:17:00.001-08:002013-11-25T10:17:31.861-08:00The Common Core is NOT the problemI was thumbing through a professional journal whose title shall go unnamed. I became annoyed, although not particularly surprised, that the author had led with the assertion that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Language Arts were a constriction on the expansive and creative teaching of literature and composition. Not only was this assertion made, but it was undergirded with an assumption that anyone reading this article must agree.<br />
<br />
Let me say for the record, here and now, that not only do I not agree, I disagree in the extreme. The CCSS are not responsible for the absence of creativity or rigor or divergent thought or mastery or any other quality one might find in a high quality classroom. The CCSS are standards--not techniques. <br />
<br />
Let's use a fairly one-to-one analogy--building standards. In North Carolina, Chapter 15 of the building code, which deals solely with roofing, is fifteen pages long. It requires, among other things, that whatever you use to fasten the shingles to your roof has to extend at least 3/4" into the shingle. This is not unreasonable. In a high wind, loose shingles are a danger to the structural integrity of your home and the bodily safety of anyone wandering by. <br />
<br />
That's just Chapter 15. There are no fewer than fourteen other chapters covering everything from sheet rock to plumbing to electrical systems.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm going out on a limb and assume that most of you live indoors. Your home, be it ever so humble, probably conforms to these standards or something similar in a different state. I will further assume that few of you would credit or blame your home's aesthetic value on the building standards. You probably have some choice words for that contractor, though.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5xu-b93gV2mwColu16_8Rm7rpJPsDXWcmdBiShrF0e5FveC95y4GUTFBAUJHGgcLGEvIW28NCFwuTZEJgN79oYplYVisZLzKMlUSj6zw_3waHr8fRywXe9iioPQW4cexiTS8dO6vIWVm/s1600/falling+waters.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5xu-b93gV2mwColu16_8Rm7rpJPsDXWcmdBiShrF0e5FveC95y4GUTFBAUJHGgcLGEvIW28NCFwuTZEJgN79oYplYVisZLzKMlUSj6zw_3waHr8fRywXe9iioPQW4cexiTS8dO6vIWVm/s1600/falling+waters.png" /></a>Frankl Lloyd Wright, Mies Van de Rohe, Louis B. Sullivan--these men didn't revolutionize architecture by ignoring builidng codes. And good teachers should not find themselves hamstrung by learning standards that represent the <em>minimum</em> expectations for our children.<br />
<br />
The standards are not the problem. The rampant ignorance of what the standards are--particularly by those leading their implementation--is a huge problem. I'm reminded of Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, who asserted that there are no problem breeds, only problem owners.<br />
<br />
The biggest problem that I have witnessed is a failure on the part of superintendents, curriculum directors, department chairs, and principals to READ the documents. I would be willing to bet my car--it's a 2011 Rav 4--that fewer than half of these people nationwide have read the entire document, including the appendixes, and fewer still have taken the time to understand the instructional implications of it.<br />
<br />
I will go a step further and wager that implementation of the standards in most districts involved pulling up the old curriculum document, locating the CCSS that most closely resembled each standard listed in the old document, and doing a series of copies and pastes. <br />
<br />
If that is in fact what has happened in most school districts, it should come as a surprise to no one that the process is not working. Note, please, that I didn't say, "The standards aren't working." Standards simply are. It is up to us to reach or exceed them, to use them to our benefit. They don't <em>do</em> anything.<br />
<br />
I've been ranting rather generally for a while. Let's get into some specifics--say, writing. <br />
<br />
FYI, I'm not ignoring the math standards; I just want to get a running start into them.<br />
<br />
In the fourth grade, students should be able to "write opinion pieces . . . supporting a point of view with reasons and information," "convey ideas and information clearly," and "write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences." <br />
<br />
Persuasive, expository, and narrative writing. Does anyone object so far? <br />
<br />
Here's where the problem comes in. To write an effective persuasive piece, for example, requires that students must learn the differerence between a reason and a piece of evidence. The standards further require that they connect the ideas within their writing with transitional words and phrases. Most difficult, students must be exposed to ideas and topics about which they are encouraged to develop, express, and support opinions. This takes time. In fact, it takes the entire school year to gradually layer in that instruction and allow studentstime to practice and develop mastery.<br />
<br />
What has unfortunately happened in too many schools is that each type of writing has been shunted into a single marking period. And in more than a few schools, all writing instruction is limited to language arts instructional time. This very new wine has been stuffed into dusty, old bottles.<br />
<br />
This will not work, nor was it the intent of the consortium that developed the CCSS. The whole point of this endeavor was to have a common set of expectations. Local accents notwithstanding, are the skills needed to read and write effectively markedly different in North Carolina and Michigan? If a child moves from Lansing to Raleigh, should she have to repeat or skip a grade because the states' standards are so disparate?<br />
<br />
I urge every teacher, parent, and interested citizen to read the <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/" target="_blank">standards</a> for themselves. Read the appendixes and the introductions, too. That's where the intent behind the standards is found--and it's remarkably jargon-free. <br />
<br />
Having informed yourself of what is in these documents, ask your child's principal how teachers have been supported in implementing the standards. Go to a school board meeting and ask the members and the Superintendent what they think about text complexity or performance assessments. If you hear crickets, you'll know where to direct your anger.<br />
<br />
XOX,<br />
The Know-it-All<br />
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Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-49175003508133470662013-11-17T06:42:00.001-08:002013-11-17T06:42:23.710-08:00My Continuing Beef with the Academy<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm sick of people misunderstanding what a scientist is, what a scientist does. . . . It isn't looking for a better cigarette filter or a softer face tissue or a longer-lasting house paint, God help us. . . . When most other companies brag about their research, they're talking about industrial hack technicians who wear white coats, work out of cookbooks, and dream up an improved windshield wiper for next year's Oldsmobile. . . .Here, and shockingly few other places in this country, men are paid to increase knowledge, to work toward no end but that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Asa Breed, <em>Cat's Cradle</em> by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, I realize this is my second Vonnegut reference in as many posts, and this is in no way intentional. Serendipity is a driving force in my life, which may account for the fact that I earn approximately $20,000 less now than I did ten years ago, but, as usual, I digress.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I had another run-in with a member of The Academy last week that further cemented my opinion of it. I'd like to state for the record that there are exceptions: Dr. Eric Houck of the University of North Carolina, Dr. Tricia Reeves of the University of Georgia, Dr. Jude Preissle (retired). Clearly, this list is not exhaustive, but, in my experience, it's also not very long. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A professor's primary function is not teaching. I cannot stress this enough. At most universities that you've heard of, the faculty work load is typically 50% research, 25% service, 25% teaching. In fact, the big joke in academia is that if you receive a teaching award, you might as well kiss you chance of getting promoted good-bye. [Ha-ha.]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Professors are experts in a particular field. Their job is to identify holes in the body of knowledge of which they are experts and then perform original research in an effort to plug the holes. Over time, this web of information should yield changes in practice and perhaps in how the general public understands the universe (or some small part of it). Theoretical physics is a great example of this process in action. In the 1920s, the average Joe might have yawned and asked, "Okay, E=MC2. So the #@(* what?" Several decades later, we landed a man on the mood using that information.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Teachers are not experts, per se. They have expertise. This is a subtle but crucial distinction. I taught high school English. An English professor might know everything there is to know about Mark Twain and his body of work. I knew more about Twain than the most people, but I was not an expert. I couldn't afford to be since I also had to know more than most people about the life and work of Toni Morrison, Shakespeare, Esmeralda Santiago, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, Upton Sinclair and a host of others.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My primary role was not to "profess" my expertise. It was to use my expertise in both the subject matter and the science of teaching (called pedagogy) to lessen the likelihood that my students would say, "So Toni Morrison's <em>Beloved</em> is post-modernist. So the #@(* what?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The bumper sticker wisdom in teaching circles is that your students won't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Teachers, as opposed to professors, have to take into consideration such thins as </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Mike doesn't have his homework because he put his backpack in the car last night so he wouldn't forget it, but then his father got drunk, cursed out the entire family, left in the car, and hasn't been heard from since;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Paula has been absent eight times this quarter because she was forced to take out a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend--who also attends the school--and has been either in court or avoiding the ex's friends who have begun harassing her;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Adam doesn't write very well, but he built a working grandfather clock in his industrial technology class.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;">You get the idea. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I was watching an episode of </span><a href="http://bigbangtrans.wordpress.com/series-4-episode-14-the-thespian-catalyst/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Big Bang Theory</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (full text of said episode available at the preceding link) in which Sheldon receives horrible reviews for his teaching. Wounded by their comments, including one girl who wrote, "Dr. Cooper has made me want to start cutting myself again," he seeks advice from his girlfriend, Amy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLko4Rn6kyYHB-1lSqz-Xh2rA8OZmO8Wl3wzK6AK7MVbIYzoZBO6WrK0KJJUHDGDBa3VA9kHPZzRDgW1ioFsw-ELFOl0zxhSb8OCiOmIDQidIeVbcy5atFPM6wv8SeN6KsnUVGVX45GqJw/s1600/sheldon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLko4Rn6kyYHB-1lSqz-Xh2rA8OZmO8Wl3wzK6AK7MVbIYzoZBO6WrK0KJJUHDGDBa3VA9kHPZzRDgW1ioFsw-ELFOl0zxhSb8OCiOmIDQidIeVbcy5atFPM6wv8SeN6KsnUVGVX45GqJw/s1600/sheldon.jpg" /></span></a><em><span style="font-size: large;">Amy: H<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">ave you considered improving your socialization skills, thus allowing you to communicate more effectively with other people?</span></span></em><br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0"><em><span style="font-size: large;"></span></em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">Sheldon: Isn’t that their burden?</span> I’m the one with something interesting to say.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While much of <em>TBBT's</em> portrayal of academia is pure fiction, this interchange is kind of right on the money. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Which brings me to my current beef .</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The facility for which I work is offering a professional development seminar in a subject area in which none of our full-time faculty have expertise. We therefore contracted with a scholar who has both research chops and K-12 teaching experience. In looking over the proposed schedule, I became concerned because I saw a lot of activities that appeared to assume fairly high ability levels in the children, whereas I was anticipating that the teachers attending would be in need of remediation techniques for students with low ability levels. Because the schedule was written in bullet points, I realized there might be material there that I just didn't know about. So I called the scholar and asked for clarification.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Any man who has ever said to his wife, "Hey, honey, you want to take a walk?" and had his head bitten off with, "Why?! Do you think I'm fat?! I need more exercise?!" will recognize what happened next.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unbeknownst to me, Madame Scholar took extreme umbrage with me. Apparently, she felt I was questioning her credentials. I'd like it noted that she did not share this with me directly; I only found out after another faculty member had to do damage control when Madame Scholar threatened to renege on her agreement to teach the seminar. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am not a diplomatic person. However, I'm rarely intentionally cruel or disrespectful--at least not to someone's face--and I'm quick to admit it and apologize when I've behaved like a jerk. I plead complete innocence on this one. The upshot, unfortunately, is that I've been removed from any further responsiblities regarding this seminar, including sitting in on it to increase my own knowledge. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When I was at UGA,one of my professors--a fully tenured professor, I might add--had us read several of his articles. Part of the final project was a critique of the literature, so, assuming he meant ALL the literature, I pointed out that his work ignored the implementation difficulties that are inherent in transferring research to the classroom. He was not grateful.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Scholars like to consider themselves part of a conversation in which they make their work available to other scholars who read and respond critically to it. My experience has been that many of them are interested only in the give, not the take. They are defensive of their work, almost to the point of childishness. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I look forward to finding out how Madame Scholar responds if the teachers in this seminar dare to ask her questions similar to those I raised.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">XOX,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Know-it-All</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDzpbrBwWoYAqr7Gl8nIe6zUQqVLfC7hhrBCvjXlWuT9dMnC03bdBzoukDPrI2NfdN_YR1A9ZTCtZkmmkshvx3tWrWCkcCexgDS58nBafsyOfSCCQPElIyOvb8WqCxs-vKdn2Tkr1JgAL/s1600/sheldon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDzpbrBwWoYAqr7Gl8nIe6zUQqVLfC7hhrBCvjXlWuT9dMnC03bdBzoukDPrI2NfdN_YR1A9ZTCtZkmmkshvx3tWrWCkcCexgDS58nBafsyOfSCCQPElIyOvb8WqCxs-vKdn2Tkr1JgAL/s1600/sheldon.jpg" /></a></div>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-9058433517935902172013-11-11T14:37:00.001-08:002013-11-11T14:38:10.770-08:00It's not JUST your opinion<span style="font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> thought I'd take a break from education policy for a moment to address what is fast becoming my least favorite expression: "Well, it's just my opinion."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This is the desperate response of someone who has no response. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Obamacare is unconstitutional! You can't force people to buy insurance."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Um, you have to buy car insurance if you own a car."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Well, Obamacare sucks. That's just my opinion."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Don't get me wrong; liberals do this, too. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"The Patriot Act is a violation of the 4th Amendment!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"Isn't gun control a violation of the 2nd Amendment?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"That's different."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"How?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"Well, that's just my opinion."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">What both these desperate individuals really mean by "it's just my opinion" is "I don't want to lose this argument, but I have no intelligent response to what you've just said. On the other hand, opinions are subjective. If I claim that mine is an opinion, you can't disagree with it. Ha-HA!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDy1Su3YYEkZUVPETtChN13LL36zI3gPiyzoOAwUcOoXHsEku-EHgRDM1cKQkRTO5rG7CgX4CY76fApwEVeeS3MD5ZOzrqpNf3UJ38-dLL70l5ZU5dTyjbNG9fOsGu6g2JjdQ5s5564d2/s1600/vonnegut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDy1Su3YYEkZUVPETtChN13LL36zI3gPiyzoOAwUcOoXHsEku-EHgRDM1cKQkRTO5rG7CgX4CY76fApwEVeeS3MD5ZOzrqpNf3UJ38-dLL70l5ZU5dTyjbNG9fOsGu6g2JjdQ5s5564d2/s200/vonnegut.jpg" width="140" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As you well know, opinions are like . . . well, Kurt Vonnegut offered this lovely sketch of what opinions are like. And everyone has one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What separates valuable opinions from merely talking out of your ass is the ability to support them with facts. If you have no facts, your opinion is worth no more than anything else that comes out of that part of your body. If you <i>do </i>have facts, then it is no longer JUST your opinion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Let us agree to a moratorium on this expression. If you've taken the time to educate yourself, to have logical and <i>actual </i>reasons for holding this opinion, we'd love to hear it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">If all you have is an opinion, keep it to yourself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">XOX,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The Know-it-All</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8944544954802124563.post-6217626886387725282013-11-10T16:48:00.002-08:002013-11-10T16:48:36.388-08:00Quid Pro Quo<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, I unloaded on the academy. Today, it's the practioners' turn to feel a little sting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">In that earlier post, I noted that part of the reason for the disastrous results of some so-called research-based best practices is reductionism. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I'm going to lay most of the blame for that at the feet of K-12 administrators. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Make no mistake. I think classroom teachers are guilty of reductionism, too, but, for the most part, they have very little power over what interventions get adopted by their schools. If you have that power and are also a reductionist, I'm talking to you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">[Imagine I just put two fingers to my eyes, then turned them toward you, then back at me.]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">What do I mean by reductionism? It is the process by which a complex idea is divested of all its complexity either because the person dealing with the idea doesn't fully understand it or doesn't want to do the work all that nuance would require. Let me give you an example.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">A few months ago, I engaged a group of teachers in an activity designed to illuminate the societal changes catalyzed by World War I. Among the artifacts they examined was Wilfred Owen's "Dolce et Decorum Est." Ordinarily, I would simply provide a link to the text, but understanding the theme of the poem is essential to understanding what reductionism is.</span><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Dulce Et Decorum Est</strong></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,<br />Knock-kneed, coughing like
hags, we cursed through sludge,<br />Till on the haunting flares we turned our
backs<br />And towards our distant rest began to trudge.<br />Men marched asleep.
Many had lost their boots<br />But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all
blind;<br />Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots<br />Of disappointed shells
that dropped behind.</em></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of
fumbling,<br />Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;</em></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>But someone still was
yelling out and stumbling<br />And floundering like a man in fire or
lime.--<br />Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light<br />As under a
green sea, I saw him drowning.<br /><br />In all my dreams, before my helpless
sight,<br />He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.<br /><br />If in some
smothering dreams you too could pace<br />Behind the wagon that we flung him
in,<br />And watch the white eyes writhing in his face</em></span>,<br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>His hanging face, like
a devil's sick of sin;<br />If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood<br />Come
gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,<br />Obscene as cancer, bitter as the
cud<br />Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--<br />My friend, you would
not tell with such high zest<br />To children ardent for some desperate
glory,<br />The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est<br />Pro patria mori.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><strong>Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori: Latin, "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country."</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Owen was a Lieutenant in the British army and, in fact, was killed in action shortly after this poem was written. The poem describes a mustard gas attack, not the sort of subject matter usually found in British lit prior to this time. The imagery is horrifying. No one could read this and think Owen sees war as glamorous or heroic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">You would think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I checked in with one teacher who pointed to the footnote in which the Latin was translated and claimed the poem was a call to arms, a glamorizing of warfare. Think "Charge of the Light Brigade."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I pointed this teacher to the last two lines of the poem and asked, "What does the narrator say about this Latin phrase?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">"Oh, I didn't see that he called it a lie."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I think I demonstrated tremendous restraint in not asking, "And the rest of the words? Did you miss them, too?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">This would be a particularly heinous example of reductionism. You probably have students who do this--grab on to a fragment of a sentence and contort it into an interpretation of an entire essay. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Unfortunately, you probably have colleagues, principals, curriculum directors, and superintendents who do the same. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Reductionism can be avoided, but it won't be easy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">First of all, the people who inhabit those offices need to be smart. I once asked a guy in my Introduction to Statistics class at the University of Georgia, "What correlation are you trying to demonstrate?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">"Aw, hell, I'm just gonna count some shit."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">He was referring to his DISSERTATION!!! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Somewhere in Georgia, people are forced to call this man "Doctor."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Second, assuming we get smart people in these essential positions, they have to read and interpret the research <em>themselves</em>. We can't count on the salespeople that Pearson or Houghton-Mifflin or Renaissance Learning send into their offices to provide unbiased information. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Would you ask your meth dealer, "What's this going to do to my teeth?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">We cannot rely on educational journalists to provide complete information. Watch an episode of <em>Good Morning, America!</em> and see how a single medical study gets bastardized in mere seconds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">The bestowing of the title "Doctor" should also imply the ability to read, understand, and critique research. If you can't do that, you don't deserve that job. If you <em>can</em> do it, but opt not to, you still don't deserve that job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Let's start demanding more of our administrators and ourselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">If your state legislature ordered you to eat something out of Upton Sinclair's <em>The Jungle</em>, I hope you would refuse. We read labels at the grocery store. I don't think it's unreasonable to read the labels of what we're being asked to consume in the classroom and say, "No, thank you. No more rat droppings for me."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">XOX,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">The Know-it-All</span>Dr. Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953694258895319509noreply@blogger.com0