It's so easy to prescribe what students need, want, and desire, but it's much more difficult to make time to listen to children and let them lead.
Children generally know what they need, and if we give them time to speak and make choices, they typically speak and choose well.
Too often we speak for children. Too often we think for children. Too often we plan and prescribe for what we think they need.
The real strength in teaching, learning, and parenting is to give children the voice, choice, and leadership they deserve with regard to the environment, experiences, and events that impact them.
One of the best ways to do that is to have a daily meeting. Other ways are to invite students to write emails, lead meetings, make changes and engage in meaningful discussion and debate.
Good teachers everywhere know that listening to children is essential when it comes to teaching and learning well. I want to lead 2017-2018 with this point.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Putting Out Your Fire
There will always be those who work to distinguish your fire.
They've got the hose ready to spray whenever you have a new idea, pose a question, or create. They truly dampen your spirit as they dictate formations to follow with rigidity and little room for voice and choice.
All through our lives we meet people like that, and it's likely that we've been that kind of person from time to time too.
As I think back, the first person in my life that was like that was my high school French teacher. She perseverated about the little things, the tiny details related to speaking and writing French. I could never succeed in her class and dropped French after a couple of years.
Later in life there was the boss at my first job after college. He was a stickler for details. Similar to the French class, that job was short lived, but dissimilar to the French class, I did learn a lot during that rigid work experience--in fact, I use many of those skills that I learned during that one-year period in my professional and personal life today.
There was also the most difficult education course that I ever took. The teacher was very detail oriented and seldom pleased with my work. I worked diligently to pass the course, and remember almost nothing. I liken the lack of retention to the rigidity of the course.
As I look over my life, those three experiences and one or two close to home now are the only rigid experiences I've had in my life. In most experiences, both professional and personal, there's been more flexibility and elasticity--they've been loose-tight learning experiences, and mostly learning experiences that I've enjoyed and retained.
As I think of rigidity and learning, I don't think it's the best way to teach or learn. I am much more a fan of experienced-base, responsive teaching and learning that avails itself to voice and choice. I think this kind of fluid platform for learning connects better to the latest cognitive research. While parameters are important, relationships, sensitivity, connectivity, and responsiveness are more important. When you're learning with passion including both heart and mind, retention, engagement, empowerment, and inspiration occur, and when those critical attributes occur, the learning sticks and develops.
I noticed this in college, and that's why I always chose courses based on the quality and dedication of the professors rather than topic, class size, or course rigor. I found that when I had a passionate professor, I learned more no matter how the course was taught--the professor's passion was contagious, impactful, and inspiring.
So as I think of the topic, "Putting Out Your Fire," I first want to caution myself about putting out others' fires, and instead inspire myself to embrace the passion, ideas, interests, and drive my colleagues and loved ones exhibit. If it's good for others, I want to cheer them on. I also want to make sure I'm always cognizant of the fact that I don't know it all, and many around me have answers and ideas that I've never even thought about. I want to be open to their dedicated voices and choices as they live and love.
Next as I think of those that "put out fires," I will heed their words and think carefully about their halting remarks and dictates. I will listen for the truth in what they say and regard their experience and outlook with respect. I will also, however, respect my own experience, research, passion, and drive since we know ourselves well, and we all have a good idea about the gifts that are ours to give. While I won't disrespect those who extinguish my flame, I'll also not disrespect my own experience, professional training, and direction. Onward.
They've got the hose ready to spray whenever you have a new idea, pose a question, or create. They truly dampen your spirit as they dictate formations to follow with rigidity and little room for voice and choice.
All through our lives we meet people like that, and it's likely that we've been that kind of person from time to time too.
As I think back, the first person in my life that was like that was my high school French teacher. She perseverated about the little things, the tiny details related to speaking and writing French. I could never succeed in her class and dropped French after a couple of years.
Later in life there was the boss at my first job after college. He was a stickler for details. Similar to the French class, that job was short lived, but dissimilar to the French class, I did learn a lot during that rigid work experience--in fact, I use many of those skills that I learned during that one-year period in my professional and personal life today.
There was also the most difficult education course that I ever took. The teacher was very detail oriented and seldom pleased with my work. I worked diligently to pass the course, and remember almost nothing. I liken the lack of retention to the rigidity of the course.
As I look over my life, those three experiences and one or two close to home now are the only rigid experiences I've had in my life. In most experiences, both professional and personal, there's been more flexibility and elasticity--they've been loose-tight learning experiences, and mostly learning experiences that I've enjoyed and retained.
As I think of rigidity and learning, I don't think it's the best way to teach or learn. I am much more a fan of experienced-base, responsive teaching and learning that avails itself to voice and choice. I think this kind of fluid platform for learning connects better to the latest cognitive research. While parameters are important, relationships, sensitivity, connectivity, and responsiveness are more important. When you're learning with passion including both heart and mind, retention, engagement, empowerment, and inspiration occur, and when those critical attributes occur, the learning sticks and develops.
I noticed this in college, and that's why I always chose courses based on the quality and dedication of the professors rather than topic, class size, or course rigor. I found that when I had a passionate professor, I learned more no matter how the course was taught--the professor's passion was contagious, impactful, and inspiring.
So as I think of the topic, "Putting Out Your Fire," I first want to caution myself about putting out others' fires, and instead inspire myself to embrace the passion, ideas, interests, and drive my colleagues and loved ones exhibit. If it's good for others, I want to cheer them on. I also want to make sure I'm always cognizant of the fact that I don't know it all, and many around me have answers and ideas that I've never even thought about. I want to be open to their dedicated voices and choices as they live and love.
Next as I think of those that "put out fires," I will heed their words and think carefully about their halting remarks and dictates. I will listen for the truth in what they say and regard their experience and outlook with respect. I will also, however, respect my own experience, research, passion, and drive since we know ourselves well, and we all have a good idea about the gifts that are ours to give. While I won't disrespect those who extinguish my flame, I'll also not disrespect my own experience, professional training, and direction. Onward.
The Value of Tight Protocols and Dictates
Typically I run a loose-tight classroom, a classroom that leaves room for modern-day research, inspiration, student voice and choice, parent input, and collegial efforts. I don't usually have a lot of tight dictates or rigid rules. I believe in loose-tight as I think it opens the door for greater creativity, personalization, development, and inspiration. It would be interesting to measure the results of what I do in a holistic way with a classroom teacher that is more rigid and less bending with regard to procedure and protocol. Perhaps a more rigid style leads to greater learning and progress. I'll be thinking about that.
In general I like to think of education as a conversation--an ongoing, developing effort to nurture children forward in their current studies and future pursuits. When I look around me and research, I notice that it is the personal, thoughtful approach of building relationships, knowing students well, and utilizing research in an ongoing and developmental way that leads to student success, happiness and contribution. I utilize a similar approach to parenting.
Yet, I don't know all, and there may be advantages to tight protocols and dictates that I am unaware of. If you know of those, please educate me as I want to understand.
In general I like to think of education as a conversation--an ongoing, developing effort to nurture children forward in their current studies and future pursuits. When I look around me and research, I notice that it is the personal, thoughtful approach of building relationships, knowing students well, and utilizing research in an ongoing and developmental way that leads to student success, happiness and contribution. I utilize a similar approach to parenting.
Yet, I don't know all, and there may be advantages to tight protocols and dictates that I am unaware of. If you know of those, please educate me as I want to understand.
Social Media Builds a Positive Community
While many chide social media as they share stories of its ill effects, I'm noticing how our PTO president has used social media to build positive culture, voice and choice in the school community. Similarly the principal, administrative assistant and educators at our school uses Twitter, blogs and websites to spread the good news. At its best social media becomes the transparent conversation, debate, discussion, idea share, and day-to-day communication vehicle for organizations and communities big and small. This leaves our face-to-face time for more meaningful, rich, and deep share--the kind that moves organizations forward in ways that matter.
Outlining Summer Research: Teach Well
Focus: Building a sensitive, relationship-strong culturally proficient teaching/learning program
Coding and Swift Playground
Tribe by Junger
I want to employ what I learn from this book in creating a strong grade-level, classroom and collegial team.
NBPTS Green Book: What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do
Great guide to good teaching/learning that can be used as a lens to evaluate your teaching program and team efforts.
Empowered Educators
This book written by Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues is the kind of book that will help me to advocate and forward more teacher-powered schools and practice, practice that is led by more distributive leadership models and modern day professional learning rather than old-time top-down factory models. I'm excited about reading this book and sharing the information.
David Culberhouses eBooks
David has been doing extensive research related to transforming the ways we educate students. His research is vital to our efforts to vision-set for dignified, positive, impactful schools and teaching.
What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do
I want to read and embed this important NBPTS information into my practice.
For White Teachers Who Teach in the Hood. . . by Chris Emdin
I read half of this book last summer, took a lot of notes, and embedded Emdin's ideas into our shared teaching program with good result. I'll read the rest of the book and look back on last summer's notes, and think about how we might embed Emdin's research, words, and experience into our revised orientation programs, start-of-the-year selfie project, and our efforts to build strong student-teacher relationships and a culturally proficient program.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Similar to Emdin's book, I hope to use Coates book to deepen my ability to build strong relationships with students and build a culturally proficient teaching/learning program with colleagues. I started this book without a clear focus, now I will reread with the focus of comparing my experience of growing up, education and living in the world with Ta-Nehisi Coates. I believe that perspective will make the book more useful and memorable to me.
In the Heights by
Redesigning Learning Spaces by Robert W. Dillon
I plan to read this book and apply the learning to writing a grant to update and modernize the learning environment. I want the environment to be a more modern STEAM learning/teaching space.
I want to read this book as one way to develop my awareness for what the future holds for our students. I want our teaching/learning efforts to help students prepare for their futures, and this book will provide information to help me do that.
I have collected a number of other titles and articles to build this effort in the classroom too:
- Social Neuroscience of Education by Covino
- Spark of Learning
- How Learning Works
- Revisit Mindset
Focus: Engaging, Empowering Math Education
The Joy of X by
I look forward to reading this book and using what I learn to elevate my algebraic thinking, numerical expression, and patterns and relationships emphases with regard to teaching math.
YouCubed by Jo Boaler
I'm going to study the YouCubed site and apply specific learning exercises, research, videos, and activities in specific math teaching/learning units as one way to build greater meaning, engagement, and cultural proficiency to math teaching and learning.
Article/Course Collection
I've collected a number of articles and a course to study over the summer to empower the math program as well:
Focus: Reflect for Success and NBPTS
I have decided to make my professional consultation focus reflection and NBPTS since I value the role that reflection plays in elevating the work we do as educators and I value the NBPTS standards, community and process. I will attend a conference this summer that focuses on reflection as part of obtaining National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification. I will likely collect titles, articles, and other information related to this topic throughout the summer as well.
General
- Classroom Chef
- Class Climate
- What a Good School Does
- Digital Learning
- Positive, equitable collaboration
- Cultural Reflection
Math/STEAM
- Create a standards/progression matrix to use for differentiation (does one already exist?)
- Revisit Boaler
- Deepening Math Units
- California Grade Five Math Standards Curriculum Document
- Math Tips from DESE
Cultural Proficiency/SEL/Growth Mindset
- Review Emdin notes, complete book
- Social Neuroscience of Education by Covino
- Spark of Learning
- How Learning Works
- Radical Honesty
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