Friday, April 4, 2008

That Was Then, This Is Now

As I sat and reread some of my recent blogs, it occurred to me that I needed to add a few more thoughts. I used to be a teacher who ranted and raved and punished. Students would report that they were afraid of me....I had a very strong need to power over my students....I was really bothered by the fear I caused in present students, past students and future students. Was that really what I wanted? The answer was NO. I didn't want students to do what I wanted because they were afraid, I wanted them to do what I wanted them to do because they wanted to learn. I didn't want to be that teacher anymore. I needed to change. That is one of the main reasons I have chosen Choice Theory. It gave me the opportunity to focus on my power within and my power from rather than my need to power over. I know that trying to control students is nearly impossible, from my work with choice theory I now know that it is totally impossible since the only person I can control is myself. Yes, you can get compliance through fear, intimidation, and punishment but that was not what I wanted.

The second main reason for using choice theory and a competence based classroom come from my high need for power within. That is the power I get when I'm successful as a teacher. I had always had success as a teacher, or so I thought until we began to give a pre and post test in science that was designed to test student learning of the concepts taught throughout the year. The first year, my students average score on the post test was 40%...pretty sad results, yet the majority of those same students had achieved A's, B's or C's. These results caused me to do some soul searching and evaluating of what I taught and how I taught it. The next year saw some changes and again, the post test results were painful to look at. I could have said it wasn't me, it was the test, but I helped write the test, so that would be just like saying it was me. I decided that something really had to change. I became a part of our Academy and took classes on Action Research and Understanding By Design. I rewrote two of my units and presented my students with more choices, more technology, more real life learning and less worksheets and tests. Obviously my hope was that my post test scores would improve. I also shared with the students what they needed to know and understand in each of the units. I told them that it was my goal to have each and everyone achieve 80% or better on the post test. Believe it or not, they did it. Even those students who didn't complete the day to day work go 80%. I was thrilled. I also knew that there was more work to be done. I continued to rework my units and participate in the Academy. The focus the second year was on leadership and action research that collected "hard" data for evaluation. Again I relied on the pre/post test we had been using. I wasn't quite as successful the second year, however all of my students achieved 75% or better. Throughout this time, I was still very much a traditional teacher in that I expected and even demanded that students do what I wanted when I wanted it. I tried to control not only their learning, but also their behavior.

It was during my third year as an Academy participant that Dale introduced us to Bob Sullo's Activating the Desire to Learn. That really was the turning point for me. I tried the idea of a competence based classroom for one unit towards the spring of the year. I also worked on giving up some of my control issues. Scantron, standardized testing, was used for the first time that year rather than the pre/post test we had developed. I was hopeful that my students scores would improve, but I had my reservations. The focus of my Academy work for that year was again centered around improving my teaching to meet the needs of all the students and improve the overall learning. Again, my students showed growth which was really good, however, I knew that more changes were necessary. It wasn't necessarily the content or the delivery that had to change, it was me personally. I was still frustrated by students lack of interest in school, their doing the work only if it was "for a grade" and their lack of enthusiasm for learning.

That lead me to Basic Intensive Week, which I believe has made me a better teacher. I haven't raised my voice or "gone off" on a student yet this year, which I think is really good. My students seem to be having fun learning and are retaining more information than ever. I won't know how well they do on the scantron test until late in May, but in class discussions I see more students involved and sharing what they have learned than ever before. They seem to want to learn and do well not for the grade, but because they want to learn. Friday, during my science class we discovered that we were double booked in the computer lab. I decided to take my students back to my classroom and let them work on the Mac's. One group of students asked as we were going back if we could have circle time. I said sure, what would you like to talk about. Their answer was our recent trip to the Body Worlds Exhibit at the museum. They were so excited...the discussion that followed was amazing. We talked about what they saw, learned and questions they had. What was really amazing was as the bell rang, they asked if they could come in at lunch and continue the discussion....never in 27 years of teaching had that ever happened. That for me was the icing on the cake. They were excited about learning, they were sharing and they were having fun doing it. Isn't that what education is all about.....

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Grey World

I have a student who really understands choice theory. In fact I believe he gets it better than most. He is bright, and totally unmotivated to do school work. His main goal seems to be to set the adults in his world off and engage them in a power struggle. He get his power need, freedom need and fun need met every time he succeeds.

This student was assigned to my advisory class at the end of last year and he is also in my science class. He is challenging some days, but over the course of the year, we have developed a pretty good relationship. Some of his teachers can only see the bad in him. They see the world as black and white and this particular child has no good in him in their opinion. I on the other hand love to see the shades of grey that make life so very interesting.

Today is our potluck lunch. Each child was asked to bring in something to contribute to the lunch. This student chose tomatoes. Before school started he came into my room with his hands behind his back and said "Ms. L are you going to be mad at me if I forgot tomatoes, but brought something else.?" I replied "No, I won't be upset. What did you bring?" With a huge smile on his face he brought his hands out from behind his back producing a bag of tomatoes.....I almost fooled you didn't I? I had to laugh and at the same time I thought about how sad it was that some never would see this fun playful side of him because they only saw a naughty boy.

Am I in his quality world? I don't know. I do know that he is always respectful and polite to me. He rarely tries to cross the line and when he does he knows that I will talk to him about the choice he made and why. I don't rant and rave or punish him. Does he do my classwork. Yes and No. He rarely turns in any written work, but always demonstrates his understanding verbally. Is he succeeding......Is he learning.....

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Ponderings

I'm glad I have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a professional educator. If I hadn't believed that I could succeed at college, I wouldn't be here now....I would be working at a grocery store for slightly more than minimum wage. I believe that we need to move away from the once and done belief that permeates our educational system. This may be radical talk, but students won't take responsibility for their learning if we continue to give them excuses such as I've never been good at science so therefore I'm not going to do well now. Another favorite is I didn't understand any of it, its just too hard. Truth of the matter is that these students didn't do well in the once and done classroom. They didn't meet with success, so they have taken science out of their quality world. Had they been in a CBC classroom, they just might enjoy science and be really good at it. I believe that there is hope for everyone and by allowing them to meet with success no matter how much time it takes, we will encourage students rather than discourage students.

I know this removes all competition within a classroom. Isn't it better to be competitive with yourself than to have to be the "top dog" in a class. What does the top dog do when they hit the top? What is the motivation to go further? In my classroom, I've tried to create a win win situation for all the students. I challenge students to think beyond what I've said. I know some competition is good, but when does it become too much?

It is really hard for me to set the top limit in my classes. I want students to know that there isn't one correct answer or one correct way to get there. If they can demonstrate their understanding, explain their thought process, be guided if they don't understand, and explore their thinking isn't that better than remembering bits and pieces of information for a test and then quickly forgetting them?









We have officially started the final trimester of the school year. I still have four students who do not have grades from first trimester. I have added a few more students who don't have grades for the second trimester. I have spent time with each one of these students asking them the following three questions: Do you know what you need to do?, Do you know how to do it?, and Do you want to do it? Interestingly all of them said they knew what to do and they all knew how to do it

15 Minutes of Fame

On Monday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal published an article about Choice Theory, Competence Based Learning and their impact on student learning. The article was wonderful and came about as a result of the Waukesha reporter reading Dale's blog. She then contacted him and gathered some preliminary information. Her next step was to contact Vicki and I and attend the parent meeting that we held in early February. It was at that meeting that she asked me if it would be alright if she came in and observed my classroom. I explained that it probably wouldn't really look any different than any other classroom, but she was welcome to come in. A day and time were agreed upon and I actually forgot about it and never even mentioned it to my classes. When some of my peers found out that I had agreed to this, they were very vocal about their concerns...Is it going to be positive? Are you going to have a chance to preview it and approve it before it runs...Are you totally nuts? To be honest, none of those thoughts really crossed my mind and I wasn't nervous or concerned until they brought it up.

She arrived at school just as my second hour class was ending, so I really didn't have much opportunity to explain what was going on that day since my third hour class was coming in and very curious as to why there was a photographer in my room. It was at that point that I let them know that our visitors were from the paper and that an article might be written about us.
We then went about our class as if it were just another day...at least that's the way it appeared. My students were absolutely awesome, just as they normally are. They handled the visitors as if they weren't there. We had a great discussion (I was actually assessing their learning, but they didn't know that) and I was really impressed with the learning and sharing that went on. I think what surprised me even more was the fact that when the bell rang and the students left I asked Amy (the reporter) if she had any questions...she looked at me and said "you were assessing their learning weren't you?" I was surprised but happy that she understood that without creating anxiety and stress by handing out a "pass or fail test" I still know what each of them knows and understands. I was an opportunity to clarify and expand their thinking and see the connections they are making rather than make a right/wrong judgment. It gave me the chance to facilitate rather than "tell them this is exactly what you should learn."

Vicki came in and joined us for the next 45 minutes and we continued our discussion of the benefits we have seen in student learning. The final part of the process came a few days later when she came in a spoke to some of the students in our classes. Again things went well and the students shared their feelings with her. As I said in the beginning, the article was very good and very accurate.

In reflecting on everything that has been said by staff, students, and parents about my classroom and my expectations I think the hardest thing for me to deal with is the idea that everyone has to learn the material at exactly the same time, in exactly the same way and to the exact same level. At what point in our educational system does this become part of our thinking. We accept that infants and toddlers will learn to roll, crawl, walk and talk when they are ready. We also accept the fact that children will learn to read when they are ready, but somewhere along the way educators and parents decide that they all must learn math, science, social studies and health at the same time, in the same way and to the exact same level. Why????? Why is it OK to practice the skills necessary to be good at a sport for a long time, but not OK to practice the skills necessary to be a good student. Why do we judge children based on a once and done paradigm.....

How many of us would be driving today if we didn't get a second or third chance to take our drivers tests? How many would be in the professions we are in if we didnt' have the chance to practice taking the ACT, SAT, MCAT, or LSAT tests in order to achieve the highest score possible? In the "real world" we are given many opportunities to learn and grow and many opportunities to show others what we have learned....isn't it time to give our children the same opportunity to learn and grow and achieve all that they can achieve without stressing them out?

Quality far out weighs quantity.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Confidence

We had the first night of spring conferences last night and things went fairly well. Parents were for the most part supportive of the changes I have made in my classroom for a variety of reasons including: their child was enjoying the classes, they were learning a lot without having to do tons of useless busywork and they are achieving good grades without the stress associated with test after test after test.

Some parents are still concerned that their children will not be prepared for high school. I assured them that I am still covering the same content that I have in the past. The difference is that I am no longer demanding that the "get it perfect" the first time they do it. Late in the first trimester they turned in their first lab report. I had them self evaluate it and ask a peer to evaluate it prior to my evaluation of it based on the targets we determined were important to demonstrate understanding of the Science Inquiry Standards. Most labs fell short of the targets. I gave students the option of revising the lab and resubmitting it, or using the comments and suggestions I made to make the next lab write up even better. Most of the students chose the latter option, which is fine since the ultimate goal is mastery of the standards and not a grade. Had this been last year, each student would have gotten a score and grade based on my assessment of how well they did or didn't do on the different parts of the lab. This could have been potentially damaging for many of my students....There are 7 different parts to the lab write up, if they really bomb 2 of those 7 areas, the best grade they could achieve would be a B-...that is assuming every other part is absolutely perfect. Imagine if they bombed 3 parts, they would have completely failed the assignment. What motivation would they have to do better the next time....Most students put forth good effort when writing a lab, if they really tried and failed, I'm not sure I could convince them that they should really try again.

By simply writing suggestions, asking questions and guiding them through the hardest parts of the lab, I have found that their second lab write up is much better than the first. They were willing to try again because they know that I want them to achieve the standards and will do whatever I can to help them. They also know that if they still don't quite get it, its not the end of the world and their trimester grade in Science won't be a D or F. I really believe I would rather have them continue to try than give up because it is just too hard or they just don't get it. I don't believe that anyone can do something perfectly the first time they try it, yet by assigning grades to everything we ask students to do, we send them the message that they have to to it right the first time and every time there after if they want good grades....WOW!!! that's a lot of pressure on students.....

Monday, January 28, 2008

Choices

As my students and I begin our next topic of study, I still have some students who haven't demonstrated understanding of the first topic which puts me in a rather tough spot...sort of caught between a rock and a hard place. I believe that each child needs to demonstrate understanding, however, by having them continue to work on the first topic they miss all the instruction on the second. This would ultimately put them even further behind which would lead them to take school, particularly my class out of their quality world picture. I don't want this for my students but I'm not able to control the choices they make. I can only continue to encourage them to talk with me, develop a plan and help them achieve the goal. I also made the decision that I would encourage them to come in before or after school to get more help if they needed it. When I introduce new concepts or ideas they are a part of the class. When we are working on projects, I pull them together and continue to work on chemistry. Don't know if this will work out, but at least I don't feel like I'm helping them dig their holes any deeper.

I was working with one student recently and I was sure that this particular student really didn't know much of the chemistry we had been studying so I threw him this question....What have you learned about matter and chemistry? I was absolutely amazed at his knowledge. He not only demonstrated understanding of the learning targets, he also had explored some areas that interested him. After he finished I asked why he had waited so long to show me he understood. His reply was simply I wasn't ready until now and I wanted to be sure I really could explain it before I talked with you. I also don't like to write so I procrastinated on the writing part. Did he learn the material, yes. Did he put the effort in that I felt he needed to, not always. Ultimately he learned and that's what its all about.

I had another student that was struggling with the lab report that went along with the chemistry unit. I worked with him during several lunch periods and he was much more confident that he could and would get it done. With progress reports due, I asked him this morning how he was coming with his report. He said he was almost done, but really didn't want to rush through it and not give it his best effort. I asked him if he wanted me to go ahead and give him a B knowing that he would turn the lab in by the end of the week or if I should give him no grade and wait for him to finish. He chose the no grade option. When I asked why he simply said I want to do my best and learn from it so my next one will be better still. If I take the B now, I don't think I'll put as much effort into finishing this one.

Amazing. In both cases they chose to do their best rather than the easier way. I wonder where they would be in a more traditional classroom. Would they value quality or would they do it just to get it done and for a "grade"?

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Frustrations

Being a pioneer isn't always easy and sometimes its downright frustrating. This is one of those times for me.

The middle of the second trimester is upon us and I have 15 students who will be receiving no grade. They have not demonstrated understanding of the chemistry and scientific method learning targets which were the focus of our work since December. This is an increase of 10 students from the end of the first trimester. I feel like I've failed them somehow. Yes, I know that it was their choice to complete the work or not complete the work, but I keep wondering if there wasn't something more I could have done.

The second source of frustration comes in not letting those students go on until they have "mastered" the chemistry and scientific method targets. On Monday we began our next unit of study with a video. Those 15 students who weren't ready went and worked in another area while the others watched the video. Tuesday, we watched the end of the video and I began introducing the vocabulary. On Tuesday, I brought the 15 back into the room when discussing the vocabulary. I didn't want that hole they dug to get even deeper. Glasser would say that they need to finish the first before going on, but that's really hard for me. I guess I saw the missing of the video as a sort of compromise.

I had all the students in on the introduction of the cell structures and functions which took us through Wednesday. Once they were done, I again separated the groups. Those that were finished were able to work on their cell structure project. The others worked with me or independently to finish the chemistry targets. This was the same plan for Thursday. I also had several of them in at lunch to get more help. My frustration comes in when I know that they need to master the chemistry, but missing out on instruction just puts them further behind and I worry that they may just simply stop trying because they don't see any way of completing everything. As part of a K-8 school district, I'm not sure how the no grade will be handled by the high school. Will they accept the students without science grades? If they do that, what message will the students here get and how will that impact my quest for a quality school?

I know that it was their choice to waste class time chatting, but I don't know how to get science into their quality world so they make better choices. I believe I have a good relationship with my students, but something is obviously missing. I haven't given up. I continue to ask them to come in before or after school, they have written plans for completion, and I encourage them to demonstrate their understanding all the time, but again I ask is it enough?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Admin Meeting

Dale had asked Vicki and I if we would speak to the administrative team about our work with Choice Theory in our classrooms. We were both thrilled to have the opportunity and put together a powerpoint presentation that included an informal discussion with some of our students. After giving them an overview of Choice Theory we asked 6 of our students to join us. The discussion that followed was absolutely mind blowing.

Vicki and I had met with the 6 students on Monday to go over the format and ask them some questions about our classes. That 30 minute lunch session was great. I was surprised by their openness and honesty. All six agreed that this year is much better than the previous years. They all felt that they are doing so much more "real" learning in our classes than in the past. One student said that while he wasn't sure he would ever use the chemistry we have been learning, he found it more valuable than learning about bird calls, which he had to do last year in science. He also liked the assessment process. He no longer has to memorize useless facts of information for a test, just to forget it as soon as the test is over. The rest of the students agreed with him on this point. Learning for them is more fun because they get to choose how and when they learn the information. They also like that when they ask me questions I don't give them the answer. I ask them more questions to keep them thinking. Then when they realize the answer I applaud their thinking skills and ask another question or two to make sure they really do "get it". One student referred to these as her "light bulb" moments.

They also like the fact that they really learn on topic. They don't just skim over the surface and have to use their problem solving skills to find the information. It is not just given to them to "sit and get". All of the students felt that they were more successful this year than in the past and felt that they would do OK next year at the high school in more traditional classrooms because they know how to do what needs to be done, even if it means going back to memorization and completing homework every night for a grade. More than anything, they felt that our classrooms were helping to prepare them for life long learning. They realize that once they get beyond high school no one will tell them to learn this for this test and that for that test, they will have to know how to find the necessary information and apply it, which is what they are doing right now.

Two of the students in the group were identified as gifted and talented and they were absolutely thrilled that they were being challenged without being removed from the classroom and without having to do extra work. They are free to learn about topics in depth, while others may not. They can then use their knowledge to help others. They were quick to point out that this didn't mean giving the answers, but meant giving them the chance to ask questions that would help others understand the information.

We asked them how they felt about homework and they loudly and unanimously agreed that most of it is wasted time. They particularly didn't like things like crossword puzzles, word searches, and coloring assignments (yes, they still had coloring assignments in their worlds!) They also like that they don't have to do the assignment if they already understand the concept. They can do it if they choose to, but ultimately they get to decide if they understand it well enough to demonstrate understanding to us. We also discussed my A, B, no grade policy and how they felt about it. Some admitted that at first they didn't really like it because they were used to getting A's but after working with it, they feel that when they earn an A for us they really have demonstrated "understanding" not just their ability to recall stuff for a test.

I was so impressed with my students. They were so honest and open about what is going on in my class. They also surprised me with their level of understanding of Choice Theory and my competence based classroom. I also really needed to hear it. I was beginning to wonder if what I was doing was making any difference to my students. I found out that it is and they really are learning more than they felt they had in the past. I hope that they are able to carry the lessons learned with them into high school and life.....

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

New Year

Learning or Schooling

It has been a very interesting start to the 2007-2008 school year. I find that I am less stressed and more concerned about my students doing quality work rather than completing homework assignments and projects. I believe this is a good change, but I know that not everyone agrees with that philosophy.

Over the holiday break I had the opportunity to spend time with my sister and her family. After dinner one night we got to talking about school. My two nieces are 16 and 13 and both are relatively good students. The younger of the two was talking about a recent assignment that she had worked on on volcanoes. In the span of three minutes she referred to getting a "grade for the grade book" 5 times. I finally asked if that was the only reason she did the work, was for a grade in the "grade book". No surprise when she said yes. I asked her what she could tell me about what makes a volcano erupt. Her reply was also not surprising...she said "well I know it has something to do with molten rock" My next question to her was "So what does the grade in the grade book really mean?" What did you actually learn? I have to admit that I was deeply saddened that neither one of them saw learning as fun or worthwhile. It was just for a grade in the grade book.

This led to a heated discussion among the adult of the importance of grades. I was in a minority when I said grades were not really that important since an A for one person may look very different than an A for another. Often times in our school systems student learning is not really a factor in the grade. Grades are based on completing homework, projects, or other daily assignments and not on real learning. My niece happily admitted that her science grade was based on the projects that she has done, not really on what she has learned. She was quite happy that she could do poorly on a test and still get an A or B in the class just by doing the project or homework. I again asked her what she had learned.

Her older sister was really excited about what I was saying. Several times during the conversation this high school sophomore said she would love to be in my class. She has seen several classmates get passing grades just because they do the homework. They can't apply what they have learned, yet they get passing grades. She didn't think that was really fair.

The adults in the conversation felt I was doing my students a huge disservice and not really giving them a good education. I asked what they thought a "good education" looked like. I really didn't get a solid answer, but I definitely got the impression that they felt I should spend my class time teaching students to memorize the periodic table of elements, the names of the bones in the human body and the classification system for living things. I asked why? Because that is what they have to know on tests. I responded that may be true of some teacher made tests, but if they needed to know what Au stood for, how would they find out. They all responded that they would go to the internet. My next question was, wouldn't you rather students were taught how to solve problems, apply knowledge to new situations, and reason things out rather than to memorize useless information for a teacher made test and forget it as soon as the test was done?

While they did agree with that, they still felt that it was imperative that students learn basic information. I agree completely. They also need to learn that the "grade" isn't the end product. Learning is. Each student has the choice to learn or not, to do work for the reward of a "grade" or not. How can we move students from the "grade" mentality to learning for learning? I often wonder what will happen to those students who consistently say "just tell me what to do" when they get out into the real world where it is up to them to know what to do and when to do it. What will happen when they look at their boss who has just outlined a project that they are to be responsible for completing and they say "just tell me what to do"?