Will Richardson – A Pep Rally for Tests? What We Need is a ‘Prep’ Rally

Lee Kolbert – Dear Will Richardson

Will Richardson – Opting Out (with comments thread)

 

Will often advocates for more revolutionary action from public school teachers, as well as parents. Lee counters with the fact that many teachers’ hands are tied, and that it’s more difficult to be revolutionary when you’re actually IN the classroom.

My thoughts and questions:

• When is it the right time to stop abusing kids in the classroom with testing? Yes, in its current state, it IS abuse.
• Standardized testing is not the only “evil” in public education. Scripted teaching, mile-wide and inch-deep curricula, and standardized expectations (i.e., all kids need the exact same education) are crippling our students’ potential.
• Corporate takeover of public education via charters or other options is a travesty and will be the demise of a free education for all. Think I’m overly dramatic? Read what’s happening in Philadelphia.
• When it is worth sacrificing your job to stand up for what you believe?

POINT

Nothing is going to significantly change in public education unless it comes from parents, students, and educators. 

These are the greatest numbers of people, yet they are the ones whose voices are not being heard. Politicians, corporate big-wigs, and people with power (read here: money) are the ones making the decisions. The few are leading the many, and the “few” in this case are the least informed about what is best for the education of children. It’s time for the many to take a stand, make themselves heard, and put the power back where it belongs.

This cannot happen unless parents opt their students out of standardized testing and demand changes to curriculum, standards, etc. This cannot happen if students are not given opportunities to share how they learn best and voice their own needs and wants. This cannot happen if educators stand by passively (or silently) and continue to do what they’re directed to do… even when they know what they’re doing is not in the students’ best interests and can do more harm than good.

This cannot happen unless parents, students, and educators support each other in this endeavor.

For educators, what does that mean? Refuse to follow the law? Disregard the directions from the superintendent/school board? Or might it be a calling to activism at the state and federal levels to change the laws? All of these options can (and usually do) create huge risks for public school educators.

COUNTERPOINT

For every point I made above, I also feel torn with “yeah, buts.”

Parents’ rights are often negated by local, state, and federal legislation. Some school districts have required internal, state, and/or national standardized tests for graduation. To appeal this requirement takes time and, too often, money. Many parents don’t even realize they have rights to oppose what is being done to their children or to opt out of these requirements. There are parents who believe that regular standardized testing is good for their kids, because of the amount of misinformation they’ve been fed for so long.

Children have little to no say in their own education: how they learn best, what they WANT to learn, etc. Throughout their K-12 education, they will be told what to learn, when to learn, how to learn, and how to demonstrate what they have learned. For most students, the idea of revolting is not even a glimmer in their eyes. The definition of school has become something that is DONE to kids. You suffer through it, so that you can move on and begin your real life. For those who would consider speaking up for themselves, it is not worth their efforts to demand better. Fear of reprisal is too great. They may be threatened with punishment or that they won’t be allowed to graduate. Why rock the boat when so much is at stake?

Educators are really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Those who have not invested many years in a school district usually leave. They head for private schools with fewer mandates or to areas outside education. They leave mostly unscathed. The majority of educators, however, have their hands tied. How many people can afford to quit their jobs on principle? And what about the educators who have decades invested in a state retirement system? They are truly stuck. Their retirement is based on years of employment in that state. Moving away or, for some, even out of a specific school district would result in a considerable loss of income after retirement. How can these people be boat rockers when the public education system essentially holds them hostage?

My reflection:

I feel the pain on both sides of the arguments. Many of my friends in public education all around the US are stuck where they are because they can’t afford to leave their jobs or move elsewhere.  They feel helpless, so they do their best to help their students in spite of the requirements. They hold testing pep rallies. They dedicate hundreds of hours finding ways to make the best of situations out of their control. They need our support, not our criticism.

However…

When has it gone too far? When it is a moral/ethical obligation to speak up and say, “no more!”

Because I was in a place in my life where I could pick up and move, I was able to find a school I felt valued the needs and wants of children in their education. I left the public school system last year to teach in a private school where the rights of students and families are not only considered, but valued. Everyday, I go to school knowing that I have the opportunity to help my students learn in an environment that encourages them to grow as individuals. (Shouldn’t kids in public schools have the same opportunities?)

I know that there are many who are not exactly in a place to do what I did…or who have the guts to start their own school,  BUT…

As an educator, it should be our role to advocate for the rights of students. If we don’t do what’s right for kids, we’re no better than the ones making the poor decisions. My friend, Jackie Gerstein, posted a photo of a Desmond Tutu quote tonight: If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. What is happening today in public education is nothing less than injustice for the children of this country.

When is it the right time for us to do something about that?

Sometimes I feel like a lazy teacher in this student-centered world at Anastasis Academy… but that’s only because the majority of my teacher training in undergraduate (and most of my graduate) classes prepared me for a TEACHER-centered classroom.

You are the teacher. You are the deliverer of information, knowledge, skills.

As a music teacher, some of the workshops I attended helped me realize that the kids have to experience learning to gain knowledge and skills. Very few undergrad or grad classes did this.

So what does this student-centered classroom REALLY look like?

Some days, it looks pretty chaotic from an outsider’s point-of-view (actual statement from a visitor to our school).

Some days, it looks like kids working together on a project they have designed themselves.

Some days, it looks like a child excitedly running up to me, saying, “Mrs. Baldwin! Look at this! I found this really cool information about…” x,y, z.

But most of the time, it looks like kids satisfying their own curiosity without much interference from me.

I’m on the sidelines, and I love that.

Honest disclosure: it took us a while to get to this point, because even at 8-10 years of age (those are the ages of the kids I have), these kids have been programmed to look to an adult for answers. And questions. And direction. And time management. And so on. Some days are better than others. Recently, I feel like they have regressed a little bit in independence, and I have to force myself NOT to step in.

What I know in my heart, though, is these kids are developing skills that will serve them well throughout their entire lives. They are not memorizing facts provided through notes or worksheets from me. They discover… they experiment… they reflect… and they are learning to hold themselves accountable for their own learning.

The student-centered classroom is about the STUDENTS. It’s my job as their teacher to help provide an environment in which they can learn, experience, problem-solve… and then get out of their way.

• “tirelessly giving of herself”
• “works late nights and weekends to do whatever it takes”
• “selfless and saint-like”

Lately, in education networks, I’ve noticed a lot of advertising for tools to catch students plagiarizing. It’s a pretty big business. A quick Google search for the terms “plagiarism detector” results in 1, 350,000 returns. Many school districts, including the one I left this past year, have spent a lot of funds on tools such as Turnitin.com.

I’m always skeptical of businesses who make a lot of profits on tools designed to catch students (or anyone for that matter) doing something wrong, unethical, etc. Internet filters, monitoring systems to, for lack of a better term, spy on kids’ online– I’ve seen the vendors for many of these companies at ed tech conferences, and it amazes me that school districts spend SO much money on something that, in my opinion, is not worth the expenditure. Reactive products, especially those that generate a lot of profits, have no interest in resolving the issue in the first place.  Turnitin, and others like it, don’t benefit from teaching students NOT to plagiarize. In fact, advertisements for internet filtering tools and plagiarizing detectors sensationalize the problems to ensure that those with budget authority feel the need to spend massive amounts of money to catch those in the wrong.

Plagiarism is obviously something we need to help our students learn about. WE know it’s wrong to plagiarize, and it’s our duty as educators to ensure students know that it’s wrong. But this is where I think we fail… by implementing tools to catch them doing something wrong instead of educating WHY it’s wrong seems like a setup.

The other issue is that I think that a lot of plagiarism could be easily avoided by changing the activities we ask kids to do.

Yesterday, I tweeted this:

There is such a huge focus on secondary research for kids as early as primary grades, and that lasts throughout post-secondary education. Why?

Yes, knowing how to research is a skill we all need, and learning to properly cite sources is important, too. But I think the emphasis on secondary research instead of primary research is completely unbalanced. Don’t we WANT our students to discover and inquire about things that haven’t already been researched?

What about activities where kids create and produce their own works? I would much rather have my students create new, original works than spend their entire school career ONLY reading the research of others. If we want our students to become problem-solvers, that balance has to change. We can’t always find new answers or new solutions to problems if we only look at the work that has already been done.

Additionally, when kids are creating and producing their own work, they will then begin to understand ownership of work– and this will help them learn more organically why plagiarism is wrong. I’m planning an experiment with my students where I will have them create something original– a drawing, a story, a song… whatever they choose, and then I’m going to post it as MY work (temporarily, of course) without giving them credit. This activity will help them understand ownership of work and how important it is to ensure credit is given where credit is due.

I teach mostly 3 and 4th graders now, but I’ve taught every age of child in K-12 schools. This activity can be used with any age student, not just younger kids. I know this, because I’ve done it before… and it WORKS. The more my students created and produced their own work, the more likely they were to remember to cite sources in secondary research of the works of others. Balancing secondary research with primary research and creating original works is key.

One of the arguments about the necessity of secondary research is the amount of secondary research required of students in post-secondary education. This argument is ridiculous in my opinion. We should continue practices that are not in the best interests of our K-12 students’ learning because of continued practices in post-secondary that are not in the best interests of undergraduate and graduate students?

Please note that I am NOT advocating that we discontinue all secondary research in the K-12 level. Rather, my point is let’s do a little less secondary research and focus more on creating and producing original work. Balancing between these two will do more to overcome the issue of plagiarism than punishing a student after he is caught. Assuming that students will intentionally plagiarize is yet another example of how little we trust students to do the right thing… and also how little we value children and their learning.

I welcome you to share your thoughts with me in the comments and tell me if I’m way off base here. Thanks.

Ron Clark, a Disney Teacher of the Year and Oprah’s pick for “Phenomenal Man,” wrote this article on CNN titled, “What teachers really want to tell parents.”

One of the gems from this article:

If we give you advice, don’t fight it. Take it, and digest it in the same way you would consider advice from a doctor or lawyer.

Don’t fight it? Okay, I can deal with that… but it almost sounds as if he is telling parents not to question his advice.  The entire article, in my opinion, comes off as arrogant and condescending to parents.  One sub-title in the article is about the only view I found we had in common, and that was asking parents to become partners with teachers/educators.

Here’s the main problem that I have with an article like this… and I know a lot of my friends agreed with the article, retweeting, posting on Facebook, and shouting out an “Amen” after reading it. Please don’t take this as a personal attack. Hear me out first.

I am a teacher AND a parent. I am extremely fortunate to have been able to see both perspectives for nearly 20 years. My oldest daughter just earned her Bachelor’s degree, and my youngest just entered her freshman year at university. For me, the experience as a parent has made me a much better teacher. I’m constantly reminded by my own children that they are more than the scores they receive on tests, their good or not so good behavior on a day to day basis, and much more than the personalities they exhibit during school hours and school activities.

Here’s a thought: why not invite parents to be partners? Sure, some aren’t going to react the way we would like, but why start off on opposites sides? We’re doing that at Anastasis Academy, where I’m now happily teaching. Happy parents + happy teachers= better opportunities for kids.

I wrote the previous paragraph in a response to a Facebook post by a friend. I received a reply from another reader. He said (and I’m paraphrasing) that inviting parents as partners is more about making parents feel good, but it’s all talk and not really feasible. They should support the experts (educators) and leave it at that.

This is exactly the type of arrogance that creates an Us vs Them environment for parents… and since when are PARENTS not the experts of their own children?!?

I used an analogy to respond. When I walk into a doctor’s office, I expect the doctor to listen to what I have to say is going on with my health. I know and trust the doctor to make the best diagnosis she can, but I also know that she can’t do that completely without me being specific about what is going on. She’s the medical expert, but I’m the one living day to day with my own health issues. If she doesn’t listen to me at all, I’m not going to be able to get better. Likewise, if I don’t listen to her and follow her suggestions, I’m not going to get better either.

Caring teachers invite parents into a community of learners. When parents feel that their thoughts and opinions matter, they are more likely to be involved in helping their children succeed in school.  I am SO amazingly blessed to be in a school where we all are part of this community. Parents, teachers, and students are working together to do what’s best for kids.

I know the world isn’t always perfect, and I have also had experiences where parents wanted nothing to do with their child’s education. I’ve been physically and legally threatened by parents.  Some have given me more advice than I ever wanted or needed… but in the end, it has always been easier (and much, much better for the child involved) to treat parents with dignity and grace. Copping an attitude of  “well, I’m the expert and you’d better just deal with it” has never fixed any problem and only serves to drive a larger wedge between parents and teachers.

In a time where educators are taking the blame for much of society’s problems, why on earth would we want to alienate parents or make them feel like their opinions about their children are not worth our time? Parents are the best advocates we educators have!

So here’s what I want to tell parents:

1. I promise I will care about your child.

2. I promise I will listen to your concerns about your child.

3. You are your child’s first teacher. You have a lot of influence in your child’s learning… more influence than I will have.

4. I promise that I will not believe everything your child says about things going on at home.   AND- if your child tells you about activities at school, I promise that, together, we will all discuss what happened, as well as how your child perceives those events. As a mom, I know those things sometimes can be misconstrued, but I also understand that teachers don’t always know exactly what happened either.

5. As a certified educator, I promise to provide the very best education I can for your child. And if you have questions about what we’re doing, I will be more than happy to talk to you about that.

As a parent, I wish that more teachers had really listened to what I wanted to tell them about my children.  I can tell you that my kids succeeded in classes where the teachers remembered a) that they were CHILDREN, and b) that as their parent, I could help them understand my children. Those who chose to go the route of “only teacher knows best” were lousy teachers, and my kids have carried baggage from those experiences into their adulthood.  I promise that will not happen with my students.

In a discussion earlier today with another teacher, I mentioned that, early in my teaching career, I viewed the children in my classroom, regardless of age, as my “students.” Granted, I was young and only 4 years older than some of the oldest students at that particular school… but I really kept that teacher/student professional distance that I was warned about. “Draw that line between you and your students” was pounded into my head over and over in my teacher undergrad methods classes.

For me, it wasn’t until my own daughters started school that I started to really think differently. When they became “students,” I wanted their teachers to think of them as more than just students. These were precious gifts I was entrusting to them. I wanted my daughters’ teachers to care about them as individuals, not just as “students.”

As a teacher, that thinking changed EVERYTHING for me. When I returned to teaching in 2009, 445 students became MY kids, too. Learning their names and learning styles wasn’t enough. I needed to know about their passions, their hopes, their fears, their strengths. I needed to remember that each one of those children was someone’s pride and joy… that, even on days when they were not always exactly likable, that I cared enough about them to do what was best.

This year, someone else is teaching some of my kids at that school in Omaha. I moved away, and I miss them terribly. But there’s a new school now with new faces. I will have far fewer names to learn, but my goals are the same. These students will become my kids very soon. I will care about them as the special individuals they are. We’ll learn about each other, respect each other, and become a community together. And when we run into each other at the grocery store, the mall, or the movie theater, I will introduce them as my kids, not my students.

I know that might seem trivial to some… or maybe even just differing terminology for the same definition. But to me, it has made a huge difference in teaching. These aren’t just some other people’s kids in my classroom; they’re mine now, too. How lucky we are as educators to be blessed by all the many children whose lives touch ours!

The Reform SymposiumWorldwide E-Conference.

I highly recommend you check the schedule and plan to attend!

Another big part of ISTE is attending some great sessions… and there were so many great sessions! From EduBloggerCon on Saturday to poster sessions, ISTE Unplugged, and even taking part in presenting a panel session with three great educators whom I admire greatly… there’s just so much learning and sharing taking place at this conference!

But the most valuable part of attending ISTE for me is the building of relationships. In some cases, it’s about seeing old friends, catching up, and bonding. It’s also about meeting new people, discussing new ideas, learning from each other, and beginning conversations that will continue long past the closing keynote at ISTE (which, by the way, was a phenomenal closing keynote by Chris Lehmann– go watch it here if you haven’t already!).

I’m not sure why this last point is so difficult to explain to people who have never experienced it. The experiences we have– whether they’re taking place in a session, in the Bloggers’ Cafe, the Newbie Lounge, walking to lunch, or at a table while listening to some really fun karaoke– seem, to many people on the outside,  like one big party. In some ways, that may be true… BUT it’s also much, much more than that. The friendships I’ve forged in attending ISTE conferences over the last 6 years have been some of the most meaningful, both professionally and personally. These are not my “imaginary” or virtual friends and colleagues. These are real people who have enriched my life for the better.

[cc licensed photo by mtsofan]

• Students will face competition at every level of their lives. They need to learn to compete early and often.
• K-12 students will graduate and compete for a prime spot in a college or university.
• University students will graduate and compete globally for their own spots in a global economy.
• We have to prepare them to compete. Period.

I’ve taught in both the secondary and elementary levels in public K-12 education. I’ve witnessed kids competing for spots on athletic teams, music performing groups, art awards, National Honor Society and other honoraries… for grades, for representing the class as valedictorian, for speaker at graduation… to be first in line for lunch, first in line for recess, for the fastest time at Field Day, for a solo at the 4th grade program…

… for the biggest helping of lunch (because it’s probably the only meal of the day)… for that coat in the lost and found (because there isn’t enough money at home to buy one)… for the attention of the teacher (because attention from an adult is rare and precious outside of school)…

It seems to me that kids live and breathe competition every day of their lives.

When do they learn to work toward the good of all?

Maybe I’m just getting old and sentimental, but watching the news out of Japan after the horror they’ve experienced in the last month has me really thinking… if we spend so much time on competition and racing to be the best, that leaves a LOT of people in our dust. What if people need our help? What about those people left behind? Should we sit and smugly congratulate ourselves on being the best and beating everyone else? How does that help us as a society in the long-term?

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not advocating that we give out “participation” trophies or ribbons for just showing up and not putting forth any effort. It just feels like we’ve cultivated a culture of competition at any cost, and that’s where I see so many problems.

In my music classroom, my students and I often discuss that our goals are very different than they are in other classrooms. No matter what we’re doing, whether it’s preparing for a concert/performance, or simply learning a song for the sake of the music, we’re learning together. “In math class, it’s all about YOU. In music class, it’s all about US.” They probably tire of hearing me say that, but it sticks with them. I heard one of my students explaining the concept to a new student one day.

When we learn something new- a new recorder song, for example- there are going to be some kids who learn more quickly than others. In our environment, those “advanced” kids now have a special responsibility: help those students who haven’t yet learned the song. We do a lot of peer group work, and I am either walking around as a guide or am working with those who need the most help. With shared responsibility in the class, we see improvement in all. More importantly, I see my students building skills in patience, empathy, and caring, as well as their own musical skills.

Now for a little disclosure: I’m a highly competitive person; but I think as I’ve grown up, it’s become more about competing with myself and less about competing with others.

At what point does competition, whether it’s in the market place or in the classroom, do more harm than good? When corporations throw ethics under the bus to eke out higher profits, everyone suffers except for the people at the top. When we push kids to compete against each other in everything they do, they learn that the SELF is more important than the collective GROUP.

And in the end, nobody wins… especially not kids.

I know there are a lot of people who disagree with me on this subject, so let’s have it. Debate me in the comments, please.

Will their education provide them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their world? Is that how one becomes successful? Is it about attending a post-secondary institution?  Is it about a paycheck? Is it about contributing and giving back to society?

[cc licensed photo by RambergMediaImages]

The other day, I had a conversation with some friends about the push to send more kids to college. I brought up the fact that, perhaps, not everyone needs or should go to college. There was a hushed silence right after I finished my sentence… imagine a teacher saying that maybe college isn’t for everyone?!?!

I quickly followed up with an explanation- my point isn’t that some kids aren’t worthy of a college degree. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. For some kids, college isn’t worthy of them. Not everyone needs to spend exorbitant tuition fees (and dormitory costs, and textbooks, and…) to find their niche in life.

There’s a young man I know, about 22 years old, who attended a trade school and learned about auto mechanics. He LOVES cars. He can tell you nearly anything you want to know about an engine. He can fix nearly any vehicle. At this time, he is employed by a very large company in our city, and he makes a very nice living. More importantly, he’s very happy doing what he does. A typical four-year institution was not in his master plan.

I told his story, and instantly, a friend replied, “Oh, and he will probably make more money than most of us will in our lifetime and not have the same amount of debt from all those college loans!”  A few others replied with more statements about how much money this kid would go on to make.  As I asked them a few questions, it became very evident to me that their measure of success was the amount of money he would make.

Is that what we’re supposed to be preparing kids to do after they leave school? Make a lot of money? Is that the measure of “success?”

Silly me, but I thought it was something as simple as this:

• find your strengths
• find your passion
• find a way to make the world around you a little better than how you found it

That’s MY definition of being successful. What’s yours?