I really enjoyed these videos and thankfully not because I have ever had an administrator like these examples! Sorry if you do...
Even still, the message resonates with me because this is exactly the kind of "reformist" attitude that is thrown around by some who somehow float their way to the top...
You Tube Playlist
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Tap Tap... Tap Tap... Tap
The room was silent except for the tap, tap, tapping of computer keys this afternoon. What is it about computers that helps kids find their zone?
There is a different feeling of focus in the room than when students are working in their writer's notebooks or drafting on loose leaf. Are papers and notebooks just too old fashioned? Are computers that enthralling?
Either way, it was terribly joyful to be immersed in the silent tap, tap, tapping focus in class today.
There is a different feeling of focus in the room than when students are working in their writer's notebooks or drafting on loose leaf. Are papers and notebooks just too old fashioned? Are computers that enthralling?
Either way, it was terribly joyful to be immersed in the silent tap, tap, tapping focus in class today.
Monday, October 4, 2010
High School Fairs
The borough-wide high school fair at Brooklyn Tech this past weekend featured an enormous arc of lime green, soda orange, and neon pink balloons at the entrance. More balloons sat in clusters right outside. A few balloons made their cheery way into the lobby. If you are not involved with the incredible process of applying to high schools in New York City, you might have thought this was some kind of celebration.
In New York, students need to apply to public high schools, which on its own is not a terrible thing. This application process makes it possible for students living in neighborhoods with unsuccessful zoned schools to choose other, better schools outside of their areas.
Yet, at the same time, the high school application process in this city is extremely competitive, requiring students to attend open houses, give interviews, and take entrance exams. Again, on its own, these are not bad things. However, when you realize that students whose parents know the system, have access to test-prep courses, take them to every open house imaginable, and advocate vociferously for their children have a huge upper hand, the process can seem overwhelmingly unfair.
Sure, I think my students can work harder in 7th grade and make a much more significant effort to attend these fairs and these open houses. But then, when I think about myself at 13 or 14 and imagine, unsuccessfully, what it would have been like not to have had parents who pushed me every day, who had very clear expectations, who read to me when I was small, I doubt I would have been so motivated either. Or, at the very least, I would have been intimidated to go to this fair all by myself.
Perhaps this is not popular to say during this time of "teacher accountability", but parents, you need to step up. Teachers can't take every child to a high school fair. Teachers can't make your children read at home. Teachers can't keep a dictionary near students' bed-side tables. Go to the open houses. Take your kids on interviews. Attend these insane, overly-crowded, germ-infested fairs. At least they have brightly colored balloons.
In New York, students need to apply to public high schools, which on its own is not a terrible thing. This application process makes it possible for students living in neighborhoods with unsuccessful zoned schools to choose other, better schools outside of their areas.
Yet, at the same time, the high school application process in this city is extremely competitive, requiring students to attend open houses, give interviews, and take entrance exams. Again, on its own, these are not bad things. However, when you realize that students whose parents know the system, have access to test-prep courses, take them to every open house imaginable, and advocate vociferously for their children have a huge upper hand, the process can seem overwhelmingly unfair.
Sure, I think my students can work harder in 7th grade and make a much more significant effort to attend these fairs and these open houses. But then, when I think about myself at 13 or 14 and imagine, unsuccessfully, what it would have been like not to have had parents who pushed me every day, who had very clear expectations, who read to me when I was small, I doubt I would have been so motivated either. Or, at the very least, I would have been intimidated to go to this fair all by myself.
Perhaps this is not popular to say during this time of "teacher accountability", but parents, you need to step up. Teachers can't take every child to a high school fair. Teachers can't make your children read at home. Teachers can't keep a dictionary near students' bed-side tables. Go to the open houses. Take your kids on interviews. Attend these insane, overly-crowded, germ-infested fairs. At least they have brightly colored balloons.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Why I Feel Like I'm Talking To Myself
I am a bit nutty, I admit, but I don't generally talk to myself. However, when I talk about education, I feel like I might as well be talking into a strong wind. Nothing I say or think really makes it into any of the education policy decisions made in this country. And all of my observations about NYC schools takes reporters at the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets eons to discover.
Let's take Exhibit A:
"Triumph Fades On Racial Gap in New York City Schools"
This article reports that Bloomberg and Klein have finally realized that the achievement gap between racial groups is not diminishing, despite the fact that both of these men have been saying that it has for the past five years. Unfortunately, the test that they were basing all this on was, well, too easy.
"But the test scores that the mayor and the chancellor chose to highlight were the state standardized tests, and they built their entire system around it, with schools’ A-through-F grades, teachers’ bonuses and now tenure decisions dependent on how well their students performed on the tests."
Now, here is my problem. I could have told Bloomberg and Klein this a few years ago. Most teachers probably could have. Those of us in the classroom, on the proverbial "frontlines", see that the achievement gap is bigger than just test scores. If you really want to measure the gap between blacks and Latinos and other groups, you have to look at everything from reading levels to the academic proficiency with which students enter the system. While test scores from 2004-2009 painted a rosy picture for government officials, showing a steady leveling of scores, in the classroom, the situation remained dire with black and Latino students continuing to face huge challenges and educational stumbling blocks.
For the reporter who wrote this story, I'd like to make a suggestion. Perhaps you could look into the fact that the government "based their entire system" around testing. This is a huge story. There is something wrong when teachers, students, and schools are all evaluated based on ONE TEST in math and ELA. Most teachers have known for years that this system is ludicrous and would ultimately fail. If a teacher used one data point to determine students' grades for an entire year, the rest of us in the profession would balk. We would laugh. We would perhaps flog him or her.
But of course, no one asked us.
I would really like to see a story written in the New York Times by a real, breathing, honest-to-God teacher. What a novelty. A teacher, an educator, a person who steps into a school every day, writing about education for the general public. Then maybe I'd feel less like a mumbling fool talking to herself on the street.
Let's take Exhibit A:
"Triumph Fades On Racial Gap in New York City Schools"
This article reports that Bloomberg and Klein have finally realized that the achievement gap between racial groups is not diminishing, despite the fact that both of these men have been saying that it has for the past five years. Unfortunately, the test that they were basing all this on was, well, too easy.
"But the test scores that the mayor and the chancellor chose to highlight were the state standardized tests, and they built their entire system around it, with schools’ A-through-F grades, teachers’ bonuses and now tenure decisions dependent on how well their students performed on the tests."
Now, here is my problem. I could have told Bloomberg and Klein this a few years ago. Most teachers probably could have. Those of us in the classroom, on the proverbial "frontlines", see that the achievement gap is bigger than just test scores. If you really want to measure the gap between blacks and Latinos and other groups, you have to look at everything from reading levels to the academic proficiency with which students enter the system. While test scores from 2004-2009 painted a rosy picture for government officials, showing a steady leveling of scores, in the classroom, the situation remained dire with black and Latino students continuing to face huge challenges and educational stumbling blocks.
For the reporter who wrote this story, I'd like to make a suggestion. Perhaps you could look into the fact that the government "based their entire system" around testing. This is a huge story. There is something wrong when teachers, students, and schools are all evaluated based on ONE TEST in math and ELA. Most teachers have known for years that this system is ludicrous and would ultimately fail. If a teacher used one data point to determine students' grades for an entire year, the rest of us in the profession would balk. We would laugh. We would perhaps flog him or her.
But of course, no one asked us.
I would really like to see a story written in the New York Times by a real, breathing, honest-to-God teacher. What a novelty. A teacher, an educator, a person who steps into a school every day, writing about education for the general public. Then maybe I'd feel less like a mumbling fool talking to herself on the street.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Response to NYTimes Editorial - "The Fight Over Education in Washington"
On Saturday July 31, the Times editorial board continued to miss the point about education reform when it continued to blindly praise President Obama's edcuation plan and villainize those actually inside the classrooms.
"...teachers unions and other forces of the status quo are already trying to subvert the measure [the Elementary and Secondary Education Act] by discrediting President Obama's signature education initiative, the Race to the Top, which requires the states to make reforms in exchange for federal grants."
Let's look at some of the language the editors use to distort the issue:
"...teachers unions and other forces of the status quo are already trying to subvert the measure [the Elementary and Secondary Education Act] by discrediting President Obama's signature education initiative, the Race to the Top, which requires the states to make reforms in exchange for federal grants."
Let's look at some of the language the editors use to distort the issue:
- "teachers unions" = When I see or hear this phrase I can't help but believe that this is a euphemism for teachers in general, most likely along with principals and anyone else who actually works in school buildings. My colleagues know that I am certainly not the biggest fan of our teacher union and believe that the union itself has a lot of reform to do. But when the media uses the phrase "teachers unions" the public will equate that with teachers.
- "...and other forces of the status quo..." = Yes, teachers don't want anything to change in education. Everything is going just fine. Please. By "status quo" what you really mean is opposition to Race to the Top. Teachers and real leaders of education reform have been pushing against the "status quo" forever. And by the way, can you please explain how Race to the Top is different from No Child Left Behind? How is it really different? And, also, what "other forces" are you talking about?
- "...subvert the measure by discrediting President Obama's signature initiative..." = Yes, this is exactly what those of us who are on the front lines and have the real experience and real data are trying to do. We support Obama. He's just wrong about this. Or doesn't know enough.
- "reforms" = Perhaps this is the most important point. When the New York Times or President Obama's team use this word it assumes that "reforms" (which are really just "changes") are automatically good, an improvement upon what currently exists. Again, this is political rhetoric designed to make Obama's plan seem obvious and those opposed seem self-interested and out of touch. We ALL want reform. Just not this kind (if it really is anything more than a catchy renaming and tweaking of NCLB).
The editorial goes on to say, "The attacks picked up in earnest this week, when a coalition of civil rights groups ... signed onto a statement that attacked not just Race to the Top, but the very idea of using competitive grants to spur reform... President Obama came out swinging on Thursday... He seemed particularly incensed by the baseless claim that Race to the Top had shortchanged minority children."
Baseless claim? Really? What stake, exactly do civil rights groups have in opposing Race to the Top? Why would these groups gather and spend money, effort, and time to rail against Obama's precious "signature initiative"? Perhaps it's because the claim is not in fact baseless but rooted in common sense and data that politicians and media outlets like the Times are not interested in. The editorial quotes Obama's defense.
"He said the charge that it 'isn't targeted at those young people most in need is absolutely false because lifting up quality for all our children--black, white, Hispanic--that is the central premise of Race to the Top. And you can't win one of these grants unless you've got a plan to deal with those schools that are failing and those young people who aren't doing well.'"
As I've argued here before, by definition Race to the Top means that many states, districts, schools, and children will be LEFT BEHIND because they do not "win one of these grants". And even if all schools did everything to win these grants (despite the fact that many educators KNOW that some of the conditions that need to be met will NOT improve schools) all of them cannot win money.
We cannot have an honest debate or even discussion about improving schooling in America if we scramble our plans in empty political rhetoric and squash opposing voices by mislabeling them and misrepresenting their ideas.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Why "Race to the Top" Doesn't Make Sense to Me
It's simple really. And I don't understand why everyone doesn't see it. How can anyone proclaim to want to improve the education of all Americans but have states, schools, and students all compete for success?
The basic premise of Race to the Top is that the more that states comply with certain rules or ideals that the federal government lays out regarding education, the greater chance they have of receiving federal funding for education. So, this means that some states are going to get more money than others. Isn't the natural logic that the students in these states would "do better"? Doesn't that mean the government is promoting the success of students who happen to be in a state that complies with the Obama administration's idea of a good education system over those students who happen to be in a state that does not?
And, if it is a "race" to the top, is it even possible for ALL states to receive federal funding? What if all states scored all the possible brownie points they could get. Then what would happen?
The same thing is happening on a smaller level within states and districts. Here in New York City, for example, the way that the state tests are scored makes it IMPOSSIBLE for all students to score "proficient." In fact, when a high percentage of students scored proficient on the 2009 tests this was cited as a PROBLEM. The tests must be made harder. We will not stand for such high levels of proficiency!
The truth is that I may agree that the tests need to be harder and that students should be at higher levels than they currently are. But, theoretically at least, wouldn't it be GOOD if all students were proficient on a test? No one even mentions this as a possibility. The reflex assumption echoed even among liberal politicians and the "liberal media" like the New York Times is that the tests are problematic because too many students did well.
The same thing happened last year when New York City schools received their annual report cards. Too many schools received an "A". The horror! Something must be wrong if all of these schools are scoring so well! What should we do? I know, mandate that only 20% of schools can get an "A" next year. Once again, the city has set up a system where it is IMPOSSIBLE for all schools to succeed by their own measurement standards.
How does everyone not see how our states, our schools, and our students are being SET UP TO FAIL?
I understand that we are a capitalist nation. I understand that competition leads to innovation and progress. But do we believe this about education? Maybe some people do. And that's okay. What's NOT okay is when these people use rhetoric to proclaim that all of these "reforms" are "for the children".
No. They are not. If you want to reform education for the children start by acknowledging that races to the top among states and competition among students and schools for high scores BY THEIR VERY NATURE are designed to leave many, many children behind.
The basic premise of Race to the Top is that the more that states comply with certain rules or ideals that the federal government lays out regarding education, the greater chance they have of receiving federal funding for education. So, this means that some states are going to get more money than others. Isn't the natural logic that the students in these states would "do better"? Doesn't that mean the government is promoting the success of students who happen to be in a state that complies with the Obama administration's idea of a good education system over those students who happen to be in a state that does not?
And, if it is a "race" to the top, is it even possible for ALL states to receive federal funding? What if all states scored all the possible brownie points they could get. Then what would happen?
The same thing is happening on a smaller level within states and districts. Here in New York City, for example, the way that the state tests are scored makes it IMPOSSIBLE for all students to score "proficient." In fact, when a high percentage of students scored proficient on the 2009 tests this was cited as a PROBLEM. The tests must be made harder. We will not stand for such high levels of proficiency!
The truth is that I may agree that the tests need to be harder and that students should be at higher levels than they currently are. But, theoretically at least, wouldn't it be GOOD if all students were proficient on a test? No one even mentions this as a possibility. The reflex assumption echoed even among liberal politicians and the "liberal media" like the New York Times is that the tests are problematic because too many students did well.
The same thing happened last year when New York City schools received their annual report cards. Too many schools received an "A". The horror! Something must be wrong if all of these schools are scoring so well! What should we do? I know, mandate that only 20% of schools can get an "A" next year. Once again, the city has set up a system where it is IMPOSSIBLE for all schools to succeed by their own measurement standards.
How does everyone not see how our states, our schools, and our students are being SET UP TO FAIL?
I understand that we are a capitalist nation. I understand that competition leads to innovation and progress. But do we believe this about education? Maybe some people do. And that's okay. What's NOT okay is when these people use rhetoric to proclaim that all of these "reforms" are "for the children".
No. They are not. If you want to reform education for the children start by acknowledging that races to the top among states and competition among students and schools for high scores BY THEIR VERY NATURE are designed to leave many, many children behind.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
iSchool iThink
Ms. Shah so beautifully summed up many of the ideas that were sparked from our visit to the iSchool yesterday. I would like to reiterate that at this point in my career visiting other schools and getting a sense for the possibilities and of the excitement out there is invigorating. It is amazing to me each time I visit another school how much tunnel vision I have accumulated in my home school. The PERSPECTIVE that opens up is refreshing. I am "up on the balcony" for sure. I won't repeat the same take-aways as Ms. Shah even though we took them away together... Instead I offer three more iThoughts:
1. Market Our Classes - This is an idea that has been tossed around before at UNMS, but I was happy to see it in action at iSchool. The idea is simple: create course names and more specific goals for each course. This was most evident in the iSchool's "modules", which are investigative, interdisciplinary inquiry courses around a contained theme or issue, which Ms. Shah discussed in her post. Imagine if at UNMS instead of students just having a class called "Science" for three years, each year, or better yet, each semester or quarter was named a specific course, such as "The Human Body" or even something catchier like, "How do humans survive?" Essentially, for a course like science or math, instead of having units inside the class that get stretched out, blended, and diluted, these classes can be named after catchy and memorable essential questions or inquiries. I believe this would help both teachers AND students gain clarity about goals and be more excited about content.
This idea also has unique implications for the humanities department, which I have been thinking about and playing around with for the past week. One challenge the humanities team has faced since implementing the program five years ago is how to manage the immense amount of content and skills that lie within ELA and Social Studies. Inevitably each year a pendulum swings back and forth between competing areas of content (e.g., history vs. geography; economics; writing notebooks?; nonfiction writing?; GRAMMAR?; vocabulary study; independent reading; open-research and inquiry projects, etc...) In short, something gets shortchanged each year. Splitting the course back "to normal" between ELA and Social Studies is not the answer to this dilemma. Instead, I think the creation of smaller more targeted "mini-courses" within humanities could offer a solution to make sure we target the skills and content we value most at UNMS. Which leads me to my next point...
2. Consider Implementing Concrete Quarter Semesters This is another idea that floated around the UNMS cloud a few years ago. There are two good reasons why this is something worth considering. The first is that it unifies the school in a number of ways. Imagine that the entire school is involved in a 9- or 10-week quarter course and all teachers and students are working on the same pacing throughout these weeks. This means that students would be getting repeated practice with certain "learning skills", such as how to build background knowledge, how to conduct inquiry, and how to demonstrate knowledge and reflect upon it, at the same times. Professional discussions would be enriched by having common ground on which to speak, and students would feel a surging sense of learning and accomplishment as each quarter ended in a variety of meaningful project-based learning demonstrations. This would also help us get on the road toward a long-term goal of UNMS, to create more interdisciplinary projects and learning opportunities.
The second benefit of such an idea is a tightening of school culture and practices. For example, as is often the case, units could not bleed over intended ends and drag on to a slow death; teachers would have to "stay honest" and keep learning targeted and small. In addition, marking periods would actually measure specific chunks of learning instead of landing more arbitrarily in-between this or that unit in different classes; the school could create celebrations and benchmarks in each quarter as every student and teacher travels along the same quarter-long path. For example, maybe each quarter ends with a day of portfolio roundtables and a field day or a spirit week, or some such event.
Here is an example of what a modified humanities course MIGHT look like. (Obviously this is really just a draft of possibilities not an actual proposal.)
3. Be Deliberate About Standards I'll keep this part short since this is something that we already know we want to do, but seeing a school doing it (and a school that is not completely deluded by the sometimes arbitrariness or hard-to-measure-ness of the standards movement), gave me hope that we can do it too. In the humanities team, with the help of the more streamlined National Core Standards, we can identify all of the skills and content we want students to master at UNMS and create a master spreadsheet to track learning. Simple as pie, right?
1. Market Our Classes - This is an idea that has been tossed around before at UNMS, but I was happy to see it in action at iSchool. The idea is simple: create course names and more specific goals for each course. This was most evident in the iSchool's "modules", which are investigative, interdisciplinary inquiry courses around a contained theme or issue, which Ms. Shah discussed in her post. Imagine if at UNMS instead of students just having a class called "Science" for three years, each year, or better yet, each semester or quarter was named a specific course, such as "The Human Body" or even something catchier like, "How do humans survive?" Essentially, for a course like science or math, instead of having units inside the class that get stretched out, blended, and diluted, these classes can be named after catchy and memorable essential questions or inquiries. I believe this would help both teachers AND students gain clarity about goals and be more excited about content.This idea also has unique implications for the humanities department, which I have been thinking about and playing around with for the past week. One challenge the humanities team has faced since implementing the program five years ago is how to manage the immense amount of content and skills that lie within ELA and Social Studies. Inevitably each year a pendulum swings back and forth between competing areas of content (e.g., history vs. geography; economics; writing notebooks?; nonfiction writing?; GRAMMAR?; vocabulary study; independent reading; open-research and inquiry projects, etc...) In short, something gets shortchanged each year. Splitting the course back "to normal" between ELA and Social Studies is not the answer to this dilemma. Instead, I think the creation of smaller more targeted "mini-courses" within humanities could offer a solution to make sure we target the skills and content we value most at UNMS. Which leads me to my next point...
2. Consider Implementing Concrete Quarter Semesters This is another idea that floated around the UNMS cloud a few years ago. There are two good reasons why this is something worth considering. The first is that it unifies the school in a number of ways. Imagine that the entire school is involved in a 9- or 10-week quarter course and all teachers and students are working on the same pacing throughout these weeks. This means that students would be getting repeated practice with certain "learning skills", such as how to build background knowledge, how to conduct inquiry, and how to demonstrate knowledge and reflect upon it, at the same times. Professional discussions would be enriched by having common ground on which to speak, and students would feel a surging sense of learning and accomplishment as each quarter ended in a variety of meaningful project-based learning demonstrations. This would also help us get on the road toward a long-term goal of UNMS, to create more interdisciplinary projects and learning opportunities.
The second benefit of such an idea is a tightening of school culture and practices. For example, as is often the case, units could not bleed over intended ends and drag on to a slow death; teachers would have to "stay honest" and keep learning targeted and small. In addition, marking periods would actually measure specific chunks of learning instead of landing more arbitrarily in-between this or that unit in different classes; the school could create celebrations and benchmarks in each quarter as every student and teacher travels along the same quarter-long path. For example, maybe each quarter ends with a day of portfolio roundtables and a field day or a spirit week, or some such event.
Here is an example of what a modified humanities course MIGHT look like. (Obviously this is really just a draft of possibilities not an actual proposal.)
3. Be Deliberate About Standards I'll keep this part short since this is something that we already know we want to do, but seeing a school doing it (and a school that is not completely deluded by the sometimes arbitrariness or hard-to-measure-ness of the standards movement), gave me hope that we can do it too. In the humanities team, with the help of the more streamlined National Core Standards, we can identify all of the skills and content we want students to master at UNMS and create a master spreadsheet to track learning. Simple as pie, right?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Visit to the NYCiSchool (sorry, this is a very long post)
I've realized that I love visiting schools and that, next to structured team meetings where I can learn from my colleagues, school visits are the best way for me to grow as an educator. These visits give me much needed perspective on the immense task of educating students and help me see "the big picture" more clearly. Today I had the opportunity to visit the NYCiSchool, a small public high school in its second year of existence. The experience was illuminating and energizing in many respects, and, as always, I was thinking about innovations that might work in our school.
Before I outline my thoughts, I should point out that the NYCiSchool and UNMS are extremely different in two important ways. The iSchool is a high school, currently 9th and 10th graders, and it is screened. UNMS is a middle school and as completely unscreened. As Alisa Berger, the principal, introduced the school, its vision, its successes, and its challenges, I kept both these points in mind. However, at the same time, much of what I saw and heard can apply to UNMS to make learning more engaging and meaningful to our students. Below are a few ideas and thoughts about implications.
1. An emphasis on "authentic" learning and problem-solving. I use quotes for "authentic" because this word gets thrown around a lot in education. However, one feature that I really liked about the iSchool is that is that it pushes for authenticity through module courses. In addition to regular English, math, history, and science classes (many of which are online) that help students pass the regents, students select interdisciplinary module courses that follow a nine week cycle. These courses teach through "challenges" that push students to solve a problem, create a tool, or analyze a debate. Some examples of module courses are "Design a Green Roof", "New York City: A Case Study in American History", and "A Call to Action: The Crisis in Zimbawe." Though we did not get to see one of these courses in action, based on the syllabus and the principal's discussion, they are engaging, rigorous, and meaningful to students. The school creates a very flexible and complicated schedule that allows for both the modules and the very test-prep driven "skills" classes that all students have to take.
For UNMS, I wonder whether an idea like this could work on some level, especially in 7th and 8th grades. Right now in humanities for example, while we push project-based learning, we often get mired in teaching the numerous basic skills and background knowledge that many students still struggle with. Often, this leaves little time for the actual inquiry and forces us to rush. But what if we designed the humanities block so that students had to pass certain "prerequisite" courses in order to take a "humanities elective" based on their interests? These prerequisite courses would fill the first half of the year, making room for electives in the second. Students who do not "pass" the prerequisites have to continue with skill-based work before they can move on to an elective. Also, book club would have clearly outlined standards-based skills (the National Core Standards have a clear set of skills that would be perfect for book club) as well to make sure students are taught all the skills they need. This system would certainly require some flexible grouping and would change the way classes are configured. Also, the prerequisite courses would have to be much more engaging that what we saw at the iSchool to meet the developmental needs of middle schoolers and our particular population. However, if students understood and bought into the purpose of the program, then perhaps something like this could increase excitement for learning at our school.
2. Articulating skills that students need to have and finding out where students are at when they enter our school. While this is an area that the iSchool is still working on, I liked the way Alisa described their method/plan for doing this. Basically, the idea is that all students come to us with different abilities, and the school's job at the beginning of 9th grade is to figure out what these are and to focus on skills that need to be learned. That means students who have more "skill-boxes" shaded in from the get-go don't need a lot of the basic instruction that other students might require.
For UNMS, this means defining skills that we think are important based on our vision and our values, and then tracking students' growth from the moment they enter our school. This is something we realized during the quality review as well, but it was interesting to see how another school is thinking about this challenge. The questions foremost to my mind with regards to skills are how do we decide? How granular do we get? How do we keep the whole tracking system manageable? While these are daunting questions, I think our school is ready to engage in them. However, the entire staff has to be on board and has to be part of the process. And whatever we create has to be student and parent friendly.
3. Building developmental milestones. This is an idea carried over from our Mott Hall II visit that continues to resonate with me. At the iSchool, students are pushed toward independence as they move through high school to prepare them for college and beyond. First, all students have internships on Wednesdays. In 9th and 10th grades, these internships are assigned by the school with participating organizations. In 11th and 12th grade, students are required to find their own internships. Also, in 11th grade students define an area of focus for an independent study with an adviser for the next two years. While this plan is still in the development stage, it sounds like it will work much like an action-research or thesis project to help make the transition to college.
In a middle school model, this might mean that 6th graders have a more restricted schedule with fewer teachers and more prerequisite courses and life-skills classes. As students move to 7th grade, they might have more teachers, more course electives open to them, and perhaps a community service requirement. By 8th grade, students have all of this and also a group inquiry project that serves as an elective course. This structure would push students toward increased independence incrementally as they make the often painful transition from elementary to high school.
Of course all of the ideas above are somewhat idealistic and present a whole new set of challenges and problems for our school. However, that's the benefit of zooming out from your school and classroom every once in a while and getting another perspective: you can remember your ideals, visualize possibilities, and feel excited about zooming back in.
Before I outline my thoughts, I should point out that the NYCiSchool and UNMS are extremely different in two important ways. The iSchool is a high school, currently 9th and 10th graders, and it is screened. UNMS is a middle school and as completely unscreened. As Alisa Berger, the principal, introduced the school, its vision, its successes, and its challenges, I kept both these points in mind. However, at the same time, much of what I saw and heard can apply to UNMS to make learning more engaging and meaningful to our students. Below are a few ideas and thoughts about implications.
1. An emphasis on "authentic" learning and problem-solving. I use quotes for "authentic" because this word gets thrown around a lot in education. However, one feature that I really liked about the iSchool is that is that it pushes for authenticity through module courses. In addition to regular English, math, history, and science classes (many of which are online) that help students pass the regents, students select interdisciplinary module courses that follow a nine week cycle. These courses teach through "challenges" that push students to solve a problem, create a tool, or analyze a debate. Some examples of module courses are "Design a Green Roof", "New York City: A Case Study in American History", and "A Call to Action: The Crisis in Zimbawe." Though we did not get to see one of these courses in action, based on the syllabus and the principal's discussion, they are engaging, rigorous, and meaningful to students. The school creates a very flexible and complicated schedule that allows for both the modules and the very test-prep driven "skills" classes that all students have to take.
For UNMS, I wonder whether an idea like this could work on some level, especially in 7th and 8th grades. Right now in humanities for example, while we push project-based learning, we often get mired in teaching the numerous basic skills and background knowledge that many students still struggle with. Often, this leaves little time for the actual inquiry and forces us to rush. But what if we designed the humanities block so that students had to pass certain "prerequisite" courses in order to take a "humanities elective" based on their interests? These prerequisite courses would fill the first half of the year, making room for electives in the second. Students who do not "pass" the prerequisites have to continue with skill-based work before they can move on to an elective. Also, book club would have clearly outlined standards-based skills (the National Core Standards have a clear set of skills that would be perfect for book club) as well to make sure students are taught all the skills they need. This system would certainly require some flexible grouping and would change the way classes are configured. Also, the prerequisite courses would have to be much more engaging that what we saw at the iSchool to meet the developmental needs of middle schoolers and our particular population. However, if students understood and bought into the purpose of the program, then perhaps something like this could increase excitement for learning at our school.
2. Articulating skills that students need to have and finding out where students are at when they enter our school. While this is an area that the iSchool is still working on, I liked the way Alisa described their method/plan for doing this. Basically, the idea is that all students come to us with different abilities, and the school's job at the beginning of 9th grade is to figure out what these are and to focus on skills that need to be learned. That means students who have more "skill-boxes" shaded in from the get-go don't need a lot of the basic instruction that other students might require.
For UNMS, this means defining skills that we think are important based on our vision and our values, and then tracking students' growth from the moment they enter our school. This is something we realized during the quality review as well, but it was interesting to see how another school is thinking about this challenge. The questions foremost to my mind with regards to skills are how do we decide? How granular do we get? How do we keep the whole tracking system manageable? While these are daunting questions, I think our school is ready to engage in them. However, the entire staff has to be on board and has to be part of the process. And whatever we create has to be student and parent friendly.
3. Building developmental milestones. This is an idea carried over from our Mott Hall II visit that continues to resonate with me. At the iSchool, students are pushed toward independence as they move through high school to prepare them for college and beyond. First, all students have internships on Wednesdays. In 9th and 10th grades, these internships are assigned by the school with participating organizations. In 11th and 12th grade, students are required to find their own internships. Also, in 11th grade students define an area of focus for an independent study with an adviser for the next two years. While this plan is still in the development stage, it sounds like it will work much like an action-research or thesis project to help make the transition to college.
In a middle school model, this might mean that 6th graders have a more restricted schedule with fewer teachers and more prerequisite courses and life-skills classes. As students move to 7th grade, they might have more teachers, more course electives open to them, and perhaps a community service requirement. By 8th grade, students have all of this and also a group inquiry project that serves as an elective course. This structure would push students toward increased independence incrementally as they make the often painful transition from elementary to high school.
Of course all of the ideas above are somewhat idealistic and present a whole new set of challenges and problems for our school. However, that's the benefit of zooming out from your school and classroom every once in a while and getting another perspective: you can remember your ideals, visualize possibilities, and feel excited about zooming back in.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
"The Hurt Locker": Best Film of the Year?
The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow won Best Picture this year at the Academy Awards. It has received rave reviews from some movie critics who believe that not only is it the best movie made so far about the Iraq War, but it might be one of the best war movies ever made. For example, a New York Times review states that the film "is the best nondocumentary American feature made yet about the war in Iraq" . And another movie critic, Roger Ebert, says, "The Hurt Locker is a great film, an intelligent film, a film shot clearly so that we know exactly who everybody is and where they are and what they're doing and why."
However, for every positive, gushing review, there have been deep criticisms of the film. After watching the movie in class, we read another piece from The New York Times, a blog post by Michael Kamber who is currently a war correspondent in Iraq. In his essay, "How Not to Depict War" he insists that The Hurt Locker "glamorizes war" by creating an action hero out of the main character, Sergeant Will James. Kamber also feels that the film is not realistic and does not show the true dangers of what soldiers face in Iraq, and he is worried that too many people think the film is accurate.
So what do you think? Is The Hurt Locker a great war film that shows us what it was like to be a soldier in Iraq in 2004, or does is present a "fake" portrait that misleads the viewer about what it's really like in Iraq? How does it compare to another controversial film that we viewed, Fahrenheit 9/11, which focuses on the Bush Administration's reasons for going to war? Is that film fair? Is it misleading? And whose responsibility is it to "tell the truth"? Should films be more "truthful" or is it our job to find out?
However, for every positive, gushing review, there have been deep criticisms of the film. After watching the movie in class, we read another piece from The New York Times, a blog post by Michael Kamber who is currently a war correspondent in Iraq. In his essay, "How Not to Depict War" he insists that The Hurt Locker "glamorizes war" by creating an action hero out of the main character, Sergeant Will James. Kamber also feels that the film is not realistic and does not show the true dangers of what soldiers face in Iraq, and he is worried that too many people think the film is accurate.
So what do you think? Is The Hurt Locker a great war film that shows us what it was like to be a soldier in Iraq in 2004, or does is present a "fake" portrait that misleads the viewer about what it's really like in Iraq? How does it compare to another controversial film that we viewed, Fahrenheit 9/11, which focuses on the Bush Administration's reasons for going to war? Is that film fair? Is it misleading? And whose responsibility is it to "tell the truth"? Should films be more "truthful" or is it our job to find out?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Vegetarian Superbowl
Tonight is the Superbowl, and Chris and I are having some friends over to watch the game. This morning I searched online for "Superbowl party food" recipes for 45 minutes before I found a few dishes that would work. At the supermarket I bought the following for our little party: two cans of beans, a can of low-salt corn, shredded cheddar cheese, hummus dip, pita chips, organic tortilla chips, salsa, pasta, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes. Looking at my grocery bag, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. None of it looked like "Superbowl food" - the kind that you normally associate with football - no chicken wings or hot dogs. No turkey chili or hamburgers. Though we've been having Superbowl parties for the past few years now, the excitement is mixed with a bit of longing and nostalgia for the foods I no longer eat.
So let me just come out with it: I am a vegetarian who loves meat. I miss it, especially the unhealthiest forms of meat (i.e. bacon, hot dogs, sausages, etc.). Unlike some vegetarians, like my mother, who has never touched meat in her life, I do not hold my nose when I walk by a hot dog cart or smell a BLT at the bodega. Instead, I have to remind myself of the terrible stomach ache that hot dogs (and bacon and sausages) used to give me, which is difficult since human beings seem better programmed to remember taste than to recall pain.
When I tell meat-eaters I'm vegetarian, usually because we're ordering dinner somewhere and I can't share the fried calamari, the most common response is "Oh, I wish I could do that" or "That's great" or "Will the smell bother you?" Most assume that I chose to become a vegetarian because of my love of animals or my desire to save the planet or simply because I wanted to do the right thing. When I reveal the real reason, that my health requires me to be vegetarian, I always feel a touch of guilt, like my vegetarianism is somehow tainted by this less noble motivation. Don't get me wrong, I do love animals and care about the environment and try to do good deeds. However, I also love the taste of meat, and if my stomach could do a better job of digesting it, I would probably not be a vegetarian at all.
My mom says that my craving for meat will disappear as the taste fades from my memory. I hope so. Until then, I'll have to watch the Superbowl (not to mention all the Superbowl junk food commercials) eating my vegetarian nachos and pesto pasta dreaming of barbecue ribs.
So let me just come out with it: I am a vegetarian who loves meat. I miss it, especially the unhealthiest forms of meat (i.e. bacon, hot dogs, sausages, etc.). Unlike some vegetarians, like my mother, who has never touched meat in her life, I do not hold my nose when I walk by a hot dog cart or smell a BLT at the bodega. Instead, I have to remind myself of the terrible stomach ache that hot dogs (and bacon and sausages) used to give me, which is difficult since human beings seem better programmed to remember taste than to recall pain.
When I tell meat-eaters I'm vegetarian, usually because we're ordering dinner somewhere and I can't share the fried calamari, the most common response is "Oh, I wish I could do that" or "That's great" or "Will the smell bother you?" Most assume that I chose to become a vegetarian because of my love of animals or my desire to save the planet or simply because I wanted to do the right thing. When I reveal the real reason, that my health requires me to be vegetarian, I always feel a touch of guilt, like my vegetarianism is somehow tainted by this less noble motivation. Don't get me wrong, I do love animals and care about the environment and try to do good deeds. However, I also love the taste of meat, and if my stomach could do a better job of digesting it, I would probably not be a vegetarian at all.
My mom says that my craving for meat will disappear as the taste fades from my memory. I hope so. Until then, I'll have to watch the Superbowl (not to mention all the Superbowl junk food commercials) eating my vegetarian nachos and pesto pasta dreaming of barbecue ribs.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Do We Really Have the Power?
I have a confession to make: This past weekend I ate a small meal at Popeye's... you know, the fried chicken place. I will also say this: It was really good. But don't think that as I ripped apart the crunchy "chicken" goodness that I didn't feel a little bit guilty. After all, I'm teaching my students all about the horrors of the industrialized food industry. We watched how brutally these chickens are treated. We know that it is places like Popeye's and our desire to eat this food that will keep this industry alive.I began to wonder how much power the consumer really does have over food choices. I consider myself an educated food consumer, yet from time to time I make choices that I know support an industry that I have serious problems with. It made me wonder if consumers alone really do have the power to "vote with their forks" or if something more needs to be done to curb the influence of the industrialized food industry.
Later in the weekend I happened to catch a bit of the movie "Twilight" on Showtime and I noticed that the vampire Edward has to muster all of his strength not to drink the blood of humans. He said that drinking the blood of "animals" was like being a vegetarian... that only the blood of humans was truly satisfying. It made me think that there really is some kind of chemical release or reaction going on in our brains that compel us to eat fast food. Because the negative effects of our choices are not staring us in the face (as Bella does for Edward), we are okay unwrapping the McDonald's hamburger or opening the box of Popeye's chicken to let the mouth-watering steam entice our taste buds, even if it is just "in a moment of weakness"...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Poverty + Natural Disaster = Man-Made Disaster
In Haiti, for example, part of the reason that the earthquake caused so much damage is because so many buildings in the city were poorly-constructed and did not follow important safety rules. This is because building developers are often corrupt and want to build quickly to make more money, sacrificing safety and security. My friend would argue that this is one of the major problems of Haitian society - too many people are corrupt and too many people accept corruption as just the way things are.
I do not know how I feel about this because it seems to blame Haitians for what happened. However, I do think that the way American organizations try to help poorer countries has to change. What do you think? What is the best way to offer help to struggling nations? And do you agree with the editorial above?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Grammar!?#%*)#$%#
I'm trying to remember how I learned grammar. It's difficult because I feel like it was so long ago. Not because I'm old, just because my memory is failing me. I can't remember what it was like not to know grammar because now writing in standard English is so natural to me. It just happens. Though I know it wasn't easy for me at first because English was my second language. I remember having teachers asking me if I spoke English at home and it always embarrassed me. At home, both my parents spoke to me in our native language and when I spoke English, I had an accent for my first few years at school. I didn't always use the right form of the verb, and sometimes kids made fun of my accent. So I know that my grammar wasn't always standard and that I had to learn standard English in order to compete in the "real world." But how did I do it? What strategies did my teachers use? Is it just a matter of practice?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Chalk
I just saw this "mockumentary" (is that really a genre?) and was touched by it. I am also certain that a teacher wrote it. There's no way that regular people know what a "do now" or "aim" is. Nor do regular people understand "teacher talk" and the various teacher personalities that bubble to the surface among otherwise normal human beings. Chalk does a good job of portraying some of the absurdity, difficulty, and, dare I say it, joy that goes along with working in a school. It's not a perfect film but it makes me want to get up and go to work in the morning, which I always want to do, of course :).
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Good Days and Bad Days
It is amazing to me, even though it is my sixth year of teaching, how one day in the classroom can be so positive and inspiring, and the very next day it can feel so stuck and frustrating. I think that experience has not necessarily given me the ability to avoid "bad days", but rather the ability to deal with them :) I remember being a first, second, even third year teacher and feeling like it was the end of the world after a really bad day. Now, I suppose my days are never actually as bad as they once were, but I have come to accept them as a natural part of the job.
I was watching a special on PBS last night about the "pursuit of happiness" and one of the points made was that good relationships must be able to survive conflict, that conflict is a necessary part of any romantic, friendly, or family relationship. It is how we deal with conflict, they were arguing, that impacts whether our relationships are strong and lasting, or superficial and short-term. People need to know that they are being heard, that what they say matters. I think this holds true for the teacher-class relationship. The students need to know that the teacher is responsive to their needs and that the teacher really cares. Similarly, for teachers to feel good about their job and come to class with energy, they need to know that their students value them, or at least that they are being successful, at some level, in actually teaching!
This is all very interesting... I'm wondering how successful teachers and students have learned to develop this relationship over time and what ingredients make it work. Perhaps unsuccessful teachers and students are not willing to let the other into their lives and this is what prohibits strong learning. There is more to good teaching and learning than a good lesson plan or a high score on an assignment. The emotional component to the whole dance perhaps deserves more attention.
I was watching a special on PBS last night about the "pursuit of happiness" and one of the points made was that good relationships must be able to survive conflict, that conflict is a necessary part of any romantic, friendly, or family relationship. It is how we deal with conflict, they were arguing, that impacts whether our relationships are strong and lasting, or superficial and short-term. People need to know that they are being heard, that what they say matters. I think this holds true for the teacher-class relationship. The students need to know that the teacher is responsive to their needs and that the teacher really cares. Similarly, for teachers to feel good about their job and come to class with energy, they need to know that their students value them, or at least that they are being successful, at some level, in actually teaching!
This is all very interesting... I'm wondering how successful teachers and students have learned to develop this relationship over time and what ingredients make it work. Perhaps unsuccessful teachers and students are not willing to let the other into their lives and this is what prohibits strong learning. There is more to good teaching and learning than a good lesson plan or a high score on an assignment. The emotional component to the whole dance perhaps deserves more attention.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Everything That is Hard about Teaching Writing
1. There is no "right" answer in writing.
2. Writing is complicated!
3. Writing is about personal voice. How do you teach someone to develop his or her personal voice?
4. I don't know everything about writing.
5. Sometimes, writing makes my head spin.
6. There are so many different kinds of writing.
7. Writing requires creativity - something that cannot be taught, just encouraged.
8. Writing is never perfect.
9. The world is full of bad writing!
2. Writing is complicated!
3. Writing is about personal voice. How do you teach someone to develop his or her personal voice?
4. I don't know everything about writing.
5. Sometimes, writing makes my head spin.
6. There are so many different kinds of writing.
7. Writing requires creativity - something that cannot be taught, just encouraged.
8. Writing is never perfect.
9. The world is full of bad writing!
The Statistics
"By 4th grade, Black and Latino students are on average nearly 3 years behind their White and Asian students."
This statistic leaves me mostly with questions. The first one is obvious - why? Why is this happening? When I start thinking about it, my mind gets all tangled and disorderly because the problem is so huge. What is happening in America that entire groups of people are not achieving on the same level as other groups of people? As a teacher on the Lower East Side, I wanted to presented these statistics to my students to get their minds turning and tangled into similar knots. However, I didn't fully anticipate the trouble some students might have with reading statistics or putting all of this information together. What might be a better way to make these statistics clearer and to help students feel their impact?
One thing that I realize is that when these statistics were presented to me, they were presented one at a time as a Powerpoint presentation. I had time to digest each one. Maybe presenting the list to students was too overwhelming? Or maybe not. Maybe I just need to give students time to write and process what they are thinking. We'll see once they start blogging tomorrow!
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