I am about to date myself. I distinctly remember the fall of Enron; not because I was a teenager paying attention to the news, but as an adult, more than a decade out of school. It was a huge event. When I saw a copy of The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, I picked it up nostalgically.
The authors detail the Enron story with its lead players much like the characters in a Shakespearean tragedy. The protagonists suffer from hubris that brings about their ultimate demise. They blindly followed their greed and allowed their brilliance- yes, these were seriously smart guys- to skirt the edges of legality, often falling off the edge, but obscuring it with confidence and financial maleficence.
What I found interesting is this. The outsiders who profited from the deal were traders who read the reports that were being published, realized they did not make sense, and guessed that the gobble-dee-gook was about hiding the true state of affairs. The big lesson for us today is that we need to be informed and not be cowed into accepting answers that do not actually answer the question. We let our politicians not answer questions all the time and much of the time it is because they do not want to state unpleasant truths. We would be better off if we were willing to swallow bitter pills and not shoot the messenger so long as we had the facts- not alternative facts- just the facts. As educators, it is part of our civic duty to teach this. We need to teach a quest for the truth and a facing of reality. When we make a bad decision, we need to face the music not kick it down the road. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be a part of our national character. We should work to make it so.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
The Woman who Changed Her Brain
Barbara Arrowsmith-Young's book, The Woman who Changed her Brain: And Other Inspiring Stories of Pioneering Brain Transformation, discusses her life story and captures vignettes of students of her Arrowsmith Schools. Currently there are 32 schools, mostly parochial programs, in the US using the Arrowsmith program. Details about their program may be found at their website. Barbara details her struggles with multiple severe learning disabilities and what she did to overcome them.
Her program is based on training the brain to complete tasks that are in areas of difficulty without using compensatory strategies. Much evidence for this type of approach exists. We know, for example that the brains of novice readers process reading using far larger portions of the brain than experienced readers do. The act of developing proficiency results in neurological changes in the way the way the brain processes text. Research demonstrated that when chimps had fingers sewn together, the brain started to process input and responses for both fingers collectively as one unit. Learning and experiences do change the brain. Further, we know that neuroplastisity exists. People who have had portions of their brains removed have demonstrated an ability to learn motor skills for regions of the brain that had been removed.
I know that as a child, I had abysmal handwriting. I was a good student whose handwriting grades were always U- unsatisfactory. In elementary school we had an activity period during which teachers and parents ran clubs for 5 week sessions. I participated in the "ornamental writing" or calligraphy activity for at least two sessions. While we learned the formation of elaborate capitals for a single script, we spent lots of focused time practicing handwriting. I made rows of circles and zigzags and fat and thin sideways number eights. Then I wrote one letter over and over and over. Using a pen with a nib and dipping in ink I learned about pressure to make the correct effects. This was hard work for someone whose handwriting was often illegible. Ultimately, however, I enjoyed the practice and became good at it. Hours of practice finally paid off and I have very legible writing now. We do not dedicate the time to handwriting practice and guess what- our children do not have good handwriting. Yes, it can be tedious, boring and hard work, that occupies that most precious school commodity-time- but it does pay off. This is the premise of the Arrowsmith program: practice in the area of difficulty in order to improve brain function.
The program begins with an analysis of skills which can be found on their website, cited above. Once the assessment is complete, they compose a report detailing areas of concern such as symbolic thinking, auditory speech discrimination and symbol recognition. These areas are mapped to specific brain sites which are then tasked with completing activities at graded levels of difficulty, often within a timed opportunity. The exercises, some of which are lightly described in the book, focus attention on the primary task of the region of the brain, exercising it to make it work harder and develop more capacity.
It would be interesting to see her list of exercises so that we could try and implement them with integrity. There is a training program that lasts for 3 weeks offered during the summer in Toronto. Rhonda Hawkins wrote a dissertation, which may be found here, reviewing the program and its impact. Many of the improvements were in areas difficult to assess with standardized assessments.
The book is an inspirational read that holds out hope for individuals struggling with significant disabilities. It does, however, put out there that the path forward is intensive practice. Unfortunately many students do not have the motivations to pursue intensive and monotonous practice and schools often do not have time to facilitate such practice that does not directly relate to a content area. Practice tracing and copying a set of simple of Hebrew or Cyrillic letters for an hour a day to develop fine motor and motor planning skills does not fit into the average school day.
Her program is based on training the brain to complete tasks that are in areas of difficulty without using compensatory strategies. Much evidence for this type of approach exists. We know, for example that the brains of novice readers process reading using far larger portions of the brain than experienced readers do. The act of developing proficiency results in neurological changes in the way the way the brain processes text. Research demonstrated that when chimps had fingers sewn together, the brain started to process input and responses for both fingers collectively as one unit. Learning and experiences do change the brain. Further, we know that neuroplastisity exists. People who have had portions of their brains removed have demonstrated an ability to learn motor skills for regions of the brain that had been removed.
I know that as a child, I had abysmal handwriting. I was a good student whose handwriting grades were always U- unsatisfactory. In elementary school we had an activity period during which teachers and parents ran clubs for 5 week sessions. I participated in the "ornamental writing" or calligraphy activity for at least two sessions. While we learned the formation of elaborate capitals for a single script, we spent lots of focused time practicing handwriting. I made rows of circles and zigzags and fat and thin sideways number eights. Then I wrote one letter over and over and over. Using a pen with a nib and dipping in ink I learned about pressure to make the correct effects. This was hard work for someone whose handwriting was often illegible. Ultimately, however, I enjoyed the practice and became good at it. Hours of practice finally paid off and I have very legible writing now. We do not dedicate the time to handwriting practice and guess what- our children do not have good handwriting. Yes, it can be tedious, boring and hard work, that occupies that most precious school commodity-time- but it does pay off. This is the premise of the Arrowsmith program: practice in the area of difficulty in order to improve brain function.
The program begins with an analysis of skills which can be found on their website, cited above. Once the assessment is complete, they compose a report detailing areas of concern such as symbolic thinking, auditory speech discrimination and symbol recognition. These areas are mapped to specific brain sites which are then tasked with completing activities at graded levels of difficulty, often within a timed opportunity. The exercises, some of which are lightly described in the book, focus attention on the primary task of the region of the brain, exercising it to make it work harder and develop more capacity.
It would be interesting to see her list of exercises so that we could try and implement them with integrity. There is a training program that lasts for 3 weeks offered during the summer in Toronto. Rhonda Hawkins wrote a dissertation, which may be found here, reviewing the program and its impact. Many of the improvements were in areas difficult to assess with standardized assessments.
The book is an inspirational read that holds out hope for individuals struggling with significant disabilities. It does, however, put out there that the path forward is intensive practice. Unfortunately many students do not have the motivations to pursue intensive and monotonous practice and schools often do not have time to facilitate such practice that does not directly relate to a content area. Practice tracing and copying a set of simple of Hebrew or Cyrillic letters for an hour a day to develop fine motor and motor planning skills does not fit into the average school day.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Calm Seas
Mental illness is an often negatively stygmatized, undertreated concern that impacts a huge part of our society. I have long felt that if we could remove the stigma and provide early intensive, high quality treatment, our country would have far less trouble from people suffering with mental illness. Calm Seas: Keys to the Successful Treatment of Bipolar Disorder by Roger Sparhawk, discusses one segment of this complex web of mental health. His book is almost bipolar in its nature. Some sections seem to target service providers, offering lots of research and best treatment ideas, where others seem to target patients and their advocates. It is written in a first person format, almost as a discussion with a peer. As such, parts of the book are easier to read than others. Case studies throughout the text showcase discussion points, but the manner in which they are included does not highlight their importance.
He highlights a few points. First is the importance of accurate diagnosis. Bipolar disorder responds very differently to interventions than unipolar depression, even though they share the affect of depression. He also notes that long term bipolar disorder's symptomology becomes increasingly similar to that of unipolar depression. Since there is usually a large gap between onset of symptoms and initiation of treatment, a thorough history is required to identify episodes of mania.
Second is the existence of sleep disturbances. People with untreated bipolar disorder have disruptive sleep patterns. In depressed times people sleep more than 10 hours a day and during manic times they sleep less than 5. Patients that present with sleep disturbances should be identified and interventions attempted. This could be adjusting medication times to be more at night so that they do not encourage daytime sleepiness, implementing good sleep hygiene, and/or adding sleep aid medications. When people have the correct amount of sleep they are significantly more likely to have better mental health.
Third is medication. Antidepressants help very few people with bipolar disorder. Older mood stabilizers have a far higher rate of successful results. These include lithium. People with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder should actively discuss medications with providers. Those unwilling to consider maintenance with mood stabilizers should raise a red flag.
Fourth is a concern about other tier one concerns: Organic brain syndrome, schizophrenia, substance abuse and severe anorexia. All tier one concerns need to be addressed in treatment if there is to be success. Since patients often self medicate mental health concerns with alcohol and other substances and often do not report use of illegal substances, careful consideration needs to be given to them. Comprehensive, multipronged therapy is effective whereas single issue therapy is doomed to failure.
Finally acknowledgement needs to be made that bipolar disorder is a life-long diagnosis. Monitoring and treatment need to continue for the long haul. Patients need to be aware that although they can be treated they cannot be cured. Comparing with a medical diagnosis like diabetes might be helpful. This book is an interesting read, but be prepared for lots of medicaleze intertwined with highly readable portions.
He highlights a few points. First is the importance of accurate diagnosis. Bipolar disorder responds very differently to interventions than unipolar depression, even though they share the affect of depression. He also notes that long term bipolar disorder's symptomology becomes increasingly similar to that of unipolar depression. Since there is usually a large gap between onset of symptoms and initiation of treatment, a thorough history is required to identify episodes of mania.
Second is the existence of sleep disturbances. People with untreated bipolar disorder have disruptive sleep patterns. In depressed times people sleep more than 10 hours a day and during manic times they sleep less than 5. Patients that present with sleep disturbances should be identified and interventions attempted. This could be adjusting medication times to be more at night so that they do not encourage daytime sleepiness, implementing good sleep hygiene, and/or adding sleep aid medications. When people have the correct amount of sleep they are significantly more likely to have better mental health.
Third is medication. Antidepressants help very few people with bipolar disorder. Older mood stabilizers have a far higher rate of successful results. These include lithium. People with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder should actively discuss medications with providers. Those unwilling to consider maintenance with mood stabilizers should raise a red flag.
Fourth is a concern about other tier one concerns: Organic brain syndrome, schizophrenia, substance abuse and severe anorexia. All tier one concerns need to be addressed in treatment if there is to be success. Since patients often self medicate mental health concerns with alcohol and other substances and often do not report use of illegal substances, careful consideration needs to be given to them. Comprehensive, multipronged therapy is effective whereas single issue therapy is doomed to failure.
Finally acknowledgement needs to be made that bipolar disorder is a life-long diagnosis. Monitoring and treatment need to continue for the long haul. Patients need to be aware that although they can be treated they cannot be cured. Comparing with a medical diagnosis like diabetes might be helpful. This book is an interesting read, but be prepared for lots of medicaleze intertwined with highly readable portions.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Math and Movement
Research has shown us that movement increases mathematical achievement and understanding. Eric Jensen's Teaching with the Brain in Mind discusses this phenomenon. Other researchers concur. (for example see here.) Lynne Kinney has lots of materials that integrate learning and movement, often with song. We know this has an impact. Suzy Koontz with Laura Gates-Lupton wrote Math and Movement Training Manual for Elementary Schools to demonstrate how this might look in a classroom. Koontz's business has a website with video samples, practice activities and shopping.
Koontz presents a highly readable and searchable set of activities designed to get kids moving and learning. In our current era of increasing obesity and decreasing physical activity and elevated level of concern about math performance, it makes sense to see what we can do to incorporate movement into learning. Koontz's ideas for skip counting could be adapted to other subjects as well. Getting students up and making Macarena motions as they chant a definition or fact helps get their brains oxygen for learning while increasing the number of neurons triggered during the learning. Further it gives those antsy kids in our rooms some legitimate movement so they can develop self control about their energy levels.
I would recommend this book as a topic of discussion in any elementary program. Asking grade level teams to develop an activity using these ideas and seeing how students respond would enable groups to implement a low cost and potentially high value measure to increase achievement. Older groups would need to be more creative in developing use activities, but students up and moving with their hands are not using their cell phones. It could help with focus for these older students as well.
Koontz presents a highly readable and searchable set of activities designed to get kids moving and learning. In our current era of increasing obesity and decreasing physical activity and elevated level of concern about math performance, it makes sense to see what we can do to incorporate movement into learning. Koontz's ideas for skip counting could be adapted to other subjects as well. Getting students up and making Macarena motions as they chant a definition or fact helps get their brains oxygen for learning while increasing the number of neurons triggered during the learning. Further it gives those antsy kids in our rooms some legitimate movement so they can develop self control about their energy levels.
I would recommend this book as a topic of discussion in any elementary program. Asking grade level teams to develop an activity using these ideas and seeing how students respond would enable groups to implement a low cost and potentially high value measure to increase achievement. Older groups would need to be more creative in developing use activities, but students up and moving with their hands are not using their cell phones. It could help with focus for these older students as well.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Open a World of Possible- Read
I recently was asked to write a blurb about what reading means to me, perhaps discussing a favorite or pivotal book. That task was totally aligned with my current read, Open a World of Possible: Real Stories About the Joy and Power of Reading, edited by Lois Bridges. This book contains a collection of short essays- 1 to 3 pages- by a variety of people ranging from authors like Jon Scieszka and Pam Muñoz Ryan to poets like Kwame Alexander and Georgia Heard and to renowned people who have written and taught about teaching reading from Richard L. Arlington to Thomas Rasinski to Kelly Gallagher.
These authors talked about growing up. Some as English language learners and immigrants. Some as poor rural children or children of the inner city. Some as wealthy or middle class citizens. Many mentioned the importance of libraries and librarians to their love of reading. Others discussed the influence of families reading to them. Many mentioned encyclopedias- they had them, often at great hardship- and they read them. Some books were referenced repeatedly like To Kill a Mockingbird, Dr. Seuss and The Outsiders. Frequent allusions were made to Dick and Jane.
My concern around this book is that many of these things are threatened. Some politicians and citizens would argue that libraries are no longer useful- we should spend our money elsewhere. Electronic sources do not need a brick and mortar structure. How wrong they are. I have an eReader but still relish the feel of a book in my hands, in fact, I prefer it. Good Reads and Amazon may have book reviews to examine, but an expert in books otherwise known as a librarian will lead you to a book that might captivate a young reader's attention or help you efficiently wade through the vast collection to find the information you are looking for. Libraries also provide safe havens for youth who have no one home after school or who live in areas where safety might be a concern or who do not have access to internet or English literate adults in their world... Libraries are essential.
Encyclopedias. Growing up we had two sets. We referenced them for school assignments. When my mother required that we be able to share one thing we had learned at the dinner table each night there was a mad dash for the volumes before dinner. We even read them when we were bored, skimming through pages looking for something to catch our interest. Random information like Millard Fillmore's birthday- January 7, or the capital of Nepal- Kathmandu, or that a group of turkey vultures is called a murder were all shared. When you need to type what you are interested in learning about into a search engine- it is not the same. The browsing concept is missing. So too is the idea that my family sacrificed to buy this set so I need to use it mentality. You might not be able to learn everything about a topic from an encyclopedia, but you can learn that the topic exists. Organizational structures are not available for children to explore- alphabetical, similar types of entries had a pattern. Encyclopedias are not even printed any more. Such a loss. Ebay has an assortment available for those who do not remember these sets.
Classics. Classic children's books abound. Many of these books are still beloved favorites still found on our shelves long after the authors have died. Margaret Wise Brown, Dr. Seuss, Longfellow and Asimov all have permanent spots on shelves, even as they are joined by new friends like Pam Muñoz Ryan, Suzanne Collins. Some would say we should let the classics go and focus on new literature that touches children. All literature can touch people- that is what makes it a classic. We need to read like we are touched and changed by what we read. We need to teach that.
Dick and Jane. Often maligned characters that hundreds of thousands of children learned to read with. The uninspiring story lines and closely regulated vocabulary were companions of learning to read. Sight word reading has its limitations, but it did lead to some level of fluency. While the vast majority of people need phonics to learn to read, there does exist a small subset that will only read through sight words and sight words are essential for fluency. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run did enable most children to read. If only we coupled this instruction with captivating stories, intriguing nonfiction pieces and phonics we might have had a formula for greater love of reading. That said- most young people do not read beyond what is required of them by school. All of our pushing for nonfiction reads and rigor leave little motivation for leisure reading.
An interesting assignment might be to read a couple of examples to class and then ask them to write about reading. It would provide great insights into our children, what they enjoy and hate about reading. Such an assignment could help us understand our role in readicide or bibliophilia and give us an opportunity to alter that path. Charles R. Smith, Jr. put it lovingly in verse:
So many sights and sounds
that I can write down
of the live that I've lived
from the books that I found
filled with words
that planted the seed
of dreams for me
when I chose to read. (p. 179)
We need to make sure that we plant the seeds of dreams through words.
These authors talked about growing up. Some as English language learners and immigrants. Some as poor rural children or children of the inner city. Some as wealthy or middle class citizens. Many mentioned the importance of libraries and librarians to their love of reading. Others discussed the influence of families reading to them. Many mentioned encyclopedias- they had them, often at great hardship- and they read them. Some books were referenced repeatedly like To Kill a Mockingbird, Dr. Seuss and The Outsiders. Frequent allusions were made to Dick and Jane.
My concern around this book is that many of these things are threatened. Some politicians and citizens would argue that libraries are no longer useful- we should spend our money elsewhere. Electronic sources do not need a brick and mortar structure. How wrong they are. I have an eReader but still relish the feel of a book in my hands, in fact, I prefer it. Good Reads and Amazon may have book reviews to examine, but an expert in books otherwise known as a librarian will lead you to a book that might captivate a young reader's attention or help you efficiently wade through the vast collection to find the information you are looking for. Libraries also provide safe havens for youth who have no one home after school or who live in areas where safety might be a concern or who do not have access to internet or English literate adults in their world... Libraries are essential.
Encyclopedias. Growing up we had two sets. We referenced them for school assignments. When my mother required that we be able to share one thing we had learned at the dinner table each night there was a mad dash for the volumes before dinner. We even read them when we were bored, skimming through pages looking for something to catch our interest. Random information like Millard Fillmore's birthday- January 7, or the capital of Nepal- Kathmandu, or that a group of turkey vultures is called a murder were all shared. When you need to type what you are interested in learning about into a search engine- it is not the same. The browsing concept is missing. So too is the idea that my family sacrificed to buy this set so I need to use it mentality. You might not be able to learn everything about a topic from an encyclopedia, but you can learn that the topic exists. Organizational structures are not available for children to explore- alphabetical, similar types of entries had a pattern. Encyclopedias are not even printed any more. Such a loss. Ebay has an assortment available for those who do not remember these sets.
Classics. Classic children's books abound. Many of these books are still beloved favorites still found on our shelves long after the authors have died. Margaret Wise Brown, Dr. Seuss, Longfellow and Asimov all have permanent spots on shelves, even as they are joined by new friends like Pam Muñoz Ryan, Suzanne Collins. Some would say we should let the classics go and focus on new literature that touches children. All literature can touch people- that is what makes it a classic. We need to read like we are touched and changed by what we read. We need to teach that.
Dick and Jane. Often maligned characters that hundreds of thousands of children learned to read with. The uninspiring story lines and closely regulated vocabulary were companions of learning to read. Sight word reading has its limitations, but it did lead to some level of fluency. While the vast majority of people need phonics to learn to read, there does exist a small subset that will only read through sight words and sight words are essential for fluency. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run did enable most children to read. If only we coupled this instruction with captivating stories, intriguing nonfiction pieces and phonics we might have had a formula for greater love of reading. That said- most young people do not read beyond what is required of them by school. All of our pushing for nonfiction reads and rigor leave little motivation for leisure reading.
An interesting assignment might be to read a couple of examples to class and then ask them to write about reading. It would provide great insights into our children, what they enjoy and hate about reading. Such an assignment could help us understand our role in readicide or bibliophilia and give us an opportunity to alter that path. Charles R. Smith, Jr. put it lovingly in verse:
So many sights and sounds
that I can write down
of the live that I've lived
from the books that I found
filled with words
that planted the seed
of dreams for me
when I chose to read. (p. 179)
We need to make sure that we plant the seeds of dreams through words.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Disrupting dyslexia
One common myth about reading is that if kids don’t read fluently by the end of third grade, they never will. The truth is that these kids can learn to read, but the energy and time required to remediate poor reading skills goes up exponentially with every year. By the time they reach high school, it is hard to motivate these students who know they are so far behind their peers and have such uncomfortable memories related reading. It is also hard to find the time to do it.
New research is coming to the forefront to indicate how we can best intervene in dyslexia. Eleanor Chute’s brief article, "How Schools are Disrupting Dyslexia," found at https://www.districtadministration.com/article/how-schools-disrupting-dyslexia discusses some of this information. The key really is early intervention. Screening kids in kindergarten to assess their reading knowledge and skills and using that assessment to inform targeted instruction. Effective interventions at the kindergarten level might only need to be half an hour daily whereas at the high school level they might need to be two hours per day. Knowing the school system, finding a half hour for intervention is far easier than two hours, especially at the high school level. If you look at staffing needs, it is far more efficient to intervene at the elementary level. A kindergarten teacher working with daily half hour blocks might get 5 or 6 groups of five kids in a week and be able to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level. A high school teacher working with two hour blocks might get three groups of 5 students to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level. That is 25 or 30 students per staff member compared with 15.
Kindergarten screening should include assessments in language, phonological awareness, and rapid naming. While many kindergarteners are screened on these skills, their ability to name a few letters or write their name may be seen as a sign that they are not at risk. Also knowing if there is a family history of reading challenges is important since dyslexia does have a genetic component. For student who struggle with these screening tasks, interventions may mean the difference between learning to read effectively and years of special education and frustration with reading. Details about screenings may be found here.
Response to intervention, RTI, programs are able to provide some interventions at this level without access the special education system. In fact, they might actually prevent the need for special education in the future. If we embrace the information we have access to, screen our kids early, provide daily rigorous intervention in small groups, we might be able to increase the number of readers we have dramatically. That is good for all.
New research is coming to the forefront to indicate how we can best intervene in dyslexia. Eleanor Chute’s brief article, "How Schools are Disrupting Dyslexia," found at https://www.districtadministration.com/article/how-schools-disrupting-dyslexia discusses some of this information. The key really is early intervention. Screening kids in kindergarten to assess their reading knowledge and skills and using that assessment to inform targeted instruction. Effective interventions at the kindergarten level might only need to be half an hour daily whereas at the high school level they might need to be two hours per day. Knowing the school system, finding a half hour for intervention is far easier than two hours, especially at the high school level. If you look at staffing needs, it is far more efficient to intervene at the elementary level. A kindergarten teacher working with daily half hour blocks might get 5 or 6 groups of five kids in a week and be able to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level. A high school teacher working with two hour blocks might get three groups of 5 students to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level. That is 25 or 30 students per staff member compared with 15.
Kindergarten screening should include assessments in language, phonological awareness, and rapid naming. While many kindergarteners are screened on these skills, their ability to name a few letters or write their name may be seen as a sign that they are not at risk. Also knowing if there is a family history of reading challenges is important since dyslexia does have a genetic component. For student who struggle with these screening tasks, interventions may mean the difference between learning to read effectively and years of special education and frustration with reading. Details about screenings may be found here.
Response to intervention, RTI, programs are able to provide some interventions at this level without access the special education system. In fact, they might actually prevent the need for special education in the future. If we embrace the information we have access to, screen our kids early, provide daily rigorous intervention in small groups, we might be able to increase the number of readers we have dramatically. That is good for all.
Thursday, November 16, 2017
the Edge of the Sea
Over the past few centuries there have been some books that have greatly impacted America. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Updikes' The Jungle, and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring have each sparked reform. A friend recently gave me The Edge of the Sea, one of Caron's earlier books. This book began its life as a guide to seashore life but morphed into something completely different. While my son has found many happy hours reading identification books and catalogs, this is not my forte so I was slightly concerned about the book. The book is unexpected for the genre.
Carson is a poet who writes in prose. Full of imagery and metaphors, I would love to use sections of this book with students to share how descriptive language can be used. It is a master text. She intertwines this description with geological history and moving depictions of the landscape. Carson shows how the animals are dependent upon the environment. In the 1950s she discusses climate change and how it altered habitats and organism ranges.
Carson's training in marine zoology is seen in every line as she details moving along the Atlantic coast. Not only does she showcase each specimen, she talks about life cycles and interdependencies. She brings this ever changing world to life. A read that not only fuels the mind but the soul as well.
Carson is a poet who writes in prose. Full of imagery and metaphors, I would love to use sections of this book with students to share how descriptive language can be used. It is a master text. She intertwines this description with geological history and moving depictions of the landscape. Carson shows how the animals are dependent upon the environment. In the 1950s she discusses climate change and how it altered habitats and organism ranges.
Carson's training in marine zoology is seen in every line as she details moving along the Atlantic coast. Not only does she showcase each specimen, she talks about life cycles and interdependencies. She brings this ever changing world to life. A read that not only fuels the mind but the soul as well.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Thank You for Being Late
Thomas Friedman's Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations is his latest book. He continues to examine his theme of interconnectedness and competition and its impact on the world. I was first introduced to Friedman's work when my children were in primary school. Our school superintendent talked about The World is Flat and preparing our children for a changing world in which we do not know the shape of the landscape. Since that time iPhones, iPads and tablets have certainly changed the way we communicate. Immigration has radically changed the faces of our communities- some are frightened by the influx of people from less well off regions of the world, while others see it as the way America became great. The Middle East continues to be a threat to the status quo, but its reach has been magnified. The indisputable fact is that the world is a different place than when my son started school a decade and a half ago.
Friedman identifies three major accelerators to change in our world: Moore's Law, the market and Mother Nature. Moore's Law relates to technology: every two years technology doubles its productivity. The 8K computer of my freshman year of high school was replaced with a 16K machine my senior year. (Schools are not on the cutting edge of technology.) Bandwidth, processors, chips become twice as fast and memory twice as large approximately every two years. The market is what people think of when they think of The World is Flat- the globalization and interconnectedness of the business community. People compete and collaborate across the globe. In the Middle Ages people were bound by their immediate community. In the Age of Exploration they were given the opportunity to escape their communities. In the Industrial Age we saw the movement of goods begin to spread across international borders. In the Information Age we no longer have to go- we send the information electronically. Mother Nature is climate change. No one can argue that we have had several major hurricanes this year- far more than is typical. Nor can they argue the increase in volatility in weather patterns. Global temperatures are warming, the ice caps are melting, and the world is entering its next period of change.
Friedman argues that these three factors combine in ways that mean our world no longer has the expectations it once did. People need to be educated to flex with the rapidly changing world around them. They need to become capable of adapting to information and technology at ever increasing speeds. They need to be able to learn new skills. They need to move forward or else they will be left behind. Trump would argue that to make America great again we need to stem the accelerators. Friedman would argue that you can't and to deny them is to be left behind. He quotes Sondra Samuels say that we need to recognize "the importance of a two generation approach" (p. 434) to build healthy communities in our inner cities. If we remain focused on what can I do today to improve x, we will always fall short of the goal. We need a long range view. The Chicago preschool experiment demonstrated that high quality preschool increased on time graduation rates, employment rates and incomes while decreasing grade retention, incarceration and teenage pregnancy. If you just examine impact within a year or two you miss the richness of the outcomes. We need to take a long range approach, perhaps two generations, to improve the quality of our neighborhoods and the lives of all our citizens. We need to develop an attitude of acceptance of diversity, an importance of education and a standard of excellence.
A world where we live in fear breeds Putin and North Korea. A world where we live in despair and hopelessness breeds Isis. A world where we live in obedience breeds Nazism. We do not want these worlds. We need to spread hope, empowerment and success or we will fall away from greatness. Never has isolationism on our part helped us to compete and remain great. We need to address the concerns of the world's people and raise up everyone. If we focus on keeping "them" down, we hold ourselves back as well.
Friedman identifies three major accelerators to change in our world: Moore's Law, the market and Mother Nature. Moore's Law relates to technology: every two years technology doubles its productivity. The 8K computer of my freshman year of high school was replaced with a 16K machine my senior year. (Schools are not on the cutting edge of technology.) Bandwidth, processors, chips become twice as fast and memory twice as large approximately every two years. The market is what people think of when they think of The World is Flat- the globalization and interconnectedness of the business community. People compete and collaborate across the globe. In the Middle Ages people were bound by their immediate community. In the Age of Exploration they were given the opportunity to escape their communities. In the Industrial Age we saw the movement of goods begin to spread across international borders. In the Information Age we no longer have to go- we send the information electronically. Mother Nature is climate change. No one can argue that we have had several major hurricanes this year- far more than is typical. Nor can they argue the increase in volatility in weather patterns. Global temperatures are warming, the ice caps are melting, and the world is entering its next period of change.
Friedman argues that these three factors combine in ways that mean our world no longer has the expectations it once did. People need to be educated to flex with the rapidly changing world around them. They need to become capable of adapting to information and technology at ever increasing speeds. They need to be able to learn new skills. They need to move forward or else they will be left behind. Trump would argue that to make America great again we need to stem the accelerators. Friedman would argue that you can't and to deny them is to be left behind. He quotes Sondra Samuels say that we need to recognize "the importance of a two generation approach" (p. 434) to build healthy communities in our inner cities. If we remain focused on what can I do today to improve x, we will always fall short of the goal. We need a long range view. The Chicago preschool experiment demonstrated that high quality preschool increased on time graduation rates, employment rates and incomes while decreasing grade retention, incarceration and teenage pregnancy. If you just examine impact within a year or two you miss the richness of the outcomes. We need to take a long range approach, perhaps two generations, to improve the quality of our neighborhoods and the lives of all our citizens. We need to develop an attitude of acceptance of diversity, an importance of education and a standard of excellence.
A world where we live in fear breeds Putin and North Korea. A world where we live in despair and hopelessness breeds Isis. A world where we live in obedience breeds Nazism. We do not want these worlds. We need to spread hope, empowerment and success or we will fall away from greatness. Never has isolationism on our part helped us to compete and remain great. We need to address the concerns of the world's people and raise up everyone. If we focus on keeping "them" down, we hold ourselves back as well.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Disruption and education
Thomas Friedman talks about disrupters in his latest book, Thank you for Being Late. Being in the middle of this text, it was interesting to read Peter W. Cookson Jr’s article in edweek, 10 Disruptions That will Revolutionize Education. Cookson talks about “moving from distraction to deep learning” as one of the educational challenges we must now address. His disruptions include:
1. Digital learners rebel against intellectual conformity- Yes, our young people are divided by the digital and physical realm, seeking solutions rather than reflection, but his assertion that they multitask easily is wrong. They multitask, but much research shows that they do this at the expense of everything they are doing. Conformity and standardization are things that people in our country have fought for decades, it is not new as Cookson proposes. Long is the complaint against youth that they rebel against conforming to society.
2. Learning avatars will become commonplace.- True there is an increase in the use of intelligent programing that adjusts to the performance of the user. The challenge here is that we will still need to balance the idea of mastery versus time. Our students, teachers, schools, and states are measured on how well students to versus a set curriculum. Since all students do not learn at the same rate, at some point we need to make a choice about moving on and achieving coverage (a court case in California ruled that a class of students who did not cover particular material could not be assessed on it by graduation gatekeeper tests) and proficiency. Further, recent research says that personalization does not actually achieve increased success with material. We really do not know how to utilize electronic platforms to maximize learning.
3. Participatory-learning hubs replace isolated classrooms- Yes, students are increasing linked to the global universe.
4. Inquiry skills will drive learning- Tell that to the science teacher community. For the past 30 years they have been supporting this idea, and it has not caught on. Social studies groups promote the concept of doing the work of historians- reading and analyzing primary source material- but we remain testing the dates of the Civil War. While there is an increase in teamwork and cooperative learning, most implementations of these activities enable little real collaboration. This rolls back to assessment- are we going to do easy assessments with "right" answers or are we going to do complex (read expensive) ones that are more subjective?
5. Capacities will matter more than grades- “Conventional grading is already becoming outdated.” No kidding, but this is not new. Standards based report cards and grading are making strides in some places, but not all. What employers want is a tool to use that says this students is a good bet- they have soft skills like persistence, punctuality, and a willingness to learn as well as hard skills like a basic ability to engage in the three Rs. While capacity to do a job is slowly making inroads into the business community, this is not something we should hold our breath for.
6. Teachers will become inventors- He talks about social emotional learning here, not inventors. I think he is getting at the link between cognitive skills, social emotional skills and creativity. Teachers have been doing this forever. In 1976 when PL 94-142, the federal special education law, was passed, they recognized these links and included both in the analysis of student skills.
7. School leaders will give up their desks- Many people love their desks and will never give them up. The amount of paperwork that the educational bureaucracy requires does not lend itself to deskless lives. “Student agency in a culture of mutual respect” is what he proposes here. While many schools and classrooms are student centered, our insistence on standards of learning limit this. Novice learners need guidance and support to learn and push forward. We can argue about the relevancy of trigonometry and algebra 2 all day, but without outward pressure to learn these subjects, few students would ever engage in them and since they do not have real work application for most people, they would go by the wayside leaving our applied math programs like engineering and science at a loss.
8. Students and families will become co-learners and co-creators- This is an age-old idea, but one that is not shared by many cultures, including those in many low socioeconomic areas and immigrant cultures. Middle class families already are co-learners and have been forever. Engaging the families is not something that will happen on its own but will require careful and concerted effort on the part of the schools.
9. Formal credentials will no longer be the Holy Grail- Centuries ago being a lawyer meant working with a mentor for a while before opening your own shop. The same with doctors. We have formal credentials for a reason- to offer the public some assurance that the individual has a level of skill. We do not have the skill set to go to the doctor and interview him on his knowledge about medicine. We expect that to be taken care of before we pass through his office door. Although many jobs can be completed without formal credentials, employers rely on credentials for screening purposes. Different types of credentials are becoming the norm- online programs are increasingly able to bring education to a greater number of students, apprentice programs are available in some areas. Some form of credentials, however will remain the norm. Portfolios work in some fields and have for a long time- architects showcase their previous work, authors list their past writings, athletes have records of success- but this will not likely spread to all fields.
10. Policymakers will form communities of continuous improvement- Really. How does he propose to get the politicians out of education? We are moving in the opposite direction. While there is a group of think tanks that process research and implement new ideas, these ideas are slow to capture our attention. “New math” has been the social pariah for a long time and was passed over at least once since its conception. Convincing the public to allow and encourage innovative educational policy is an ongoing battle.
I guess I am pretty pessimistic about the disruptions that are proposed. Not that many of them are bad ideas, just that the pace of change in the educational world is so much slower than that of the business world. We talk about our children not keeping up with the global community, and in some ways that is true. I think it boils down more to motivation than to activity- to a theory that they should be allowed to "be kids" rather than mini-learning machines. In China or India your choice is education, hard work and success or dirt floors and public well. Many other parts of the world do not even have the option of education.
Disruptions will change how we educate. Some are bigger forces than others. The bigger mountain, however, is to change society's perception of the role of education. As a country and a culture, we do not have unity on the purpose of education. We are increasingly allowing government to control what we teach and how we teach it. I think perhaps the biggest disrupter will be the people rebelling against the status quo and allowing that a new way of educating might be superior to the one we experienced as youths ourselves.
1. Digital learners rebel against intellectual conformity- Yes, our young people are divided by the digital and physical realm, seeking solutions rather than reflection, but his assertion that they multitask easily is wrong. They multitask, but much research shows that they do this at the expense of everything they are doing. Conformity and standardization are things that people in our country have fought for decades, it is not new as Cookson proposes. Long is the complaint against youth that they rebel against conforming to society.
2. Learning avatars will become commonplace.- True there is an increase in the use of intelligent programing that adjusts to the performance of the user. The challenge here is that we will still need to balance the idea of mastery versus time. Our students, teachers, schools, and states are measured on how well students to versus a set curriculum. Since all students do not learn at the same rate, at some point we need to make a choice about moving on and achieving coverage (a court case in California ruled that a class of students who did not cover particular material could not be assessed on it by graduation gatekeeper tests) and proficiency. Further, recent research says that personalization does not actually achieve increased success with material. We really do not know how to utilize electronic platforms to maximize learning.
3. Participatory-learning hubs replace isolated classrooms- Yes, students are increasing linked to the global universe.
4. Inquiry skills will drive learning- Tell that to the science teacher community. For the past 30 years they have been supporting this idea, and it has not caught on. Social studies groups promote the concept of doing the work of historians- reading and analyzing primary source material- but we remain testing the dates of the Civil War. While there is an increase in teamwork and cooperative learning, most implementations of these activities enable little real collaboration. This rolls back to assessment- are we going to do easy assessments with "right" answers or are we going to do complex (read expensive) ones that are more subjective?
5. Capacities will matter more than grades- “Conventional grading is already becoming outdated.” No kidding, but this is not new. Standards based report cards and grading are making strides in some places, but not all. What employers want is a tool to use that says this students is a good bet- they have soft skills like persistence, punctuality, and a willingness to learn as well as hard skills like a basic ability to engage in the three Rs. While capacity to do a job is slowly making inroads into the business community, this is not something we should hold our breath for.
6. Teachers will become inventors- He talks about social emotional learning here, not inventors. I think he is getting at the link between cognitive skills, social emotional skills and creativity. Teachers have been doing this forever. In 1976 when PL 94-142, the federal special education law, was passed, they recognized these links and included both in the analysis of student skills.
7. School leaders will give up their desks- Many people love their desks and will never give them up. The amount of paperwork that the educational bureaucracy requires does not lend itself to deskless lives. “Student agency in a culture of mutual respect” is what he proposes here. While many schools and classrooms are student centered, our insistence on standards of learning limit this. Novice learners need guidance and support to learn and push forward. We can argue about the relevancy of trigonometry and algebra 2 all day, but without outward pressure to learn these subjects, few students would ever engage in them and since they do not have real work application for most people, they would go by the wayside leaving our applied math programs like engineering and science at a loss.
8. Students and families will become co-learners and co-creators- This is an age-old idea, but one that is not shared by many cultures, including those in many low socioeconomic areas and immigrant cultures. Middle class families already are co-learners and have been forever. Engaging the families is not something that will happen on its own but will require careful and concerted effort on the part of the schools.
9. Formal credentials will no longer be the Holy Grail- Centuries ago being a lawyer meant working with a mentor for a while before opening your own shop. The same with doctors. We have formal credentials for a reason- to offer the public some assurance that the individual has a level of skill. We do not have the skill set to go to the doctor and interview him on his knowledge about medicine. We expect that to be taken care of before we pass through his office door. Although many jobs can be completed without formal credentials, employers rely on credentials for screening purposes. Different types of credentials are becoming the norm- online programs are increasingly able to bring education to a greater number of students, apprentice programs are available in some areas. Some form of credentials, however will remain the norm. Portfolios work in some fields and have for a long time- architects showcase their previous work, authors list their past writings, athletes have records of success- but this will not likely spread to all fields.
10. Policymakers will form communities of continuous improvement- Really. How does he propose to get the politicians out of education? We are moving in the opposite direction. While there is a group of think tanks that process research and implement new ideas, these ideas are slow to capture our attention. “New math” has been the social pariah for a long time and was passed over at least once since its conception. Convincing the public to allow and encourage innovative educational policy is an ongoing battle.
I guess I am pretty pessimistic about the disruptions that are proposed. Not that many of them are bad ideas, just that the pace of change in the educational world is so much slower than that of the business world. We talk about our children not keeping up with the global community, and in some ways that is true. I think it boils down more to motivation than to activity- to a theory that they should be allowed to "be kids" rather than mini-learning machines. In China or India your choice is education, hard work and success or dirt floors and public well. Many other parts of the world do not even have the option of education.
Disruptions will change how we educate. Some are bigger forces than others. The bigger mountain, however, is to change society's perception of the role of education. As a country and a culture, we do not have unity on the purpose of education. We are increasingly allowing government to control what we teach and how we teach it. I think perhaps the biggest disrupter will be the people rebelling against the status quo and allowing that a new way of educating might be superior to the one we experienced as youths ourselves.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Friedman's heating and lighting
I was first introduced to Thomas Friedman when my children were small and I attended a board of education meeting for our school district. Our superintendent was talking about the age of globalization and competition, about how the world would be different for our children than it was for us. I tracked down a copy of the World is Flat and appreciated the insights of this author and his message. A couple of years ago my daughter had to read the book for a college class and she too was impressed with the message. Friedman's latest book, Thank You for Being Late, has also captured my attention. His clear and easy writing style explains why he is a successful journalist. Although not far into the book, I have been ruminating on one of the messages of the introduction- he talks about the role of the opinion writer as being either heating or lighting, an analogy that I think would be good for talking to students about persuasive and argumentative writing.ads
He proposes that you have two options "turn on a lightbulb in your reader's head- illuminate an issue in a way that will inspire them to look at it anew- or stoke an emotion in your reader's heart that prompts them to feel or act more intensely or differently about an issue" (p. 12). This is the classic logos or pathos issue that Plato described updated to today's language. Friedman argues that ideally an author does both. Friedman's writing style does just that- he bombards the reader with facts designed to showcase certain things and then expresses it in a way that shares why you should care- your heart gets engaged. Friedman tends to be more of an economist than a politician in his outlook. I believe Friedman would agree with Marx in stating that the world is driven by economics rather than by political or social goals. Yes they are intertwined, but the driving force is the economic one.
When I think about our president and his use of rhetoric, it all focuses on the pathos or heating piece of the puzzle with some appeal to the element that Friedman does not discuss, ethos- appeal to authority. Trump uses his role as a businessman and now President to claim he must be right, an argument that Cigna, an insurance provider, takes comic advantage of with it's TV doctors of America ads (see here and here). Trump's favorite bit of rhetoric, however, is the heating business. He wants people shouting, cheering and afraid so that he can manipulate them to support him. We need to teach our young people to be wary of these devices so that they can analyze for themselves the information they receive and make informed decisions, not scared decisions.
He proposes that you have two options "turn on a lightbulb in your reader's head- illuminate an issue in a way that will inspire them to look at it anew- or stoke an emotion in your reader's heart that prompts them to feel or act more intensely or differently about an issue" (p. 12). This is the classic logos or pathos issue that Plato described updated to today's language. Friedman argues that ideally an author does both. Friedman's writing style does just that- he bombards the reader with facts designed to showcase certain things and then expresses it in a way that shares why you should care- your heart gets engaged. Friedman tends to be more of an economist than a politician in his outlook. I believe Friedman would agree with Marx in stating that the world is driven by economics rather than by political or social goals. Yes they are intertwined, but the driving force is the economic one.
When I think about our president and his use of rhetoric, it all focuses on the pathos or heating piece of the puzzle with some appeal to the element that Friedman does not discuss, ethos- appeal to authority. Trump uses his role as a businessman and now President to claim he must be right, an argument that Cigna, an insurance provider, takes comic advantage of with it's TV doctors of America ads (see here and here). Trump's favorite bit of rhetoric, however, is the heating business. He wants people shouting, cheering and afraid so that he can manipulate them to support him. We need to teach our young people to be wary of these devices so that they can analyze for themselves the information they receive and make informed decisions, not scared decisions.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell wrote Outliers in 2008 and the concept of 10,000 hours to excellence was popularized. It is not that we require an exact number of hours in order to become an expert, but we need to dedicate a huge amount of time to practice before we become experts. This holds true for virtually all things. Jerry Rice, the hall of fame receiver, was known for being the hardest worker on his team. That is true of most sports greats. They have natural talent and physical attributes, but to become truly great, they need to spend the hours- consistently over time.
Practice plus talent alone is not enough. There is an environmental aspect to greatness. Part of it is related to learning persistence, social skills and having access to opportunities. If you want to be successful at a job, you need to need to have the social skills to do so. The social skills needed to survive as a Wall Street banker are different than those you need to be a rodeo rider. A neurosurgeon has different social skills than a pediatrician. The skills you need to be an inner city police officer are different than those you need as a rural sheriff. Growing up in an environment where you learn those skills makes it easier. You can learn the skills, but it is a challenge to learn a new culture.
Further, your birthday contributes to opportunities. People who graduated from college in 2007 had a very different experience looking for jobs than those who graduated in 2009 during the great recession. Sometimes this challenge forces people to learn to be flexible and focus on skills that others are not finding profitable which will become profitable in the future. Sometimes it forces people to reside in mediocrity.
One thing that Gladwell discussed are the limitations of IQ as a determinant of success. Once IQ is above a certain point, being higher is not necessarily better. Being from a middle or upper class is what determines the success of the individual more than merely IQ. My husband, an engineer, talks about engineers in the top 90th percentile are able to produce twice that of engineers in the 50th percentile. He is not referring to just smarts, but to problem solving, persistence, and ability to juggle more things at once. To be able to analyze both the big picture and pay attention to the minutia. Not everyone can do this. Without training in how to do it, even the really good engineers do not get there.
So do we resolve to be satisfied that inner city, poverty filled areas are doomed to continue as they exist? NO. We can intervene and change trajectories. We have learned that the greater part of the achievement gap results from the summer slide. Students in well educated environments spend the summer in activities that expand their background knowledge and reinforce their learning. They have ready access to books and shown that reading is not just important but enjoyable. Students in poverty tend to be denied enriching summer experiences. They have much more limited access to books. They have to have parents set the stage, as a recent report illustrates, that emphasizes learning, schooling, and self-confidence in learning.
KIPP schools have been successful because they increase the amount of schooling and school work that students do. It would odd if students who spent 30 more days in school and 2 more hours a day at school could not out perform students who did not. It is not about technology they have access to or the uniforms they wear but the idea that learning is important. Parents who spend the time to research schools and pick the schools that would be best for their children, have children who do better than parents who do not. Parents who spend this time on selecting a school then also spend more time focusing on learning. Even if the parents cannot help their children with their school work, they can find people who can. In Educational Leadership I read recently read about a child who immigrated to this country and did not speak proficient English, nor did anyone in his family. His family did, however, belong to a community where there were proficient bilingual English speakers. They hooked this young man up with other adults from the community who could help with homework. This young man was able to be successful in school in spite of language and poverty challenges. Environment can help kids overcome challenges or can mire them. It is up to us as a community to decide which way to go.
Practice plus talent alone is not enough. There is an environmental aspect to greatness. Part of it is related to learning persistence, social skills and having access to opportunities. If you want to be successful at a job, you need to need to have the social skills to do so. The social skills needed to survive as a Wall Street banker are different than those you need to be a rodeo rider. A neurosurgeon has different social skills than a pediatrician. The skills you need to be an inner city police officer are different than those you need as a rural sheriff. Growing up in an environment where you learn those skills makes it easier. You can learn the skills, but it is a challenge to learn a new culture.
Further, your birthday contributes to opportunities. People who graduated from college in 2007 had a very different experience looking for jobs than those who graduated in 2009 during the great recession. Sometimes this challenge forces people to learn to be flexible and focus on skills that others are not finding profitable which will become profitable in the future. Sometimes it forces people to reside in mediocrity.
One thing that Gladwell discussed are the limitations of IQ as a determinant of success. Once IQ is above a certain point, being higher is not necessarily better. Being from a middle or upper class is what determines the success of the individual more than merely IQ. My husband, an engineer, talks about engineers in the top 90th percentile are able to produce twice that of engineers in the 50th percentile. He is not referring to just smarts, but to problem solving, persistence, and ability to juggle more things at once. To be able to analyze both the big picture and pay attention to the minutia. Not everyone can do this. Without training in how to do it, even the really good engineers do not get there.
So do we resolve to be satisfied that inner city, poverty filled areas are doomed to continue as they exist? NO. We can intervene and change trajectories. We have learned that the greater part of the achievement gap results from the summer slide. Students in well educated environments spend the summer in activities that expand their background knowledge and reinforce their learning. They have ready access to books and shown that reading is not just important but enjoyable. Students in poverty tend to be denied enriching summer experiences. They have much more limited access to books. They have to have parents set the stage, as a recent report illustrates, that emphasizes learning, schooling, and self-confidence in learning.
KIPP schools have been successful because they increase the amount of schooling and school work that students do. It would odd if students who spent 30 more days in school and 2 more hours a day at school could not out perform students who did not. It is not about technology they have access to or the uniforms they wear but the idea that learning is important. Parents who spend the time to research schools and pick the schools that would be best for their children, have children who do better than parents who do not. Parents who spend this time on selecting a school then also spend more time focusing on learning. Even if the parents cannot help their children with their school work, they can find people who can. In Educational Leadership I read recently read about a child who immigrated to this country and did not speak proficient English, nor did anyone in his family. His family did, however, belong to a community where there were proficient bilingual English speakers. They hooked this young man up with other adults from the community who could help with homework. This young man was able to be successful in school in spite of language and poverty challenges. Environment can help kids overcome challenges or can mire them. It is up to us as a community to decide which way to go.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Accessible Algebra
Every teacher who has worked with math has had students for whom math was instinctual- who loved to play with numbers and patterns, who caught on, often before the topic had been addressed in class. Teachers have also had students who found math to be an indiscernible labyrinth- who hated numbers and patterns and just never seemed to get it, no matter how many times it was explained. Unfortunately our culture seems to celebrate the latter and find the former odd. I have a husband and daughter who love math. She was delighted with calculus and worked ahead. Accessible Algebra by Anne M. Collins and Stephen R. Benson is not for those who get it. It is for the rest of us.
As opposed to a book based on theory, Accessible Algebra: 30 Modules to Promote Algebraic Reasoning, Grades 7-10 is a compilation of 30 lessons, complete with worksheets and answers, that can be used out of the box. The book is divided into sections- expressions, equations and functions. The modules contain real examples of algebra, the mathematical theory about the topic, common mistakes and ideas for both increased scaffolding and extensions. I learned some math reading this book, but more importantly, I have been exposed to some ideas about how to make algebra more hands on. We tend to think about elementary school math as being hands on- counters, pattern blocks, geoboards, balances, and games may be found in most such classrooms. As students get older, opportunities for hands on experiences in math diminish, in part because of pacing and time and in part because of the challenge of finding manipulatives and experiences that represent abstract algebraic concepts.
For students who struggle with mathematical thinking, finding ways to visualize and explore concepts is essential. This book provides a wealth of examples of how to incorporate models and discussion into the classroom. It might make algebra a longer course. It might, however, create a class that more students could be successful in. If an algebra teacher only used these 30 modules over the course of the 180- or more realistically 150 school days- students would be better prepared to tackle math. An emphasis throughout is discussion. Students often struggle with describing math. By forcing students to verbalize and write their ideas, both with words and symbolic notation, we help them bridge the gap and be better prepared for assessments that require these skills.
The activities include a variety of card activities: match the expression with the words describing the math, the graph to its description or sort into function or not a function. We know that hands on experiences increase learning, it is worth trying. Another thing the authors include is a chart for recording student thinking. When students are working collaboratively or independently, you can determine what strategies they use and then encourage using the best strategy for a problem as opposed to a single strategy. You could add guess and check to the strategy column.
A wonderful text for those trying to help students achieve success with algebra.
As opposed to a book based on theory, Accessible Algebra: 30 Modules to Promote Algebraic Reasoning, Grades 7-10 is a compilation of 30 lessons, complete with worksheets and answers, that can be used out of the box. The book is divided into sections- expressions, equations and functions. The modules contain real examples of algebra, the mathematical theory about the topic, common mistakes and ideas for both increased scaffolding and extensions. I learned some math reading this book, but more importantly, I have been exposed to some ideas about how to make algebra more hands on. We tend to think about elementary school math as being hands on- counters, pattern blocks, geoboards, balances, and games may be found in most such classrooms. As students get older, opportunities for hands on experiences in math diminish, in part because of pacing and time and in part because of the challenge of finding manipulatives and experiences that represent abstract algebraic concepts.
For students who struggle with mathematical thinking, finding ways to visualize and explore concepts is essential. This book provides a wealth of examples of how to incorporate models and discussion into the classroom. It might make algebra a longer course. It might, however, create a class that more students could be successful in. If an algebra teacher only used these 30 modules over the course of the 180- or more realistically 150 school days- students would be better prepared to tackle math. An emphasis throughout is discussion. Students often struggle with describing math. By forcing students to verbalize and write their ideas, both with words and symbolic notation, we help them bridge the gap and be better prepared for assessments that require these skills.
The activities include a variety of card activities: match the expression with the words describing the math, the graph to its description or sort into function or not a function. We know that hands on experiences increase learning, it is worth trying. Another thing the authors include is a chart for recording student thinking. When students are working collaboratively or independently, you can determine what strategies they use and then encourage using the best strategy for a problem as opposed to a single strategy. You could add guess and check to the strategy column.
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A wonderful text for those trying to help students achieve success with algebra.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
The power of the adolescent brain
Thomas Armstrong's book, The Power of the Adolescent Brain: Strategies for Teaching Middle and High School Students, examines why so many secondary programs fail students. He starts with a primer on neurobiology and learning. One amazing thing is that adolescent brains respond to stimulus in very different ways than either child or adult brains do. For example, when thinking about actions they might take in a given situation, adolescents use a part of the brain associated with the self-conscious brain whereas adults rely more on self-memories (p. 54). Since the time of adolescences is one of brain refinement- lots of pruning and myelination- expecting teens to react as adults might is unrealistic.
Armstrong highlights several risks that adolescents face and the impact that they have on young people.
Armstrong lists choice as the number one brain friendly practice. Often in high school choice of classes is practically nonexistent. Students are required to take English, math, social studies and science. Often mandatory electives are needed: PE, a fine art, and language. The day is full and complete. Back when my sister was in high school, they offered electives in English. Students opted to take a class for a quarter. Options included violence in literature, science fiction, drama, poetry, and Shakespeare and film. They were offered choices that my sister assured me included lots of reading and writing and writing and writing. We could provide these sorts of choices but then English teachers would have to plan extra classes. Instead of four sections of English 9 and two of English 10 it would be 4-6 unique classes. I am sure that open rebellion by the staff brought about this downfall. (Teachers in small schools can laugh- they have all those different classes because they are the English department at the high school and teach all four levels.) I know it is work, but it might help student engagement which might lead to better success on the part of the students.
Armstrong repeatedly emphasizes the role of peers in teenage lives. Peer approval stimulates high levels of satisfaction in the brain and disapproval or lack of acceptance triggers high levels of negative responses. He suggests letting peers critique each others work. I have heard many teachers say they tried peer revisions or editing, the students hated it and were terrible at it so they gave it up. Interestingly if we discover they hate writing or are terrible at it we do not abstain from assigning written work. He quotes Ron Berger,
If we want to use peer feedback we need to teach it. We need to model it. Good job does not provide any useful information- not for what you did well or what you can do to improve. Preferable would be,
Throughout the book, Armstrong identifies a brain-friendly practice and then provides examples of how to implement them. His writing is easy to read. Each chapter ends with a key takeaway section that summarizes the material. Appendix B contains a variety of specific examples to use each of the ten strategies in each of the core subject areas. A great book that furthers the discussion of brain-friendly learning.
Armstrong highlights several risks that adolescents face and the impact that they have on young people.
- traffic accidents- a leading cause of death
- violence- another leading cause of death. In a study 40% of males and 25% of females in high school reported being in a physical fight in the past year (p. 21)
- suicide- another leading cause of death
- alcohol abuse-over one third of teenagers reported alcohol consumption in the last 30 days. Alcohol consumption inhibits the creation of new neurons and damages areas of the brain including those associated with impulse control (p. 22)
- marijuana abuse- heavy users have depressed processing speed, memory, flexible thinking, attention and learning as well as decreased motivation. It results in structural changes in the brain including decreased ability of the amygdala to filter incoming information (p. 22).
- tobacco and nicotine use- more likely to become addicted with use than adults and leads to long term health risks. It causes changes to the limbic system including reduced ability to inhibit impulses (p. 23)
- mental disorders- The onset of half of all mental health issues begins by the age of 14. As many as 20% experience an anxiety disorder. Eating disorders, school refusals and suicide are often results of mental health concerns (p. 23)
- Sleep difficulties- 45% of all adolescents experience sleep deprivation. It causes increased risk taking and failures of cognitive control (p. 23). While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends schools start after 8:30 the CDC reports that over 75% of secondary schools do.
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases- Over a third of sexually active females between 14 and 18 carry an STD. (44% of females and 49% of males in this group are sexually active).
- Prescription Drug abuse- Adderall, Vicodin and narcotics are the most abused drugs. Abuse of narcotics and Vicodin can lead to coma and death. 4% of males report steroid abuse which causes changes in brain structure and neurotransmitter levels (p.24). Recent research indicates that narcotics overdose is steadily climbing as a leading cause of death for teens.
- Internet Addiction- approximately 4% of teens (it seems like this number might be low) which reduces connectivity in regions of the brain responsible for learning ( p. 24).
- Bullying- 20 % of teens reported being bullied in the last year on school grounds. This can result in suicide and an increased risk of psychiatric disorders (p. 24).
- Stress- It can contribute to all of the above factors. Chronic stress can lead to anxiety, depression, panic attacks, difficulty concentrating and insomnia as well as high blood pressure and low immune function. Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to stress and its long term impact on the body and brain. THP, a neurotransmitter that is calming in children and adults, is antagonistic to the brain of adolescents (p. 26).
Armstrong lists choice as the number one brain friendly practice. Often in high school choice of classes is practically nonexistent. Students are required to take English, math, social studies and science. Often mandatory electives are needed: PE, a fine art, and language. The day is full and complete. Back when my sister was in high school, they offered electives in English. Students opted to take a class for a quarter. Options included violence in literature, science fiction, drama, poetry, and Shakespeare and film. They were offered choices that my sister assured me included lots of reading and writing and writing and writing. We could provide these sorts of choices but then English teachers would have to plan extra classes. Instead of four sections of English 9 and two of English 10 it would be 4-6 unique classes. I am sure that open rebellion by the staff brought about this downfall. (Teachers in small schools can laugh- they have all those different classes because they are the English department at the high school and teach all four levels.) I know it is work, but it might help student engagement which might lead to better success on the part of the students.
Armstrong repeatedly emphasizes the role of peers in teenage lives. Peer approval stimulates high levels of satisfaction in the brain and disapproval or lack of acceptance triggers high levels of negative responses. He suggests letting peers critique each others work. I have heard many teachers say they tried peer revisions or editing, the students hated it and were terrible at it so they gave it up. Interestingly if we discover they hate writing or are terrible at it we do not abstain from assigning written work. He quotes Ron Berger,
"In order to create beautiful work, we must be willing to refine. To refine, we must require critique and feedback. In order to critique, we need models and standards. For feedback to be useful to us, it must be kind, helpful and specific." (p. 73)
If we want to use peer feedback we need to teach it. We need to model it. Good job does not provide any useful information- not for what you did well or what you can do to improve. Preferable would be,
- You identified three quotes to highlight your thesis. What made you choose the second one?
- I liked the way you used imagery to showcase the character's delemia in the third paragraph. What made you choose to stop using it after that point?
- Most of your sentences are a simple subject-predicate form. How can you change the sentence structure around to make the language more interesting to the reader?
- Be careful with your sentences. While they are full of vivid and specific verbs, they also are often run-ons.
- I am not sure why you chose to include _____. Could you explain it better or remove it and still make your point?
- I didn't understand it when you ______.
- I really like the way you _____.
- I want to know more about _____.
- I was confused when _____.
- You evidence here seems weak/strong because __________.
Throughout the book, Armstrong identifies a brain-friendly practice and then provides examples of how to implement them. His writing is easy to read. Each chapter ends with a key takeaway section that summarizes the material. Appendix B contains a variety of specific examples to use each of the ten strategies in each of the core subject areas. A great book that furthers the discussion of brain-friendly learning.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
differentiated literacy coaching
Over the last few years I have delved into the research on literacy coaching and was intrigued to find Mary Catherine Moran's Differentiated Literacy Coaching: Scaffolding for Student and Teacher Success. This book was a dry read. Few examples are found throughout. While resources and handouts are available online, not enough were shared within the text, requiring readers to stop and search for materials that were referenced.
That said, the book has a wealth of information. Moran describes different types of coaching activities: collaborative resource management, literacy content presentations, focused classroom visits, coplanning, study groups, demonstration lessons, peer coaching and coteaching. Coplanning and coteaching are shown as parallels to special ed activities. Two of her key focuses is that coaching works best when teachers are able to self select the activity and that coaches should not be evaluators.
The book is divided into three sections: foundations and research, types of coaching and discussion modules. In the first section the author references Gersten, Vaughn, Deschler and Schiller's (1997) guiding principles for researchers to make use of research in their practice (p. 25):
Later on she highlights that, "As a coach, our job isn't to tell teachers how or what to do..., but rather to help them reflect on their own practice" (p. 42-3). Keeping this in mind provides a purpose for coaching even veteran teachers. It would have been nice if she had added some reflection protocols or sample dialogs to use as a spring board.
The last part of the text is modules with sample staff development activities that would be useful for any stage of the coaching process implementation. They focus on the concept and logistics of coaching rather than specific content information.
Her appendix does include a plan for evaluating coach performance. Since coaching is different from teaching, using a teacher evaluation model such as Danielson's is not a good measure of performance.
That said, the book has a wealth of information. Moran describes different types of coaching activities: collaborative resource management, literacy content presentations, focused classroom visits, coplanning, study groups, demonstration lessons, peer coaching and coteaching. Coplanning and coteaching are shown as parallels to special ed activities. Two of her key focuses is that coaching works best when teachers are able to self select the activity and that coaches should not be evaluators.
The book is divided into three sections: foundations and research, types of coaching and discussion modules. In the first section the author references Gersten, Vaughn, Deschler and Schiller's (1997) guiding principles for researchers to make use of research in their practice (p. 25):
- Reality principle- is it feasible? Although a program may be highly effective for improving literacy, if it requires an additional hour of 1:1 instruction every day, it might not be the plan to use.
- scope- scale. If it is only applicable to fifth graders with phonemic awareness issues, it probably does not fit the bill for a general education classroom. Conversely, if it is an entire literacy program that would be in conflict with district mandates, it probably is not right either.
- technical aspects- is there enough training, support and feedback for teachers to become skilled with the strategy?
- conceptual aspects- do the teachers understand the significance of the practice? If we increase our focus on fluency or high quality vocabulary instruction, do they see the value?
- linkages- are there easily identifiable connections with other initiatives?
- collegial support networks- Are there supports to sustain the initiative?
Later on she highlights that, "As a coach, our job isn't to tell teachers how or what to do..., but rather to help them reflect on their own practice" (p. 42-3). Keeping this in mind provides a purpose for coaching even veteran teachers. It would have been nice if she had added some reflection protocols or sample dialogs to use as a spring board.
The last part of the text is modules with sample staff development activities that would be useful for any stage of the coaching process implementation. They focus on the concept and logistics of coaching rather than specific content information.
Her appendix does include a plan for evaluating coach performance. Since coaching is different from teaching, using a teacher evaluation model such as Danielson's is not a good measure of performance.
Monday, August 28, 2017
The Essentials of science, grades 7-12
In Rick Allen wrote The Essentials of Science, Grades 7-12: Effective Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. NCLB was just beginning to be fully implemented. The National Science Education Standards were more than 10 years old. Fast forward to today. We have seen the implementation of the Common Core State standards (CCSS) with its emphasis on reading, writing and math in all curricular areas. We have been weathering the backlash as states look to modify the standards and examine how to evaluate success. We have seen the reauthorization of the education law, now back to the ESSA branding. We also have seen the emergence of the Next Generation Science Standards with its 3D focus: core ideas, cross cutting concepts and practices. With all that change you might think that this text is woefully out of date. Unfortunately not.
He outlines instruction through inquiry, an approach that remains important in the science classroom today. He talks about all teachers being teachers of reading, something that has become increasingly true in this era framed by CCSS.
In the chapter on assessment he provides an overview of formative assessment. His suggestions to improve student performance include (p. 101)
A thread that permeates the text is the idea of correcting work. This mastery idea enables students to continue to pursue understanding even after a summative assessment. One suggestion was to submit test corrections- write the correct answer and an explanation of why it is correct for every incorrect question. This reinforces the idea that learning never ends. Further, when a final exam is going to be cumulative, it focus attention on the correct information and allows for additional learning opportunities.
I have recently thought that using a teacher website with links to video snips reviewing each day's learning. This could be teacher podcasts, Khan academy videos, textbook resources, TED talks and other YouTube/TeacherTube links. After viewing this material, students could participate in learning activities to reinforce the learning. If student struggles trigger a need for increased instructional input, student performance should increase.
While this book is out of date, it does provide some useful information about transforming science education for improved instruction.
He outlines instruction through inquiry, an approach that remains important in the science classroom today. He talks about all teachers being teachers of reading, something that has become increasingly true in this era framed by CCSS.
In the chapter on assessment he provides an overview of formative assessment. His suggestions to improve student performance include (p. 101)
- Questioning- increased wait time and using responses to develop understanding
- Feedback- allowing opportunities for revising work based on performance feedback. One of the more powerful tools includes not grading work, but providing feedback on performance.
- self-assessment and peer assessment- peer judging to reevaluate individual work and traffic light evaluation of understanding
- Formative use of summative assessment- reflect on what they know using the traffic light technique and allowing students to better understand assessment processes.
A thread that permeates the text is the idea of correcting work. This mastery idea enables students to continue to pursue understanding even after a summative assessment. One suggestion was to submit test corrections- write the correct answer and an explanation of why it is correct for every incorrect question. This reinforces the idea that learning never ends. Further, when a final exam is going to be cumulative, it focus attention on the correct information and allows for additional learning opportunities.
I have recently thought that using a teacher website with links to video snips reviewing each day's learning. This could be teacher podcasts, Khan academy videos, textbook resources, TED talks and other YouTube/TeacherTube links. After viewing this material, students could participate in learning activities to reinforce the learning. If student struggles trigger a need for increased instructional input, student performance should increase.
While this book is out of date, it does provide some useful information about transforming science education for improved instruction.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Charisma: The Art of Relationships
In Michael Grinder's book, Charisma: The Art of Relationships, he employs an extended metaphor to describe people. People's styles are made up of dog and cat components. People are not exclusively one or the other and in different settings and situations may exhibit different combinations of characteristics.
In general dogs like to please. The ultimate dog prototype is the golden retriever. He loves to loved, feels guilty when yelled at, even if it is not his fault, want to be part of the group and have a high degree of accommodation. Cats, on the other hand are more independent. Think Siamese. They want to be respected, don't care what you want, and are highly independent. Dogs are people pleasers while cats are oblivious to pleasing or ruffling feathers. Cats need to be teased into doing something whereas dogs do it to make others happy. Dogs are more in tuned with emotions of the group. Toddlers are like dogs- eager to please and heartbroken when they disappoint- vulnerable. Teenagers are like cats- eager to be independent from you, arrogant about skills and never backing away from conflict- ambitious. Cat people tend to be better decision makers and more apt to climb the leadership ladder. Dog people want the group to be happy and tend to be great information gatherers and followers.
Charisma is achieved by balancing these two forces. Recognizing the characteristics of the group in which one is in and responding by bringing in appropriate skills to appeal to the catty or doggy nature of the group. The book describes how to recognize these traits in others and how to manage them to increase success. Vignettes throughout the text demonstrate the issues discussed. Exercises are spattered throughout to allow readers to practice the skills.
Points of interest.
"In school our 'talented and gifted' pupils aren't interested in studying" (p. 31). Their ambition to achieve has been stifled by the search for "something worthy of their attention" (p. 31). When we look at statistics they suggest as many as 30% of this group are drop outs. Famous ones include Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Grinder has stumbled upon one of the greatest challenges of our American education system- what to do with our brightest kids?
"The goal of winning the match [for the cat] isn't that relevant; your opponent isn't your enemy, but an ally in your quest to improve yourself" (p. 34). Cats want worthy adversaries. In school cats want groups and challenges against well matched peers, not very mixed ability groups. It is no challenge to win the spelling bee against an "inferior" opponent. When working on a project, they want to be pulled up, not have to manage relationships and work to make those weaker better. When we ask students to participate in group work, it is important to give them opportunities to work with similar peers sometimes so that they can feel empowered and grow.
Dog people live by the golden rule- do unto others as you would have done to you. Cat people live by the platinum rule- treat others they way they need to be treated (p. 134-5). Equal treatment is the goal of dog people, but cat people see that equal treatment is not fair treatment. When working with cats it is important to have something they want- perhaps merely novelty, but you must be careful because novelty quickly goes away. Cats need cajoling. Dogs need encouraging.
I am a cat, strongly. This means that if I want to develop more charisma, I need to focus on those doggy skills.
In general dogs like to please. The ultimate dog prototype is the golden retriever. He loves to loved, feels guilty when yelled at, even if it is not his fault, want to be part of the group and have a high degree of accommodation. Cats, on the other hand are more independent. Think Siamese. They want to be respected, don't care what you want, and are highly independent. Dogs are people pleasers while cats are oblivious to pleasing or ruffling feathers. Cats need to be teased into doing something whereas dogs do it to make others happy. Dogs are more in tuned with emotions of the group. Toddlers are like dogs- eager to please and heartbroken when they disappoint- vulnerable. Teenagers are like cats- eager to be independent from you, arrogant about skills and never backing away from conflict- ambitious. Cat people tend to be better decision makers and more apt to climb the leadership ladder. Dog people want the group to be happy and tend to be great information gatherers and followers.
Charisma is achieved by balancing these two forces. Recognizing the characteristics of the group in which one is in and responding by bringing in appropriate skills to appeal to the catty or doggy nature of the group. The book describes how to recognize these traits in others and how to manage them to increase success. Vignettes throughout the text demonstrate the issues discussed. Exercises are spattered throughout to allow readers to practice the skills.
Points of interest.
"In school our 'talented and gifted' pupils aren't interested in studying" (p. 31). Their ambition to achieve has been stifled by the search for "something worthy of their attention" (p. 31). When we look at statistics they suggest as many as 30% of this group are drop outs. Famous ones include Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Grinder has stumbled upon one of the greatest challenges of our American education system- what to do with our brightest kids?
"The goal of winning the match [for the cat] isn't that relevant; your opponent isn't your enemy, but an ally in your quest to improve yourself" (p. 34). Cats want worthy adversaries. In school cats want groups and challenges against well matched peers, not very mixed ability groups. It is no challenge to win the spelling bee against an "inferior" opponent. When working on a project, they want to be pulled up, not have to manage relationships and work to make those weaker better. When we ask students to participate in group work, it is important to give them opportunities to work with similar peers sometimes so that they can feel empowered and grow.
Dog people live by the golden rule- do unto others as you would have done to you. Cat people live by the platinum rule- treat others they way they need to be treated (p. 134-5). Equal treatment is the goal of dog people, but cat people see that equal treatment is not fair treatment. When working with cats it is important to have something they want- perhaps merely novelty, but you must be careful because novelty quickly goes away. Cats need cajoling. Dogs need encouraging.
I am a cat, strongly. This means that if I want to develop more charisma, I need to focus on those doggy skills.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Executive function foundations
The Landmark School Outreach Program has published a language-based teaching series for teachers looking to enhance their skills working with students with language based learning disabilities. Patricia W. Newhall's book, Executive Function: Foundations for Learning and Teaching, looks at executive functioning from a slightly different angle than many other authors I have read.
She broadly defines executive function (EF) as "the brain's ability to coordinate the cognitive and psychological processes needed to initiate, sustain, monitor, and adapt the behaviors and attitudes required to achieve a goal" (p.2). This idea that executive function is the underlying skill that enables one to accomplish something is a common thread. She includes Howard Gardner's concept- the integration of
Landmark clearly promotes student centered instruction. Throughout the book references to students self-awareness of what is going on, active multisensory learning and inquiry learning abound. This may be more challenging for some teachers to implement than others. Issues around curriculum pacing, content covered and large class sizes are ignored throughout.
One important detail that she points out is that initiation issues are often the result of emotional motivation concerns whereas persistence of effort more often result from poor goal-orientation. Seeing what behaviors the student exemplifies indicates where the intervention needs to occur.
The book offers some useful worksheets to help students and teachers assess general EF skills and motivation. These are available online in modifiable formats for both younger and older students. The book also offers many strategies to help students be successful. One I particularly liked was her class wrap-up strategy (closure activity). It includes a checklist for what study skills were focused on, and short answer responses to identifying the most important concept and what is desired for review. Using this kind of approach improves metacognition of these underlying skills that we often expect students to have that are trouble spots for people with EF weaknesses. I have previously commented on her inclusion of card sort type activities.
The book includes a series of case studies but leaves the thinking entirely up to the reader. While intro questions are provided, a thoughtful debrief is missing. These vignettes might be useful if the text were used in a professional learning opportunity. Overall a short easy to read book full of good suggestions for both individual interventions and whole class instruction aimed at improving EF skills and academic proficiency.
She broadly defines executive function (EF) as "the brain's ability to coordinate the cognitive and psychological processes needed to initiate, sustain, monitor, and adapt the behaviors and attitudes required to achieve a goal" (p.2). This idea that executive function is the underlying skill that enables one to accomplish something is a common thread. She includes Howard Gardner's concept- the integration of
- the hill- establishment of a clear goal
- the skill- the requisite abilities and techniques for attaining that goal
- the will- volition to begin and persevere until the goal is reached (p.71)
Landmark clearly promotes student centered instruction. Throughout the book references to students self-awareness of what is going on, active multisensory learning and inquiry learning abound. This may be more challenging for some teachers to implement than others. Issues around curriculum pacing, content covered and large class sizes are ignored throughout.
One important detail that she points out is that initiation issues are often the result of emotional motivation concerns whereas persistence of effort more often result from poor goal-orientation. Seeing what behaviors the student exemplifies indicates where the intervention needs to occur.
The book offers some useful worksheets to help students and teachers assess general EF skills and motivation. These are available online in modifiable formats for both younger and older students. The book also offers many strategies to help students be successful. One I particularly liked was her class wrap-up strategy (closure activity). It includes a checklist for what study skills were focused on, and short answer responses to identifying the most important concept and what is desired for review. Using this kind of approach improves metacognition of these underlying skills that we often expect students to have that are trouble spots for people with EF weaknesses. I have previously commented on her inclusion of card sort type activities.
The book includes a series of case studies but leaves the thinking entirely up to the reader. While intro questions are provided, a thoughtful debrief is missing. These vignettes might be useful if the text were used in a professional learning opportunity. Overall a short easy to read book full of good suggestions for both individual interventions and whole class instruction aimed at improving EF skills and academic proficiency.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
student anxiety
I have a child with ASD and its frequently comorbid cousin, anxiety. I worked with a student who could not attend school because of anxiety. The August edition of ASCD's Education Update includes an article entitled "Helping Ease Student Anxiety" by Sarah McKibben, which talks about anxiety. I have seen extreme anxiety as it impacts students, and this article rings true.
First she says look for clues:
1. somatic complaints- My son could not sleep. He picked his fingertips raw and then had sore hands. Some students have mysterious aches- headache, stomach aches, generally not feeling well. Be sure to rule out physiological problems. A student with a bladder infection needs to go to the bathroom a lot. So might a student with a nervous bladder. Students with chronic complaints should be checked out by a doctor.
2. distorted cognition- preoccupation with failure or perfectionism. Catastrophic thinking. Black or white universes.
3. behavior- mostly avoidance. This could be skipping class, putting a head down, refusing to answer, not attempting assignments or a variety of other things.
Students who exhibit these clues should be suspected of having anxiety. Remember we are lay people not diagnosticians. Suggest it as a possibility to investigate. Keep observing for clues.
She then offers some tips for avoiding or mitigating anxiety in the classroom.
First she says look for clues:
1. somatic complaints- My son could not sleep. He picked his fingertips raw and then had sore hands. Some students have mysterious aches- headache, stomach aches, generally not feeling well. Be sure to rule out physiological problems. A student with a bladder infection needs to go to the bathroom a lot. So might a student with a nervous bladder. Students with chronic complaints should be checked out by a doctor.
2. distorted cognition- preoccupation with failure or perfectionism. Catastrophic thinking. Black or white universes.
3. behavior- mostly avoidance. This could be skipping class, putting a head down, refusing to answer, not attempting assignments or a variety of other things.
Students who exhibit these clues should be suspected of having anxiety. Remember we are lay people not diagnosticians. Suggest it as a possibility to investigate. Keep observing for clues.
She then offers some tips for avoiding or mitigating anxiety in the classroom.
- Tackle tensions- moving to non-preferred activities can provide a focus on anxiety. To keep kids from becoming disregulated she suggests minimizing downtime and starting class with a soft activity that is more motivating than hard-core. Instead of "bell-work" she suggests a review game or video. This could present a logistic challenge for a teacher who needs a few minutes at the beginning of class to complete administrative tasks like attendance.
- Cognitive Distractors- Often I see breaks as accommodations on IEPs, but McKibben suggests a wander break may not be enough. Some students will wander the halls or sketch on a pad and dwell on the anxiety trigger, resulting in no behavior change. Data should be kept on whether the structured break provides a reduction in anxiety or not. Instead of merely walking around a school loop, have them sing a favorite song while they walk, complete an unrelated task like Sudoku or hidden pictures, or perform an unrelated automatic memory task- tell me the names of your cousins or about your favorite football team or, for my son, your latest bottle acquisition.
- Make it manageable- break tasks down and present in chunks to reduce the scope of the project. This is especially true of long term projects, but even a worksheet full of questions can be too intimidating. Cut it into sections and present one section at a time. Instead of three directions, provide only one.
- Apply a label- Use language to label fears specifically and in detail. This is a great way to approach catastrophic thinking. Professionals who deal with anxiety will use this as a first step in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), the preferred intervention for anxiety.
- Teach physical signs- controlled muscle tension exercises to identify what physical signs are present with anxiety and tension. Rate feelings on a scale.
- Help initiate- sometimes the hardest part is getting started. Help students to complete the beginning. I think her idea of having a student start writing in class and stop- midword/sentence- and then go home to finish has merit. Most students can finish a started word. I fear that most would be unsettled with leaving a word unfinished which might elevate anxiety, but it might be different kid to kid.
- Check in- once you start them off, let them know you will check in at certain points, perhaps ten minute intervals. Working side by side with another peer might be enough.
- Private praise- while some students love public praise, many with anxiety hate being pointed out. Perhaps ask how they liked to receive recognition. A quiet nod might be what makes one happy while a posted perfect paper is good for another.
Her suggestions are solid from the classroom ideas that might make the difference for some kids. Mostly work as a team to get to know those students and what works for each one individually. Anxiety is more present in schools than ever before. We need to help students deal with it so they are better prepared for the world beyond us.
Executive function- language based materials
Patricia W. Newhall's book in the Language-Based Teaching Series, Executive Function: Foundations for Learning and Teaching, strongly encourages multisensory learning experiences. One strategy presented in the second chapter is manipulative sorting. Several of her suggestions are card sorts and games. While I have used card sorts to preteach vocabulary and games to reinforce concepts and vocabulary, one of her ideas struck me as useful.
She suggests taking quotes from a book or pertinent paragraph, break it up into sentences or utterances and have students sort them. When I was thinking about this, I thought this could be a great tool for helping with understanding classics and created the simple example below for Romeo and Juliet. Student groups get the cards cut up and are asked to organize them in a meaningful way. (You might want to add more quotes- pick the ones that you are focusing on in class.) Chronological order, speaker, or theme are a couple of possibilities. Then they need to share with the whole group their results. Alternatively they could then be asked to sort by a different system. Both would involve doing, negotiating and thinking, all critical elements for learning. Another possibility for students involved in writing about the text would be to have students sort the quotes, then use them to write about the play.
If a paragraph were broken into sentences, students could be asked to organize it into a meaningful manner. This could be based on content area review- take the a summary of a chapter and ask students to organize it so that it makes sense. It could also be a writing exercise- use information about topic sentences, concluding sentences and transitions to create the reconstruction and then write a paragraph using similar transitions.
Other suggested sort activities involve:
She suggests taking quotes from a book or pertinent paragraph, break it up into sentences or utterances and have students sort them. When I was thinking about this, I thought this could be a great tool for helping with understanding classics and created the simple example below for Romeo and Juliet. Student groups get the cards cut up and are asked to organize them in a meaningful way. (You might want to add more quotes- pick the ones that you are focusing on in class.) Chronological order, speaker, or theme are a couple of possibilities. Then they need to share with the whole group their results. Alternatively they could then be asked to sort by a different system. Both would involve doing, negotiating and thinking, all critical elements for learning. Another possibility for students involved in writing about the text would be to have students sort the quotes, then use them to write about the play.
But soft, what light through
yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. . . . The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night. |
O Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. |
O, then I see Queen Mab hath
been with you. . . .
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomi Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep. |
From forth the fatal loins
of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife. . . . |
O, I am fortune’s fool! . .
.
|
Then I defy you, stars.
|
A plague o' both your houses!
|
For never was a story of more woe [t]han this of Juliet
and her Romeo.
|
What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other
word would smell as sweet.
|
Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
that I shall say good night till it be morrow.
|
If a paragraph were broken into sentences, students could be asked to organize it into a meaningful manner. This could be based on content area review- take the a summary of a chapter and ask students to organize it so that it makes sense. It could also be a writing exercise- use information about topic sentences, concluding sentences and transitions to create the reconstruction and then write a paragraph using similar transitions.
Other suggested sort activities involve:
- words- definitions- images
- put in chronological order- either historical/literary events, steps in processes or numbers
- questions and answers.
These ideas are great ways to involve students in activities that, hopefully, could involve total participation, a key feature for increasing achievement. They also reduce writing load- students do not need to rewrite the material. For students who struggle with academics, writing is often a four letter word. Providing opportunities to sort and tape means the students have the material without the frustration that comes with writing. Further if the sort takes place in a group, often other group members can fill in executive function weaknesses for each other. They can reinforce focus, task initiation and completion so that the work, and learning, occur.
Looking forward to the rest of the book...
Monday, August 14, 2017
Parent's guide to children with Executive function disorder
Rebecca Branstetter, book, The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder, is an easy to read book that focuses on presenting strategies to help children who struggle with executive functioning to learn skills and become more successful. The book has four main sections:
Branstetter divides executive functioning into ten areas: task initiation, response inhibition, focus, time management, working memory, flexibility, self-regulation, emotional self-control, task completion, and organization. She discusses two important issues. One, while some specific disabilities are often characterized as having some executive function issues, not all EF occurs with a disability. We all know someone who is chronically late, or whose room/office/desk is always a mess or who frequently puts his foot in his mouth, who has no disability. It is important to normalize these concerns. That being said, they are skills that can be improved through instruction or compensated for through actions. Two, EF skills are highly heritable and environment can reinforce good or bad EF skills. Often parents struggle with the same skills that their children struggle with and parents who are working to improve problem areas are modeling self-improvement and development in a healthy manner.
Another key idea of Branstetter is to limit focus. We cannot solve the problems of the world in a day, nor can we take a child whose life is a chaotic mess an expect to improve every aspect in an afternoon. Select one thing at a time and expect to spend some quality time on it. Do not get frustrated because initial attempts are not successful. Not all strategies work for all people. My daughter's method for getting homework home, completed and back to school would make me nuts, but it works for her. Some people respond well to word based checklists, but others need more detailed picture cues. Some need a break from school before they start in on homework while others need to keep going in the academic vein. Know your child. Children with EF concerns need to find the methods of support that work for them, not ones that work for the adult. That being said, it takes longer for these kids to learn and internalize these skills. You can collect data on progress- number of late homework assignments per week, number of prompts needed to get a room picked up, or number of tantrums per week. If a strategy is showing improvement, then stay with it, if not, modify it. We need to provide support for learning these skills as if for a much younger child. Reducing support too early will result in a backslide. Other authors suggest it takes children with EF weaknesses perhaps three times as long to learn the skills as other people. That means you are in it for the long haul.
One thing Branstetter comments upon is taking care of you. As the supportive adult to a child with EF challenges, you are in it for the duration. This is especially wearing. Find time for yourself. Enlist family members or friends to take over for child care for a while, hire tutors to take over homework monitoring or academic support, take a walk, find someone to help with housework. You may not need to do these things on a regular basis, but once in a while they are essential for maintaining sanity. Further, the self-care you do today may be very different from that you do tomorrow or that which you did last year. Just remember to recharge your batteries so you can be the best parent you can be.
- introduction- what is executive functioning (EF), how does it develop and what disorders are commonly associated with it
- discussion of each area- 10 chapters focusing on different skill sets and strategies to help develop them
- home life- what can you do at home- routines, advocacy, parenting and self-assessment
- appendix- checklists of strategies for each skill area.
Branstetter divides executive functioning into ten areas: task initiation, response inhibition, focus, time management, working memory, flexibility, self-regulation, emotional self-control, task completion, and organization. She discusses two important issues. One, while some specific disabilities are often characterized as having some executive function issues, not all EF occurs with a disability. We all know someone who is chronically late, or whose room/office/desk is always a mess or who frequently puts his foot in his mouth, who has no disability. It is important to normalize these concerns. That being said, they are skills that can be improved through instruction or compensated for through actions. Two, EF skills are highly heritable and environment can reinforce good or bad EF skills. Often parents struggle with the same skills that their children struggle with and parents who are working to improve problem areas are modeling self-improvement and development in a healthy manner.
Another key idea of Branstetter is to limit focus. We cannot solve the problems of the world in a day, nor can we take a child whose life is a chaotic mess an expect to improve every aspect in an afternoon. Select one thing at a time and expect to spend some quality time on it. Do not get frustrated because initial attempts are not successful. Not all strategies work for all people. My daughter's method for getting homework home, completed and back to school would make me nuts, but it works for her. Some people respond well to word based checklists, but others need more detailed picture cues. Some need a break from school before they start in on homework while others need to keep going in the academic vein. Know your child. Children with EF concerns need to find the methods of support that work for them, not ones that work for the adult. That being said, it takes longer for these kids to learn and internalize these skills. You can collect data on progress- number of late homework assignments per week, number of prompts needed to get a room picked up, or number of tantrums per week. If a strategy is showing improvement, then stay with it, if not, modify it. We need to provide support for learning these skills as if for a much younger child. Reducing support too early will result in a backslide. Other authors suggest it takes children with EF weaknesses perhaps three times as long to learn the skills as other people. That means you are in it for the long haul.
One thing Branstetter comments upon is taking care of you. As the supportive adult to a child with EF challenges, you are in it for the duration. This is especially wearing. Find time for yourself. Enlist family members or friends to take over for child care for a while, hire tutors to take over homework monitoring or academic support, take a walk, find someone to help with housework. You may not need to do these things on a regular basis, but once in a while they are essential for maintaining sanity. Further, the self-care you do today may be very different from that you do tomorrow or that which you did last year. Just remember to recharge your batteries so you can be the best parent you can be.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
How to teach so students remember
I placed a book order including Marilee Sprenger's How to Teach so Students Remember. When it arrived it seemed familiar and when I opened it up to scan the text I knew I had read it before. I searched my blog- no reference there. Clearly I did not learn the material well enough the first time through so I read it again. Some of the material that had not previously resonated with me clearly did this time. We want students to reread. We reread old favorites. This is why.
Marilee studied under E. Jensen, an educational specialist who looks at the implications of brain research on learning. She idenitifes a series of steps required to learn that she calls a memory cycle:
When I think my students I break this into fewer steps- the cycle of reflect and recode. Reflect at first and get feedback about how you're doing with knowledge. It could be through a homework assignment, class activity, computer practice or independent activity like self-quizzing. Take the stuff that you struggle with and recode it: transform a chart into a paragraph, use a graphic organizer, make and explain a metaphor, classify pieces of information or ideas, craft a song, poem or video about the information, try to teach a friend using your resources, ... The list goes on. Then reflect again- how's the information gauge now? Self-test and assess. Repeat as necessary. As more information is added to the pile of things one must know, incorporate old learnings into the review process to ensure learning.
One really important thing that Marilee stresses is that kids don't know what they don't know. I remember graduating from college and thinking I knew it all. It was a rude shock to have people present information that I knew nothing about when it came to teaching. Now, nearly thirty years later, I know a lot more and will tell you I feel very ignorant because I know how much I don't know. Kids do not have the metacognition to answer an "Any questions?" response. They need to learn how to self-test and evaluate so that they can see where their strengths and weaknesses are.
Sprenger created the following chart that I have slightly modified to include extra details to showcase the next step (p. 167). I particularly like the recall verses recognition part.
For many of my students that is where they fall down. Teaching them to practice how they need to produce is important. If all you need to do is recognize the correct definition for the vocabulary word, flashcards will get you there. If you need to select the correct word to complete a novel sentence, recall is required. This level of skill is required. If students need to be able to draw and label the map they need to be able to do that in practice. Students who must be able to read a passage and identify implied character traits have a different challenge than being able to regurgitate a class discussion. If a graphic organizer was used to recode, but the test requires paragraph writing, the student needs to be able to use the organizer to write a paragraph. We must identify the demands of the assessment and provide instruction on the memory skills to that point, and perhaps beyond.
Overall Sprenger reinforces the idea that students need increased self-awareness of the process of learning and memory so that they can independently perform the tasks required for cementing things into long term memory and getting them out again. This helps them to have the motivation to put in the effort it takes to truly learn material.
Marilee studied under E. Jensen, an educational specialist who looks at the implications of brain research on learning. She idenitifes a series of steps required to learn that she calls a memory cycle:
- Reach- students must be involved in the learning. Passive students do not learn.
- Reflect- compare what you know to what you are learning. What questions do you have about the material? Students may be asked to visualize, restate what they learned, made sense of confused. Explain what they just covered to a peer. As a teacher, this is part of my observation process.
- Recode- reorganize the information. Graphic organizers come into play. Presenting information is through different learning styles- act out the scene from the play, chemical action, historical event; produce a newscast of the activity; explain to your parents; create a metaphor...
- Reinforce- Feedback. Without feedback we do not grow. Malcom Gladwell spoke of 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert, but that is practice with feedback. How do you do better? Are you still confused about some areas? Are misconceptions still present in your understanding?
- Rehearse- rote practice (flashcards, singing the alphabet song, answering questions using programs like quia, quizlet or StudyBlue, or IXL) and elaborative practice (apply, analyze or create using what you know) both play an important role in learning. This puts things into long term memory. Getting enough sleep is a critical component of this step. Sleep enables the brain to process information.
- Review- retrieve and manipulate information. More types of practice in a structured way. In order to get the material to be "remembered" it must have spaced review. That good old little bit of study each night rather than cramming is true. Cramming might get you through the test, but results in little real learning over time. Periodic spaced review enables long term learning.
- Retrieve- use the material over time in assessment situations and practice sections. For example after learning the parts of the cell, students move to learning about cellular processes. Throughout this second unit, they must use the first information.
When I think my students I break this into fewer steps- the cycle of reflect and recode. Reflect at first and get feedback about how you're doing with knowledge. It could be through a homework assignment, class activity, computer practice or independent activity like self-quizzing. Take the stuff that you struggle with and recode it: transform a chart into a paragraph, use a graphic organizer, make and explain a metaphor, classify pieces of information or ideas, craft a song, poem or video about the information, try to teach a friend using your resources, ... The list goes on. Then reflect again- how's the information gauge now? Self-test and assess. Repeat as necessary. As more information is added to the pile of things one must know, incorporate old learnings into the review process to ensure learning.
One really important thing that Marilee stresses is that kids don't know what they don't know. I remember graduating from college and thinking I knew it all. It was a rude shock to have people present information that I knew nothing about when it came to teaching. Now, nearly thirty years later, I know a lot more and will tell you I feel very ignorant because I know how much I don't know. Kids do not have the metacognition to answer an "Any questions?" response. They need to learn how to self-test and evaluate so that they can see where their strengths and weaknesses are.
Sprenger created the following chart that I have slightly modified to include extra details to showcase the next step (p. 167). I particularly like the recall verses recognition part.
|
If a student cannot recognize the material
|
Go back to reach- reteach the material in a different way. The
flipped classroom may offer the opportunity to revisit information but if the
student is not engaged or does not understand your explanation, the material
needs to be presented a different way
|
|
If a student cannot put the facts, concept or procedure in his own
words but can repeat yours
|
Go back to reflect- give more opportunities to wrestle with
understanding the material. Perhaps more vocabulary front loading is
required. Perhaps more support in going through the process of thinking, more
time to process or more feedback about success.
|
|
If a student can’t recall during a review
|
Go back to recode- interpret, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing,
inferring, comparing, explaining and using nonlinguistic representations are
all possible parts of recoding. Provide better feedback about previous
attempts or ask to recode in a different way.
|
|
If a student cannot recall on a practice quiz (name the steps of the
scientific method, reduce the fraction, explain what genre this passage
represents, identify the major battles and their significance)
|
Give a recognition quiz (multiple choice, true false, matching)
|
|
If a student can recognize but not recall
|
Go back to recode- try a new recoding process
|
|
If a student can recode but has difficulty with rehearsals
|
Go back to reinforcement and offer developmental feedback
|
|
If a student can apply, analyze and evaluate
|
Go to rehearsal and add creativity or another level of complexity; or
review, assess and move on
|
For many of my students that is where they fall down. Teaching them to practice how they need to produce is important. If all you need to do is recognize the correct definition for the vocabulary word, flashcards will get you there. If you need to select the correct word to complete a novel sentence, recall is required. This level of skill is required. If students need to be able to draw and label the map they need to be able to do that in practice. Students who must be able to read a passage and identify implied character traits have a different challenge than being able to regurgitate a class discussion. If a graphic organizer was used to recode, but the test requires paragraph writing, the student needs to be able to use the organizer to write a paragraph. We must identify the demands of the assessment and provide instruction on the memory skills to that point, and perhaps beyond.
Overall Sprenger reinforces the idea that students need increased self-awareness of the process of learning and memory so that they can independently perform the tasks required for cementing things into long term memory and getting them out again. This helps them to have the motivation to put in the effort it takes to truly learn material.
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