"New Middle Schools for New Futures"

I just read this article on the NMSA website: http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/May2009/Article1/tabid/1928/Default.aspx

The article was a short version of the class I took this spring. The class and article were about how we need to be changing education so that it better matches what kids need to prepare them for the future. For example, our world is becoming more globalized which means that countries are more readily accessible than they were in the future. Our kids are going to need to know how to interact and communicate with people from other countries as part of their work and daily lives. Technology is rapidly changing also. We need to prepare them for using things that haven't even been invented yet. The list goes on and on.

The author of the article, Anthony Jackson, writes about how a decade ago, in 2000, he wrote about the need for change in education to better prepare students for the turn of the century:

Significant progress has been made in the journey to provide young adolescents with a developmentally responsive education. … Structural changes in middle grades education—how students and teachers are organized for learning— have been fairly widespread and have produced good results. … However, our observations suggest that relatively little has changed at the core of most students' school experience: curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

- From Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century (Jackson & Davis, 2000, p. 5)

He then goes on to talk about how still very little has changed and we have had 10 YEARS! Am I the only one alarmed? I feel like all we ever do in education is talk about the need for change, look at what we have, reinvent the wheel (with a lot of effort) and end up with something very similar to what we had in the beginning. I think we are stuck in a rut and as a favorite professor of mine says, "If you stay in a rut too long it can become a grave."

I have taken two classes now in my quest for a graduate level degree in middle level curriculum and although I do not claim to be any sort of expert, I can now say that I am aware there is a problem and I have some resources to turn to. I will agree to do my part to push real change forward instead of sitting back and accepting the status quo. I just need some people to join me. Are you up for the challenge?

Tools and Resources

Throughout the class, EDC 524, although short, we have used several technologies that I can foresee being useful in my classroom. The most useful to me is Google Docs. I can see using these to make documents available to my students to use and modify as they work together in teams. Since I don't technically teach middle school, my students do not have access to laptops yet and therefore have to work in the computer lab that is significantly outdated. Google Docs seem like an easy solution to getting groups to work together on the same project even while they are sitting at separate computers.

I can also see myself using Skype in my classroom as a means to communicate with teachers and/or classrooms that are not readily available. A teacher I work with has used Skype to have her students read to another reading buddy they had never met before in a school across the state. It gave the kids a new audience and allowed them some interaction with newer technologies. It was a great motivator and something I can see myself using in my practice.

Overall I will try harder to incorporate more technology into my classroom even though it isn't easy because the lack of materials in my school. I owe it to my students to give them as much exposure as possible so that they are ready for the future and as aware of what is available as other students.

"Good is the enemy of Great"

This quote by Collins (2001) took me some time to dissect. My first thought was that good is good, right? My second thought compared the words good and great. Wouldn't you rather be great at something than just good? In education we sometimes get stuck in a rut of things that work. When things are humming along (good) it can be hard to put everything in an upheaval in an attempt to make it great. The other problem is that what if what we try doesn't work and we are instead stuck with less than good?

We owe it to our students to never give up on trying to improve their learning and educational experience. As teachers we are required to keep up our teaching certificates by doing professional development and always working to improve our methods. Schools need to be constantly looking at the status quo of things and see if there are ways we can do it better.

I guess the biggest point is that education is not for those who enjoy going to work day after day, knowing what to expect and having it always be the same. Education is dynamic and always changing. We need professionals that are prepared for such a challenge, people that will not accept "good" when "great" is out there somewhere.

Shared Vision

Shared vision is something that my school has been talking a lot about because we have a new superintendent and are working on forming a standards based curriculum as a cohort school for the RISK program. More experienced teachers than I are frustrated because they have been through this more times than they would like to count. They complain that when someone new comes on board, they try to overhaul all the work that has been done, the shared vision gets shoved in a closet, never to be referred to again...at least until a new person takes over. I can understand their frustration, but I find it an interesting and inspiring process (ah the freshness of a newbie). The key to me is in referring back to the vision statement as decisions are made. It should not be a stagnant statement, once written and then posted, becomes something we have but do nothing with. I like the idea of a shared vision statement that everyone buys into and refers to frequently. As the staff and administration make changes the vision statement is taken out and before anything new is adopted, make sure it fits under that statement. In this time of more and more things being placed on our plates, we need to make sure that what we do adopt for new ideas and policies is moving us closer to what we envision for our school and our students. As this process of creating and agreeing on a shared vision progresses, I will be interested to see how it plays out and how veteran teachers and new teachers come together to adopt a vision for our school that everyone can adopt.

Another black slash against NCLB

In reading This We Believe in Action, I was struck by chapter 13, "Organizational Structures that Support Meaningful Relationships and Learning", and more specifically, the following quote:

"The 21st century presents educators with shrinking resources and demands for increased accountability through No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The pressure of meeting adequate yearly progress has schools racing to make academic progress. Times dictate tough choices (p. 141)."

NCLB has been a thorn in the side of education since it was implemented. I have never heard anyone say that they were thrilled that our government passed such a policy, especially people that are in education. This We Believe, This We Believe in Action, and all of middle school philosophy is about being developmentally appropriate for the students we serve. NCLB has not taken this research into account.

Although my school has its faults, one thing it does well is have small academic teams. By having these small focused teams, we make sure that each student feels like a valuable member of the team where their teachers know them and their interests. I am sure that larger schools are struggling more and more with student:teacher ratios and are finding it harder and harder to maintain that intimacy that adolescents need.

"The hallmark of an effective middle level school rests in its capacity to personalize learning (p. 142)."

Fighting Fair

I’ve been doing some reading in the book, Coming of Age. It has been very interesting from both a teaching standpoint and the view of a parent-to-be in a couple of weeks. There is one section that struck a chord with me. It was basically about fighting fair at home and handling conflicts.

I had to teach health this year, a mandated curriculum paid for with a federal grant that was very scripted and difficult for me to teach. One thing included in this curriculum was a poster that had an outline for how to have a disagreement and settle on a solution with someone. All year in different situations we practiced this poster as a class (because the curriculum told me to). I had written the program off when I had to read, “One good reason for not drinking alcohol as an underage person is that it gives you bad breath.” SERIOUSLY? I put very little value in the remainder of the year but I dutifully taught it under the watchful eye of my curriculum coordinator.

After reading chapter 6 (especially the end), I realized that the health curriculum had not been a complete wash. The rules for fighting fair and the guidelines for resolving conflicts were spot on with what Coming of Age is saying we should be doing with our kids. Huh.

What I liked most about the rules was that they were developed by both the adolescents and the parents at a time when there was no disagreement. When you are in the heat of the moment, no one makes much sense, but if you have a formula you follow each time a disagreement arises, I can imagine it would go much smoother with practice.

I am filing this strategy away for when my son gets to be an adolescent and I am not longer considering the health program to be a complete waste of time. I will however, rework the section on underage drinking :)

It's all in how you look at it

There is an ad on TV where 5 blindfolded women are touching a rhinoceros. I know you have all heard the story before, but bear with me. They each touch a different part of the animal and they all come up with different answers as to what it is. One touches the tail and says it is a rope. Another touches the side and says it is a wall etc. None of them is right because they are not getting the whole picture. Most of life is like this. We are always told that there are "three sides to every story" and things like that. Adolescents are like that rhino. Without knowing all of the aspects of what makes them tick, we aren't getting the whole picture.

What I am talking about is the concept of deidealization. When children are young, they look at their parents as though they can do no wrong. Slowly, as they begin to mature, they look for flaws in their parents and play up their mistakes. Looking at this phenomenon on the surface, it seems like it would be a hurtful experience for parents to go through (I wouldn't know yet). Falling from a pedestal can be painful, especially when it is your own child picking apart your faults.

In the book, Coming of Age:The Education and Development of Young Adolescents, the author talks about deidealization in a new light. He says that because children look at their parents with such love and adoration, they start to think their parents are perfect. As they mature and realize that perfection is not attainable, they start to look for flaws in people they previously thought of as perfect. When they find the flaws, they call attention to them to prove that an imperfect person can become an adult. The following quote from page 97 states it best:

"Deidealization is not a personal attack but an attempt on the part of the child to make attaining adulthood a less daunting endeavor."

Make sure when you look at that rhino that you are looking at all the parts and thinking about all sides of the story. When you know the truth, it can be a lot easier to swallow.

Bullying

Bullying is such a hot topic in education now. I hear kids throwing the word around in daily conversations. I hear parents complaining that things are worse in schools now than when they were in school. I hear teachers and administrators trying to brainstorm solutions for how to handle the problem in our classrooms and on our playgrounds.The biggest addition to the bullying problem, is the addition of technology. My students frequently come to me complaining about harassing text messages and emails they receive from their peers.

I know teachers and other school staff are doing their best to keep kids safe while they are at school, keeping eyes on during unstructured time such as time between classes and recess/lunch. The kids that are doing the bullying are sneaky and not easy to catch. Also, there isn’t much that can be done when things occur outside of school through technology.

We all have heard the horror stories of the child who commits suicide as a result of the torment they undergo daily from these bullies. As a teacher, I feel like I am in the position where I could make a true different in the life of the child being bullied, but I feel severely underprepared for such a role. I know that school needs to be a safe place for kids to grow and learn so that they can develop into successful members of society.

I wish that I could say that I have all the answers and can fix the bullying problem in our schools. I can offer little more than a dedication and a desire to learn more and make changes in my school.

Back Again!

I am back, taking another online class through the University of Maine about middle level curriculum development. It is the last class for me to complete my master's program in literacy. This class, EDC 524 is an elective that I was interested in taking because I am interested in middle school philosophy and the idea of a completely integrated curriculum.

I look forward to reading some professional texts and having some conversations with my colleagues to further hash out this ever-illusive idea of curriculum. Learning more about how to improve myself as an educator has always been my goal. Since the class is online, all of this learning will also incorporate a healthy dose of technology education and experimentation.

The semester very short, only four weeks, but I am sure it will be jam-packed with valuable learning and growth.

We've Come to the End... Or Have We?

This is my last post for the class EDC 533. I have been through the twists and turns of curriculum development and I have arrived on the other side a bit worse for wear, but ultimately empowered. This class have given me the opportunity to learn about curriculum in a way I never had before. I learned how it is developed, the ways it can be organized, and the headaches it can cause for all the people involved. Through this blog and other methods, I have examined some of the problems with the current curriculum and possible solutions. Since this was a class with a time limit, I still feel like there are things I need to learn more about and look at, but it has given me a good basis for continuing my self education.

I will leave you with these thoughts. Although curriculum seems like an overwhelming task to take on, it is important and worth it. We need to involve stakeholders (including students) to help us develop something that will help our children to learn and grow and become critical and creative thinkers. We need to question the status quo and look to alternatives that haven't been tried yet. We are preparing students for jobs and situations that don't exist yet! We need to teach them to think for themselves! Being an educator is a powerful position to be in and we need to do our best everyday to make sure we are getting through to our students and making progress.

I'll hop off my soap box for now and leave you with the tid bit that I will be back. I am taking another online course on curriculum development this summer and will be able to add more information and insight using this blog. See you in a few weeks!

Tracking

My school is taking on the bear of standards based education. In having conversations with several people, the idea that we are "reinventing the wheel" and just tracking kids has come up. Tracking is such a tricky subject. Most teachers I talk to are against it, saying that kids are forced into groups and not allowed to move up or down based on need. According to what I have heard and read so far about standards based education, this is not the case, and the groupings will be fluid. Even so, tracking is an interesting controversial subject in education.

I did some online research to read more about the two sides of tracking, pro and con. The first article I read was from a blog hosted on Education Week http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2009/06/the_problem_of_tracking_in_mid.html. The author, Mary Ann Zehr refers to tracking is the harsh terms of "malpractice". She cites a study done where a previously tracked school was reformed into a school with heterogeneous classes. The classes that were considered low before made great progress when they were integrated with more accomplished students. The author was obviously against the practice of tracking and supported it with this study.

To get a balanced view, I looked at a site that my sister-in-law had recommended to mehttp://www.geniusdenied.com/articles.aspx?articleid=14&NavID=3_5. She recently read the book Genius Denied by Jan and Bob Davison. I have not read the book, but I did look into the educator section and have had conversations about it. Overall, the premise of the book is that we are doing a disservice to the gifted students in America by not challenging them. In the educator section of their website, they talk about some of the things we can do in the classroom to make sure that gifted students receive the education they deserve. The authors go on to say "Highly gifted learners need to be grouped with their intellectual peers in more rigorous self-contained academic classes." They take the approach that students with high intellectual abilities need to be challenged and cannot be appropriately taught in a class where there are students with high needs.

An article from education.com took the idea of tracking even further and looked at the long term effects of tracking on students in terms of their professional adult roles. The article states, "The labeling system, beginning at an early age, determines who will wear a stethoscope, who will carry a laptop computer, and who will become a low-wage laborer." http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Other_Side_Tracks/

After reading and thinking about these three articles and what I already know about tracking in schools, I have to say that it is an unfair practice. I am of the opinion that teachers can make their curriculum differentiated enough in the classroom to benefit all students without the stigma of some students being in the "dumb" class. With effective differentiation, all students are working up to their own potential, making progress, and still getting the benefit of working with students at all levels. As a dedicated educator, I would hate to think that I was responsible for picking a students' future job without an honest input from them based on their interests. It is my job to provide all students with a valuable education that allows them to grow and develop to the best of their abilities.

Digital Farming

The term "digital farm" makes me think of one thing, Farmville on Facebook. I must confess that I was once a Farmville addict, rushing home to harvest my plants and earn gold coins to progress in level. I have gone through a recovery program and no longer feel the need to plan my day around activities involving finding new homes for lost black sheep. I do however feel a slight twinge whenever I see a status update touting a friend's upward progress on the Farmville scale.

The idea of the digital age and the impact it is having on education has sent many teachers scurrying and hiding in the closet with their overhead projectors. Chapter 11 in Heidi Hayes Jacobs' book, Curriculum 21, is about losing control to technology in our very own classrooms.

The chapter's author, Alan November, talks about how many schools have banned new technologies because there is no way to completely monitor how students are using them. In the past, children were needed to contribute to the family farms to make sure that the family was successful. In short, children were needed. With the advent of many farm machines, children's value and ability to contribute decreased. We are now faced with a new role for students, "students making contributions to their learning communities (p.188)". We need a digital farm where students can contribute!

Digital Portfolios

I did some reading this week on digital portfolios. It was inspiring as well as frustrating (as are most things regarding curriculum). The inspiring part comes from my wanting to take on such a project for my students. The frustrating part is the complete lack of technology in my school. Without the proper technology a molehill can certainly become a mountain. Let me just explain how tricky it is. I have one computer in my room that is about 4 or 5 years old. It mirrors the ones in our lab too. I do not have access to a laptop unless I bring my own from home. There is one digital projector in our wing (to share with four teachers) and one teacher has commandeered it. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I love my job and I think that we have the potential to improve our situation, but for now? Digital portfolios are not in my realm.

On a more positive note, I will pretend that all my students had access to internet in their houses and computers in the classroom. Digital portfolios would be a phenomenal way to keep track of student progress and growth. I can also see using them as a tool to help with student led conferences. What a powerful tool to have students share their own work digitally with their parents. A girl can dream, right?

For now, it is just that, a dream. I will not let go of it though, and eventually, I might be able to make it a reality.

Action Verbs: Educating for a Sustainable Future

I just enjoyed Chapter 10 in Heidi Hayes Jacobs' book, Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World. The chapter was written by Jamie P. Cloud and dealt with the idea that our world and the way we are living now is unsustainable. According to the author, "A practice (or a set of practices) is unsustainable when it undermines the health of the very systems upon which it depends and therefore cannot be continued or sustained over time (p. 168)"

Thinking about sustainability in terms of education is an interesting concept to me. I knew that we were doing our students a disservice by teaching them in the same old way we always have, but I hadn't thought about how it is effecting the world as a whole. Our current students are going to have to deal with a planet that is sick from misuse and abuse and they are going to be the ones to have to come up with solutions. The way we are educating them now is not giving them the practice and the skills to be able to rise to this task. According to the chapter, 70% of students feel hopeless about the future and "disempowered" in their lives. My answer to this is, we need to provide them with choices and opportunities to get that power and hope back!

The Cloud Institute for Sustainable Education is a program that inspires educators to teach meaningful content to create a sustainable future. On page 181, the author makes several statements about what students will do in a service learning project following their program. The statements all started with an action verb: develop, explore, discover, investigate, envision, document, research, and scan. What powerful words!

Up until now it is almost like we have had our heads in the sand. We keep telling kids that since they are our future, they will have to help us fix the mess our planet and its inhabitants are in, but we never give them the skills or opportunities to do so. We need to take action and tap into our resource of the young!

My Ideal School

I have always operated under the assumption that all kids can learn and it is my job as an educator to find a way to reach them and their potential. My school would be a place where every student is expected to learn and perform at their own pace while still meeting standards and improving themselves in order to become successful and productive citizens. I envision teachers and students working together collaboratively instead of teachers being the “keepers of knowledge”. I see students being engaged in their learning and having ultimate choice over what they focus on. My school would focus on making our students happy, well adjusted individuals who are confident and motivated to be lifelong learners.
The curriculum would be based on skills students would need to know for the ultimate goal of being successful and productive citizens. Instead of focusing on specific facts they need to know, I would instead focus on teaching them how to find out new information and delve deeper into things that interest them and things that come up as they year progresses. I have experienced several times when current events have come up that I wanted to share with my students, but I couldn’t teach them because it didn’t fit into my curriculum plan. If the curriculum is open like this, it allows for changes based on student interest and new things that are introduced frequently into our lives.
My school would be structured using flexible grouping based on the need of students. I would like them to be responsible for their own learning and be able to see their own progress, so I would have them be in groups until they mastered a specific skill. These groups, by nature, would be multiage and not limited by time. Students could move as fast or as slow as they needed in order to really grasp a concept. Graduation and commencement would not be limited by age so students that needed to move on faster or slower would not be limited by social norms.
In my school I would keep student to teacher ratios low so that student would get more individualized attention and instruction. In addition to employing people trained as teachers, I would also contract the help of experts in various fields to provide authentic learning experiences for my students out in the community. Adults would be seen as resources for more knowledge instead of someone that either knows everything or spends their time forcing kids to sit down and be quiet.
I see all students and adults working both collaboratively and independently, based on the task at hand. All learning would be project based or internships with students creatively showing their learning in a way that works for them instead of a high stakes assessment with the ultimate goal being a “meaningful diploma”.
Physically my school might not look too different from a current school layout. The classroom sizes would vary depending on what the room is being used for. I would repurpose spaces so that students would have more opportunity to engage with technology and different forms of learning. I would have rooms set up with tables so that work could be spread out and looked at by groups of people. My one school would house grades K-5 in a traditional elementary school setting but the actual students would not be divided as such. I think that having the school divided by departments/subjects would be best for collaborative working among students and staff. For example, I would have a wing just for science labs, where students could work on experiments and scientific research, regardless of their “level” and have access to all the materials my building has to offer.
In terms of virtual space, this is a question I have a hard time answering. I know that I would ultimately like to have access to the latest technology and allow students to explore it and use it to both help them and display their learning. I could say that currently I would like them to make use of global learning by connecting with students across the world and that they would be exposed to publishing via blogs and podcasts. Beyond that, I would hope to stay up to date with budding technologies and make them available to students to work with in creative ways.
I wonder when I can start building...

Antiques

Reading Heidi Hayes Jacobs' new book, "Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World" has been interesting so far. One thing that struck me while reading was the idea that curriculum has pretty much looked the same for the past hundred years. We all have them, the dreaded three ring binder chock full of papers with the dictated curriculum typed on them in the order you are recommended to teach them in. No one likes them, the teachers hate storing them, the curriculum coordinator hates typing them, and the secretaries hate copying and collating them. WHY then, do we still maintain this antiquated form or curriculum planning and reporting?

In Jacobs' book, she talks about curriculum mapping, something that can be done online through a computer in a more user friendly way. It takes up no space, it is more friendly to use, and people can revise it at the drop of a hat without having to create a new document and distribute it to everyone. I like also how an online curriculum map would be visible to a lot of people and there could be more opportunity for collaboration.

So, long story short, I hope that in the near future out dreaded curriculum binders will become a thing of the past and we will be seeing them hit the shelves of antique shops. I'll give anyone interested a really good deal on one if you're in the market. It's been hardly used, but I at least keep it dusted :)

Food for Thought

Just read an article entitled "WHy High Schools Must Go". I have to say it was a mind blowing 10 minute read for me. When I think about my own high school experience, there was nothing of note that stood out to me. There are the same traditional benchmarks, prom, graduation, and the parties on the weekends, but educationally? Not a whole lot there. The man being interviewed, Leon Botstein, holds the opinion that high schools are hurting rather than helping older adolescents.

His view point is that by keeping these teens in a traditional high school setting, we are holding them back and even hurting their emotional development. They are ready to be on their own and be in charge of their own learning and instead we are holding their hands and giving out detentions for misbehaving. Botstein maintains that we should not have high school as it is now, but instead have teens attending college at an earlier age. I would have loved a system like that when I was 16!

College, especially freshman year was such an incredibly liberating experience, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life. It was a time to connect to people, to explore who I was, and to develop a self image that fit the person I am today. College was a teenage playground and if given the opportunity to experience it earlier in my life would have been a blessing. Instead I was stuck in a stuffy old lab learning things that I would have to relearn in college because I didn't retain them the first time. It all comes down to choice. High school was not a choice and college was. There is a huge amount of power in providing choices.

More Than Just Hormone Driven Balls of Attitude

This week in EDC 533, I was reminded of how tough and important middle school is. In my own personal experience, it was the most painful of all my years in school. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and I thought that I was all alone in this feeling (little did I know). I listened to a powerpoint presentation that reminded me that although I prefer not to teach middle school, the people that do need a whole bag of tricks for dealing with this special time in a child's development and education.

When I see the middle schoolers roaming the halls, I frequently think "Look at these young adults." Some of them are already taller than me and could buy cigarettes without being carded (even though they are only 13). I know I am among the guilty for thinking that these KIDS are adults. They are closer to being a kid than a grownup, regardless of how they look. Their brains and bodies are still developing (at a rapid pace) and their hormones are kicking into high gear, effecting how they act and what they say. They are all dealing with their own self-image and how they fit into the dynamic of their relationships with their peers.

The biggest thing that struck me was the point the presentation made about the development of their prefrontal cortex. Their hormones and emotions are on overdrive and their prefrontal cortex is unable to rein in their emotional responses. It's not that they want to be dramatic and cry all the time, it's what their brain is telling them to do!

The lesson for me and maybe you too is that the next time I see a hulking 8th grader wandering the halls, remember that they need reassurance and acceptance just like any other kid, in addition to a hefty dose of compassion and understanding. Go hug a middle-schooler today!

Current Trends

After reading the article at www.answers.com/topic/elementary-education-current-trends a few things stuck out to me. One is that is says that curriculum and current trends in education are a "focus of concern and disagreement." I think that just about sums it up. Everyone has an opinion, but what are we really doing about it? We are all concerned about it because ultimately we are all effected by it in one way or another and yet we tend to sit back and think that it is someone else's problem (even teachers)! It reminds me of the people that don't go out and vote and then spend the next 4 years complaining about who the president is. We need to earn the right to complain and disagree by putting ourselves out there!

The article takes education in several countries and talks about the similarities and differences. I liked part of the Japan section where it talked about the focus of their education being to "work together to become healthy in mind, body, and spirit." In the United States we sometimes focus so much on the test scores and where we are compared to other countries that we forget to work together and we forget that we are educating PEOPLE. We don't always take into account the whole child when we are teaching them. I am forced to think about some of my students that come to school worrying about where their next meal will come from and I am asking them to focus on spelling? Fat chance!

Just some interesting ideas and of course, more questions to ponder!

Stuck in the Middle with You

I have always known that I have trouble making a decision and sticking to it. I am one of those people that listen to an argument and think, "Yeah, I can see why they think that" and then listens to the counter argument and thinks the same thing. It is this "middle of the road" position I find myself in now in regards to the direction my school is taking with their curriculum.

We have been listening to our superintendent talk about standards based education and how we need to make sure all students are being successful. He talks about how some students need more time and that they should be allowed that time instead of passed on from grade to grade when they are not ready. In light of so many of our students not passing standardized tests, this is his solution to increase both teacher and student accountability.

In reading several articles posted on our class Moodle, I have now been exposed to the counter argument. More standards are not what we need, the U.S. is trying to catch up to schools that are in developing countries and are ultimately trying to catch up to us. We are working backwards instead of forwards. We need more focus on HOW to think and solve problems creatively instead of more tests.

I am more confused than ever now because I can see where both parties come from. I can see needing to be accountable for making sure each student has the tools they need to be successful and I can see that we aren't going to get there with more testing. My favorite quote that I got out of a class I took last semester was, "You don't get a sheep to gain weight by weighing it more often." So, out of frustration, I yell to the sky, "What is the right answer???"

Reshaping Learning from the Ground Up

I know I am bombarding my blog with lost of posts today, but I can't seem to keep quiet.

I just read the article, "Reshaping Learning from the Ground Up" from edutopia.org. It is an interview with Alvin Toffler, an author, about the current state of education. His first comment, "Shut down the public education system." blew me away. I've been thinking, up until now, that we could reshape and rework what we already have going for us, but I can definitely see where he is coming from. His argument is that there is so much wrong with public education today that there isn't a strong enough base to work from. WOW!

My main complaint about the school I am teaching in now is that we are always trying to reinvent the wheel. We rewrite curriculum and programming every year without giving any time to try out the "new" program. In the three years I have been there, we have gone through two spelling programs, two math programs, and now they are looking at throwing it all out again. Although it sounds like we are not "settling" in our curriculum, think of what this is doing to our students. They have no idea what to expect!

I digress though. I am interested in Toffler's idea of what a utopian education would look like. He would have a school open 24 hours a day and based individually on the needs and what is best for each kid. We are expected to do that now with RTI and NCLB but we are not given the time or the resources to do that. He also talks about teachers not being able to do what they know works because of the constraints placed on them by expectations and mandates by the government/powers that be.

Edutopia Article

http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson

In reading the above article for EDC 533, I was struck by the following quote:

"And the work we create and publish is assessed by the value it brings to the people who read it, reply to it, and remix it. Much of what our students learn from us is unlearned once they leave us; paper is not the best way to share our work, facts and truths are constantly changing, and working together is becoming the norm, not the exception."

It brings me back to the idea that traditional education is not working and that we need to make some changes. Although some would argue that we have made substantial gains since the time say my parents were in school in the 50's and 60's, I would beg to offer that the changes are not in direct correlation with the change we have seen in the world. Education has for the most part been a constant. The expectation is the same. Children of a certain age will sit in a classroom for 7+ hours a day, Monday through Friday. They will learn how to read and write and they will be tested on it.

This article brings to light that the things that we have ALWAYS done are not always the best or most productive way of doing it. We appear to be stuck. We have more technology at our fingertips than ever before. We have more access to people across the world, and yet... I bet most classrooms are based on pencil and paper. Why are we so resistant to change and evolution?

Model Schools

I looked at Little Red Schoolhouse & Elisabeth Irwin High School In New York (http://lrei.org/midschool/index.html) and KIPP schools across the country (http://www.kipp.org/).

To compare the two schools, I looked at KIPP and was immediately stricken by the “Word hard. Be nice.” motto at the bottom of the homepage. Isn’t that what we want from all of our students? Effort and a general kind atmosphere? I like how simply put it is and how appropriate for the educational environment.

They have student focused instruction: “balance rigorous curriculum with the joy of learning”. In public education, at least in my school, we have sucked the fun out of everything we do. Because of budget cuts, we have eliminated all the programs that are not “necessary” (read:tested). These programs, including shop and a wilderness survival program were some of the only things keeping some kids showing up every day.

“Over 90 percent of KIPP students are African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more than 80 percent of KIPP students are eligible for the federal free and reduced-price meals program.”
How is it then that our public schools can blame poor test scores and poor engagement on our lower socioeconomic status? My school is very low in terms of socioeconomics. What is the discrepancy here? How can their kids want to be at school and be succeeding, while my students hate coming and resent the fact that they are forced to (even in 5th grade)? I believe that it has something to do with their high expectations. The kids preparing for college have higher expectations placed on them than students meandering through public education just to get through. I want to say that I have high expectations in my class, but what other messages do my students get throughout the rest of their day?

The Little Red School house's Mission statement: “Our goal is to educate students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners and to pursue academic excellence and individual achievement, in a context of respect for others and service to the community.” Sounds very much like KIPP’s motto of “Word hard. Be nice.” Both programs seem to appeal to getting kids ready for their ultimate role in life, productive citizen. The most surprising thing about this school is that it was considered progressive in 1921 and by contemporary standards it is still so. It is a little alarming to me that in the past 90 years we have not made all that much progress in public education. It still feels somewhat oppressive and kids are just expected to go and “do their time”. No wonder behavior issues arise and people are unhappy in the school environment. It makes me think of how many new teachers, fresh out of college, leave the teaching profession after three years. I always thought this was a high statistic and that I would never consider it. I am working on my third year of teaching and I can understand where they are coming from!

Looking through the basic curriculum outline, I am noticing that there is a focus on engagement through hands on activities. Science and social studies are subjects that kids focus on (which have been all but eliminated from our school due to lack of testing). I like that the lower elementary curriculum focuses on building a community. Without a strong foundation, things can’t be built on top of it. In my school we seem to jump into academics and then try to build community as an afterthought. It doesn’t work and we are banging our heads against the desk wondering why.

The things that the two schools have in common is an authenticity in their education and a high level of expectation from all students. All students are expected to participate and more importantly, they WANT to because of how engaging the activities are! The overall atmosphere of the buildings sounds positive and inspiring and like a place people want to be. This is something that is missing, at least in my school. Both schools offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities such as gymnastics and woodworking, and more academic time like summer school and school on Saturdays. It appears to me that these schools are doing something right and we should be modeling ourselves after them more and more.

Defining Curriculum

After a brief Google search this is what I unearthed for possible definitions of 'curriculum'

yourdictionary.com defines curriculum as:
1. a fixed series of studies required, as in a college, for graduation, qualification in a major field of study, etc.
all of the courses, collectively, offered in a school, college, etc., or in a particular subject

answers.com defines curriculum as:
1. All the courses of study offered by an educational institution.
A group of related courses, often in a special field of study: the engineering curriculum

wikipedia.com defines curriculum as:
“In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults.”

Merriam-Webster defines curriculum as:
1 : the courses offered by an educational institution
2 : a set of courses constituting an area of specialization

After reading through each definition I came across, I would have to say that the idea of curriculum being “experiences through which children grow to become mature adults” as stated on Wikipedia.com. I think that it is our ultimate goal to get kids to be prepared to be productive citizens, informed consumers, and prepared to create a life on their own. Without a well developed curriculum, students leave education with holes in their knowledge that could be detrimental. I like to think of curriculum as being the “big picture”. It is the “why” behind what I do every day. Ultimately we need curriculum to preserve our culture and country.

Is my school regular?

I am wondering now if I should connect my face to my blog...

My school is "regular" in that we start at 7:30 and get out at 2:30 (I know the day seems long to some of you). We have vacations over Christmas, February, and April, and an extended break over the summer months. I teach 5th grade which has me in an interesting almost middle school-like schedule. Each period is 50 minutes long. I teach ELA (English Language Arts) and have double periods to teach 2 classes. In that 100 minutes I am expected to squeeze in 120+ minutes of instruction.

I started teaching at this school 3 years ago. In the past three years we have had several changes in our administration including a new principal, assistant principal, and superintendent. Our town voted not to consolidate last year and we are now dealing with the repercussions of that. All of these factors compounded has left the teaching staff feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. In addition to these things, we are dealing with new curriculum development and our superintendent is looking at standards based education instead of dividing kids by age. I guess so much is "up in the air" or "in progress" that I am not sure whether I am facing forwards or backwards.

Seeing other teachers in my EDC 533 class talk about their schools and how well everyone works together toward a common goal makes me a little jealous. I wish our school could get to that point. I think we can, but there are several large roadblocks that we need to overcome first.

In terms of our curriculum, we have a curriculum coordinator and a new curriculum binder as of last year. It was developed before Union 90 was disintegrated by consolidation and we were left on our own (by the choice of townspeople). Being a new teacher, I was excited to have something concrete to refer to but have been disappointed with what the binder has supplied me with. It is vague and hard to follow. It seems like the learning result are put in the binder and it is still up to me to decide how to get the students proficient in what they need to know. Although I enjoy the freedom and the ability to be creative, I worry that my students are not getting a full education because of the holes in our curriculum.

I guess I would have to say that on the surface, my school is "regular", but once you dig down a layer or two, we are seriously lacking some things that could make us better.